| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 - "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel"
Author: Various
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 - "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel"" ***
Transcriber's notes:
(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
underscore, like C_n.
(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.
(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
paragraphs.
(4) Macrons and breves above letters and dots below letters were not
inserted.
(5) [root] stands for the root symbol; [alpha], [beta], etc. for greek
letters.
(6) The following typographical errors have been corrected:
ARTICLE GREEK LAW: "In all else Diodorus represents the new age in
which the Greek historian had no longer the practical knowledge and
insight of a traveller, a soldier or a statesman, but only the
diligence, and usually the dullness, of a laborious compiler."
'dullness' amended from 'dulness'.
ARTICLE GREEN, THOMAS HILL: "... find this perfection attainable
only when the separate individualities are integrated as part of a
social whole." 'perfection' amended from 'prefection'.
ARTICLE GREENLAND: "Climate.--The climate is very uncertain, the
weather changing suddenly from bright sunshine (when mosquitoes
often swarm) to dense fog or heavy falls of snow and icy winds."
'mosquitoes' amended from 'mosquitos'.
ARTICLE GREGORY, ST, OF NYSSA: "The exact date of his death is
unknown; some authorities refer it to 396, others to 400." '396'
amended from '376'.
ARTICLE GREGORY: "Most important was the two-fold mission to
Britain--of St Augustine in 596, of Mellitus, Paulinus and others
in 601 ..." 'Most' amended from 'Mose'.
ARTICLE GREGORY: "J. P. Kirsch, Die Rückkehr der Päpste Urban V. u.
Gregor XI. von Avignon nach Rom (Paderborn, 1898) ..." 'von'
amended from 'con'.
ARTICLE GRIBOYEDOV, ALEXANDER SERGUEEVICH: "There a monument was
erected to his memory by his widow, to whom he had been but a few
months married." 'monument' amended from 'momument'.
ARTICLE GRINDAL, EDMUND: "... which was always a difficult see,
involved Bishop Sandys in similar troubles when Grindal had gone to
York." 'troubles' amended from 'tronbles'.
ARTICLE GRISONS: "The population of the canton in 1900 was 104,520.
Of this number 55,155 (mainly near Coire and Davos, in the
Prättigau and in the Schanfigg valley) were Protestants, while
49,142 (mainly in the Bündner Oberland, the Val Mesocco and the
Oberhalbstein) were Romanists, while there were also 114 Jews (81
of whom lived in Davos)." 'Val' amended from 'Vall'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XII, SLICE V
Greek Law to Ground-Squirrel
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
GREEK LAW GREY, SIR GEORGE
GREEK LITERATURE GREY, HENRY GREY
GREEK RELIGION GREY, LADY JANE
GREELEY, HORACE GREY DE WILTON
GREELEY GREYMOUTH
GREEN, ALEXANDER HENRY GREYTOWN
GREEN, DUFF GREYWACKE
GREEN, JOHN RICHARD GRIBEAUVAL, JEAN BAPTISTE DE
GREEN, MATTHEW GRIBOYEDOV, ALEXANDER SERGUEEVICH
GREEN, THOMAS HILL GRIEG, EDVARD HAGERUP
GREEN, VALENTINE GRIESBACH, JOHANN JAKOB
GREEN, WILLIAM HENRY GRIESBACH
GREENAWAY, KATE GRIFFE
GREENBACKS GRIFFENFELDT, PEDER
GREEN BAY GRIFFIN, GERALD
GREENCASTLE GRIFFIN (Georgia, U.S.A.)
GREENE, GEORGE WASHINGTON GRIFFIN (creature)
GREENE, MAURICE GRIFFITH, SIR RICHARD JOHN
GREENE, NATHANAEL GRILLE
GREENE, ROBERT GRILLPARZER, FRANZ
GREENFIELD GRIMALD, NICHOLAS
GREENFINCH GRIMALDI, GIOVANNI FRANCESCO
GREENHEART GRIMALDI, JOSEPH
GREENLAND GRIMKÉ, SARAH MOORE & ANGELINA EMILY
GREENLAW GRIMM, FRIEDRICH MELCHIOR
GREENLEAF, SIMON GRIMM, JACOB LUDWIG CARL
GREEN MONKEY GRIMM, WILHELM CARL
GREENOCK GRIMMA
GREENOCKITE GRIMMELSHAUSEN, HANS CHRISTOFFEL VON
GREENORE GRIMOARD, PHILIPPE HENRI
GREENOUGH, GEORGE BELLAS GRIMSBY
GREENOUGH, HORATIO GRIMSTON, SIR HARBOTTLE
GREENOUGH, JAMES BRADSTREET GRIMTHORPE, EDMUND BECKETT
GREEN RIBBON CLUB GRINDAL, EDMUND
GREENSAND GRINDELWALD
GREENSBORO GRINGOIRE, PIERRE
GREENSBURG GRINNELL
GREENSHANK GRIQUALAND EAST and GRIQUALAND WEST
GREENVILLE (Mississippi, U.S.A.) GRISAILLE
GREENVILLE (Ohio, U.S.A.) GRISELDA
GREENVILLE (S. Carolina, U.S.A.) GRISI, GIULIA
GREENVILLE (Texas, U.S.A.) GRISON
GREENWICH (Connecticut, U.S.A.) GRISONS
GREENWICH (England) GRISWOLD, RUFUS WILMOT
GREENWOOD, FREDERICK GRIVET
GREENWOOD, JOHN GROAT
GREG, WILLIAM RATHBONE GROCER
GREGARINES GROCYN, WILLIAM
GRÉGOIRE, HENRI GRODNO (government of Russia)
GREGORAS, NICEPHORUS GRODNO (town of Russia)
GREGOROVIUS, FERDINAND GROEN VAN PRINSTERER, GUILLAUME
GREGORY, ST GROIN
GREGORY, ST, OF NAZIANZUS GROLMANN, KARL WILHELM GEORG VON
GREGORY, ST, OF NYSSA GROMATICI
GREGORY, ST, OF TOURS GRONINGEN
GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR GRONINGEN
GREGORY (popes) GRONLUND, LAURENCE
GREGORY (Scottish family) GRONOVIUS, JOHANN FRIEDRICH
GREGORY, EDWARD JOHN GROOM
GREGORY, OLINTHUS GILBERT GROOT, GERHARD
GREIFENBERG GROOVE-TOOTHED SQUIRREL
GREIFENHAGEN GROS, ANTOINE JEAN
GREIFSWALD GROSART, ALEXANDER BALLOCH
GREISEN GROSBEAK
GREIZ GROSE, FRANCIS
GRENADA GROSS
GRENADE GROSSE, JULIUS WALDEMAR
GRENADIER GROSSENHAIN
GRENADINES GROSSETESTE, ROBERT
GRENOBLE GROSSETO
GRENVILLE, SIR BEVIL GROSSI, GIOVANNI FRANCESCO
GRENVILLE, GEORGE GROSSI, TOMMASO
GRENVILLE, SIR RICHARD (naval c.) GROSSMITH, GEORGE
GRENVILLE, SIR RICHARD (royalist) GROS VENTRES
GRENVILLE, WILLIAM GRENVILLE GROTE, GEORGE
GRESHAM, SIR THOMAS GROTEFEND, GEORG FRIEDRICH
GRESHAM, WALTER QUINTON GROTESQUE
GRESHAM'S LAW GROTH, KLAUS
GRESSET, JEAN BAPTISTE LOUIS GROTH, PAUL HEINRICH VON
GRETNA GREEN GROTIUS, HUGO
GRÉTRY, ANDRÉ ERNEST MODESTE GROTTAFERRATA
GREUZE, JEAN BAPTISTE GROUCHY, EMMANUEL
GREVILLE, CHARLES FULKE GROUND-ICE
GRÉVIN, JACQUES GROUND NUT
GRÈVY, FRANÇOIS PAUL JULES GROUND-PEARL
GREW, NEHEMIAH GROUND RENT
GREY, CHARLES GREY GROUNDSEL
GREY, SIR EDWARD GROUND-SQUIRREL
GREEK LAW.
Greek law and comparative jurisprudence.
Ancient Greek law is a branch of comparative jurisprudence
the importance of which has been long ignored. Jurists have commonly
left its study to scholars, who have generally refrained from comparing
the institutions of the Greeks with those of other nations. Greek law
has, however, been partially compared with Roman law, and has been
incidentally illustrated with the aid of the primitive institutions of
the Germanic nations. It may now be studied in its earlier stages in the
laws of Gortyn; its influence may be traced in legal documents preserved
in Egyptian papyri; and it may be recognized as a consistent whole in
its ultimate relations to Roman law in the eastern provinces of the
Roman empire.
The existence of certain panhellenic principles of law is implied by the
custom of settling a difference between two Greek states, or between
members of a single state, by resorting to external arbitration. The
general unity of Greek law is mainly to be seen in the laws of
inheritance and adoption, in laws of commerce and contract, and in the
publicity uniformly given to legal agreements.
Original authorities.
No systematic collection of Greek laws has come down to us. Our
knowledge of some of the earliest notions of the subject is derived from
the Homeric poems. For the details of Attic law we have to depend on _ex
parte_ statements in the speeches of the Attic orators, and we are
sometimes enabled to check those statements by the trustworthy, but
often imperfect, aid of inscriptions. Incidental illustrations of the
laws of Athens may be found in the Laws of Plato, who deals with the
theory of the subject without exercising any influence on actual
practice. The Laws of Plato are criticized in the _Politics_ of
Aristotle, who, besides discussing laws in their relation to
constitutions, reviews the work of certain early Greek lawgivers. The
treatise on the _Constitution of Athens_ includes an account of the
jurisdiction of the various public officials and of the machinery of the
law courts, and thus enables us to dispense with the second-hand
testimony of grammarians and scholiasts who derived their information
from that treatise (see CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS). The works of
Theophrastus _On the Laws_, which included a recapitulation of the laws
of various barbaric as well as Grecian states, are now represented by
only a few fragments (Nos. 97-106, ed. Wimmer).
Law in Homer.
Our earliest evidence is to be sought in the Homeric poems. In the
primitive society of the heroic age (as noticed by Plato) written laws
were necessarily unknown; for, "in that early period, they had no
letters; they lived by habit and by the customs of their ancestors"
(_Laws_, 680 A). We find a survival from a still more primitive time in
the savage Cyclops, who is "unfamiliar with dooms of law, or rules of
right" ([Greek: oute dikas eu eidota oute themistas], _Od._ ix. 215 and
112 f.).
Dike.
_Dike_ ([Greek: dikê]), assigned by Curtius (_Etym._ 134) to the same
root as [Greek: deiknymi], primarily means a "way pointed out," a
"course prescribed by usage," hence "way" or "fashion," "manner" or
"precedent." In the Homeric poems it sometimes signifies a "doom" of
law, a legal "right," a "lawsuit"; while it is rarely synonymous with
"justice," as in _Od._ xiv. 84, where "the gods honour justice,"
[Greek: tiousi dikên].
Themis.
Various senses of "right" are expressed in the same poems by _themis_
([Greek: themis]), a term assigned (_ib._ 254) to the same root as
[Greek: tithêmi]. In its primary sense _themis_ is that which "has
been laid down"; hence a particular decision or "doom." The plural
_themistes_ implies a body of such precedents, "rules of right," which
the king receives from Zeus with his sceptre (_Il._ ix. 99). _Themis_
and _dike_ have sometimes been compared with the Roman _fas_ and _jus_
respectively, the former being regarded as of divine, the latter of
human origin; and this is more satisfactory than the latest view (that
of Hirzel), which makes "counsel" the primary meaning of _themis_.
Thesmos. Nomos.
_Thesmos_ ([Greek: thesmos]), an ordinance (from the same root as
themis), is not found in "Homer," except in the last line of the
original form of the _Odyssey_ (xxiii. 296), where it probably refers
to the "ordinance" of wedlock. The common term for law, [Greek:
nomos], is first found in Hesiod, but not in a specially legal sense
(e.g. _Op._ 276).
The trial scene.
A trial for homicide is one of the scenes represented on the shield of
Achilles (_Il._ xviii. 497-508). The folk are here to be seen thronging
the market-place, where a strife has arisen between two men as to the
price of a man that has been slain. The slayer vows that he has paid all
([Greek: eucheto pant' apodounai]), the kinsman of the slain protests
that he has received nothing ([Greek: anaineto mêden helesthai]); both
are eager to join issue before an umpire, and both are favoured by their
friends among the folk, who are kept back by the heralds. The cause is
tried by the elders, who are seated on polished stones in a sacred
circle, and in the midst there lie two talents of gold, "to give to him
who, among them all, sets forth the cause most rightly" ([Greek: tô
domen hos meta toisi dikên ithyntata eipoi]).
The discussions of the above passage have chiefly turned on two
points: (1) the legal questions at issue; and (2) the destination of
the "two talents." (1) In the ordinary view (a), it is solely a
question whether the fine or blood-money, corresponding to the
_Wergeld_ (see WERGELD, TEUTONIC PEOPLES, BRITAIN: _Anglo-Saxon_) of
the old Germanic law (Grimm, _Rechtsalterthümer_, 661 f.), has been
paid or not. (This is accepted by Thonissen, Lipsius, Sidgwick and
Ridgeway.) In the other view (b), it is held that the slayer "claimed
to pay" the fine, and the kinsman of the slain "refused to accept any
compensation" (so Passow and Leaf, approved by Pollock). (2) The "two
talents" (shown by Ridgeway to be a small sum, equal in value to two
oxen) are awarded either (a) to the litigant who "pleads his cause
most justly before them" (so Thonissen, Shilleto and Lipsius, in
accordance with the Attic use of phrases like [Greek: dikên eipein]),
or (b) to the judge "who, among all the elders, gives the most
righteous judgment" (so Maine, approved by Sidgwick, Pollock, Leaf and
Ridgeway).
On this controversy, cf. Maine's _Ancient Law_, chap. x. pp. 385 f.,
405 f., ed. Pollock; Thonissen, _Droit pénal_ (1875), 27; P. M.
Laurence (on Shilleto's view) in _Journal of Philology_, viii. (1879),
125 f.; Ridgeway, _ib._ x. (1882), 30 f., and _Journal of Hellenic
Studies_, viii. (1887), 133 f.; and Leaf, _ib._ viii. 122 f., and in
his Commentary on _Iliad_, ii. (1902), 610-614; also J. H. Lipsius in
_Leipziger Studien_, xii. (1890), 225-231, criticized by H. Sidgwick
in _Classical Review_, viii. (1894), 1-4.
We are told elsewhere in Homer that sometimes a man accepted blood-money
from the slayer of his brother or his son, and that the slayer remained
in the land after paying this penalty (_Il._ ix. 633). As a rule the
slayer found it safest to flee (_Od._ xxiii. 118 f.), but even so, he
might be pursued by the friends of the slain (_Od._ xv. 272-278). If he
remained, the land was not (as in later ages) deemed to be polluted by
his presence. In Homer, Orestes does not slay Clytaemestra, and he needs
no "purification" for slaying Aegisthus.
Greek lawgivers: Lycurgus at Sparta.
The laws of Sparta are ascribed to the legislation of Lycurgus, whose
traditional date is 884 B.C. Written laws are said to have been
expressly forbidden by Lycurgus (Plutarch, _Lycurgus_, 13); hence the
"laws of Sparta" are simply a body of traditional observances. We learn
that all trials for homicide came before the Council of Elders and
lasted for several days, and that all civil causes were tried by the
ephors (q.v.). We are also told that originally the land was equally
divided among the citizens of Sparta, and that this equality was
enforced by law (Polybius vi. 45-46). Early in the 4th century the ephor
Epitadeus, owing to a disagreement with his son, enacted that every
Spartan should be allowed to transfer his estate and his allotment to
any other person (Plutarch, _Agis_, 5), while Aristotle, in a
much-debated passage of the _Politics_ (ii. 9. 14-15), criticizes the
Spartan constitution for allowing the accumulation of property in a few
hands, an evil aggravated by the large number of "heiresses"; "a man (he
adds) may bestow his heiress on any one he pleases; and, if he dies
intestate, this privilege descends to his heir."
Era of written laws.
Law was first reduced to writing in the 7th century B.C. A written code
is a necessary condition of just judgment, and such a code was the first
concession which the people in the Greek cities extorted from the ruling
aristocracies. The change was generally effected with the aid of a
single legislator entrusted with complete authority to draw up a code.
Zaleucus at Locri Epizephyrii.
Charondas at Catana, etc.
Androdamas of Rhegium.
Philolaus of Corinth.
The first communities to reach this stage of progress were the Greek
colonies in the West. The Epizephyrian Locrians, near the extreme south
of Italy, received the earliest written code from Zaleucus (663 B.C.),
whose strict and severe legislation put an end to a period of strife and
confusion, though we know little of his laws, except that they attached
definite penalties to each offence, and that they strictly protected the
rights of property. Two centuries later, his code was adopted even by
the Athenian colony of Thurii in south Italy (443 B.C.). Charondas, the
"disciple" of Zaleucus, became the lawgiver, not only of his native town
of Catana on the east coast of Sicily, but also of other Chalcidian
colonies in Sicily and Italy. The laws of Charondas were marked by a
singular precision, but there was nothing (says Aristotle) that he could
claim as his own except the special procedure against false witnesses
(_Politics_, ii. 12. 11). In the case of judges who neglected to serve
in the law courts, he inflicted a large fine on the rich and a small
fine on the poor (_ib._ vi. (iv.) 13. 2). Androdamas of Rhegium gave
laws on homicide and on heiresses to the Chalcidians of Thrace, while
Philolaus of Corinth provided the Thebans with "laws of adoption" with a
view to preventing any change in the number of the allotments of land
(_ib._ ii. 12. 8-14).
The laws of Gortyn.
Local legislation in Crete is represented by the laws of the important
city of Gortyn, which lies to the south of Ida in a plain watered by the
Lethaeus. Part of that stream forms a sluice for a water-mill, and at or
near this mill some fragmentary inscriptions were found by French
archaeologists in 1857 and 1879. The great inscription, to which most of
our knowledge of the laws is due, was not discovered until 1884. It had
been preserved on a wall 27 ft. long and 5 ft. high, the larger part of
which was buried in the ground, while its farthest extremity passed
obliquely athwart the bed of the mill-stream. It was necessary to divert
the water before the last four columns could be transcribed by the
Italian scholar, Federico Halbherr, whose work was completed in the same
year by the excavation and transcription of the first eight columns by
the German scholar, E. Fabricius. In the following year Halbherr
discovered more than eighty small fragments on the neighbouring site of
a former temple of the Pythian Apollo.
These fragments, which are far earlier than the great inscription
above-mentioned, have been assigned to about 650 B.C. They precede the
introduction of coined money into Crete, the penalties being reckoned,
not in coins, but in caldrons. They deal with the powers of the
magistrates and the observances of religion, but are mainly concerned
with private matters of barter and sale, dowry and adoption,
inheritance and succession, fines for trespass and questions of
blood-money. As in the code of Zaleucus, we have a fixed scale of
penalties, including the fine of a single tripod, and ranging from one
to a hundred caldrons.
The great inscription is perhaps two centuries later (c. 450 B.C.). It
consists of a number of amendments or additions to an earlier code,
and it deals exclusively with private law, in which the family and
family property occupy the largest part. The procedure is entirely
oral; oaths and other oral testimony are alone admitted; there are no
documentary proofs, and no record of the verdict except in the memory
of the judge or of his "remembrancer." All the causes are tried before
a single judge, who varies according to the nature of the suit. Where
the law specially enjoins it, he is bound to give judgment ([Greek:
dikadden]) in accordance with the law and the "witnesses or oaths,"
but, in other cases, he is permitted to take oath and decide ([Greek:
krinein]) in view of "the contentions of the parties," as
distinguished from "the declarations of the witnesses." Offences
against the person are treated as matters of private compensation
according to a carefully graduated tariff. In certain cases the
defendant may clear himself by an "oath of purgation" with the support
of "cojurors" ([Greek: homômotai]), the _Eideshelfer_ of old Germanic
law (Grimm 859 f.), who have no necessary knowledge of the facts.
There is no interference with the exposure of infants, except in the
interest of the father (if the child is free-born) or of the lord (in
the case of serfs). The law of debt is primitive, though less severe
than that of the early Romans. In contrast with these primitive
elements we have others which are distinctly progressive. The estates
of husband, wife and sons are regarded as absolutely distinct. Wills
are unknown, even in their most restricted form. Elaborate provisions
are made to secure with all speed the marriage of an "heiress"; she is
bound to marry the eldest of her paternal uncles or to surrender part
of her estate, and it is only if there are no paternal uncles that she
is permitted to marry one (and that the eldest) of their sons.
Adoption is made by the simple procedure of mounting a block of stone
in the market-place and making a public announcement at a time when
the citizens are assembled. The adopted son does not inherit any
larger share than that of a daughter. Any one who desires to repudiate
his adopted son makes a public announcement as before, and the person
repudiated receives, by way of nominal compensation, the gift of a
small number of staters. In these later "laws of Gortyn" we have
reached the time when payments are made, not in "caldrons," but in
coins. In the inscription itself the laws are simply described as
"these writings."
The text of the great inscription was first published by E. Fabricius
in _Ath. Mitth._ ix. (1885), 362-384; there is a cast of the whole in
the Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology. Cf. Comparetti's _Leggi
di Gortyna_ (1893); Bücheler and Zittelmann in _Rhein. Mus._ xl.
(1885); Dareste, Haussoullier and Th. Reinach, _Inscr. juridiques
grecques_, iii. (1894), 352-493 (with the literature there quoted).
Eng. trans. by Roby in _Law Quarterly Review_ (1886), 135-152; see
also E. S. Roberts, _Gk. Epigraphy_, i. 39 f., 52 f., 325-332; J. W.
Headlam in _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xiii. (1892-1893), 48-69; P.
Gardner and F. B. Jevons, _Greek Antiquities_ (1895), 560-574; W. Wyse
in Whibley's _Companion to Greek Studies_ (1905), 378-383; and Hermann
Lipsius, _Zum Recht von Gortyns_ (Leipzig, 1909).
Athens.
The three senior archons.
The thesmothetae.
A Roman writer ascribes to the Athenians the very invention of lawsuits
(Aelian, _Var. Hist._ iii. 38), and the Athenians themselves regarded
their tribunals of homicide as institutions of immemorial antiquity
(Isocr. _Paneg._ 40). On the abolition of the single decennial
archon[1] in 683 B.C., his duties were distributed over several
officials holding office for one year only. The judicial duties
thenceforth discharged by the chief archon (_the_ archon), in the case
of citizens, were discharged by the polemarch in the case of foreign
settlers or metics ([Greek: metoikoi]); while the king-archon, who
succeeded to the religious functions of the ancient kings, decided cases
connected with religious observances (see ARCHON). He also presided over
the primitive council of the state, which was identical with the council
of the Areopagus. It was possibly with a view to the recognition of the
rights of the lower classes that, about the middle of the 7th century
B.C., the three archons were raised to the number of nine by the
institution of the joint board of the six _thesmothetae_, who
superintended the judicial system in general, kept a record of all legal
decisions, and drew attention to any defects in the laws. It is probable
that in their title we have the earliest example in Attic Greek of the
use of _thesmos_ in the sense of "law."
Draco.
The constitution was at this time thoroughly oligarchical. With a view,
however, to providing a remedy for the conflict between the several
orders of the state, the first code of Athenian law was drawn up and
published by Draco (strictly Dracon), who is definitely described as a
_thesmothetes_ (621). His laws were known as _thesmoi_. The distinctive
part of his legislation was the law of homicide, which was held in such
high esteem that it was left unaltered in the legislation of Solon and
in the democratic restoration of 411 B.C. It is partly preserved in an
inscription of 409, which has been restored with the aid of quotations
from the orators (_C.I.A._ i. 61; _Inscr. jurid. grecques_, ii. 1. 1-24;
and Hicks, _Gk. Hist. Inscr._ No. 59). It drew a careful distinction
between different kinds of homicide. Of the rest of Draco's legislation
we only know that Aristotle (_Politics_, ii. 12, 13) was struck by the
severity of the penalties, and that the creditor was permitted to seize
the person of the debtor as security for his debt.
Solon.
The conflict of the orders was not allayed until both parties agreed in
choosing Solon as mediator and as archon (594 B.C.). Solon cancelled all
mortgages and debts secured on the person of the debtor, set free all
who had become slaves for debt, and forbade such slavery for the future
(see SOLON). Thenceforth every citizen had also "the right of appeal to
the law-courts," and the privilege of claiming legal satisfaction on
behalf of any one who was wronged. Cases of constitutional law (_inter
alia_) came before large law-courts numbering hundreds of jurors, and
the power of voting in these law-courts made the people masters of the
constitution (Aristotle's _Constitution of Athens_, c. 9). Solon's
legislation also had an important effect on the law of property. In
primitive times, on a man's death, his money or lands remained in the
family, and, even in the absence of direct descendants, the owner could
not dispose of his property by will. Permission to execute a will was
first given to Athenian citizens by the laws of Solon. But "the Athenian
Will was only an inchoate Testament" (Maine's _Ancient Law_, c. vi.);
for this permission was expressly limited to those citizens who had no
direct male descendants (Dem. _Lept._ 102; Plutarch, _Solon_, 21; cf.
Wyse on Isaeus, p. 325).
The law of intestate succession is imperfectly preserved in [Dem.] 43, §
51 (cf. Wyse, _ib._ p. 562 f.). In the absence of direct male
descendants, a daughter who survived her father was known as an [Greek:
epiklêros], not an "heiress," but a "person who went with the estate";
and, in the absence of a will, the right or duty of marrying the
daughter followed (with certain obvious exceptions) the same rules as
the right of succession to the estate (cf. Wyse, _ib._ p. 348 f.).
Cleisthenes, Ephialtes.
Pericles, Cleon.
Among the reforms of Cleisthenes (508) was the law of ostracism (q.v.).
The privileges of the Areopagus were curtailed (while its right to try
certain cases of homicide was left untouched) by the reforms of
Ephialtes (462), and of Pericles, who also restored the thirty "local
justices" (453), limited the franchise to those of citizen-blood by both
parents (451), and was the first to assign to jurors a fee for their
services in the law-courts, which was raised to three obols by Cleon
(425).
Ordinary course of legislation.
In contrast to legislative reforms brought about by lawgivers entrusted
with special authority, such as Draco, Solon and Cleisthenes, there was
the regular and normal course of public legislation. The legislative
power was not exercised directly by the popular assembly (see ECCLESIA),
but the preliminary consent of that body was necessary for the
appointment of a legislative commission.
Syngrapheis. Nomothetae.
In the 5th century (e.g. in 450 and 446 B.C.) certain commissioners
called [Greek: syngrapheis] were appointed to draw up laws which, after
approval by the council, were submitted to the assembly. The same term
was still in use in March 411 (Thuc. viii. 61). But in October, on the
overthrow of the Four Hundred, the commissioners are for the first time
called _nomothetae_ (_ib._ 97).
The procedure in ordinary legislation was as follows. At the first
meeting of the assembly in the year, the people was asked whether it
would permit motions to be made for altering or supplementing the
existing laws. A debate ensued, and, if such permission were granted,
any citizen who wished to make a motion to the above effect was
required to publish his proposals in the market-place, and to hand
them to the secretary of the council (Boule) to be read aloud at more
than one meeting of the assembly. At the third regular meeting the
people appointed the legislative commissioners, who were drawn by lot
from the whole number of those then qualified to act as jurors. The
number, and the duration of the commission, were determined in each
case by the people. The proceedings before the commission were
conducted exactly in the manner of a lawsuit. Those who desired to see
old laws repealed, altered or replaced by new laws came forward as
_accusers_ of those laws; those of the contrary opinion, as
_defenders_; and the defence was formally entrusted to public
advocates specially appointed for the purpose ([Greek: sunêgoroi]).
The number of the commissioners varied with the number or importance
of the laws in question; there is evidence for the number 1001 (Dem.
xxiv. 27). If a law approved by the commission was deemed to be
unconstitutional, the proposer was liable to be prosecuted (by a
[Greek: graphê paranomôn]), just as in the case of the proposer of an
unconstitutional decree in the public assembly. Formal proceedings
might also be instituted against laws on the sole ground of their
inexpediency (see note on Aristotle's _Constitution of Athens_, p.
219, ed. Sandys). A prosecutor who (like Aeschines in his indictment
of Ctesiphon) failed to obtain one-fifth of the votes was fined 1000
_drachmae_ (£40), and lost the right to adopt this procedure in
future. When a year had elapsed, the proposer of a law or a decree was
free from personal responsibility. This was the case with Leptines,
but the law itself could still be attacked, and, in this event, five
advocates were appointed to defend it ([Greek: sundikoi]), cf. Dem.
_Lept._ 144, 146.
The laws of Athens.
Limits of space make it impossible to include in the present article any
survey of the purport of the extant remains of the laws of Athens. Such
a survey would begin with the laws of the family, including laws of
marriage, adoption and inheritance, followed by the law of property and
contracts, and the laws for the protection of life, the protection of
the person, and the protection of the constitution. The texts have been
collected and classified in Télfy's _Corpus juris Attici_ (1867), a work
which can be supplemented or corrected with the aid of Aristotle's
_Constitution of Athens_; while some of the recent expositions of the
subject are mentioned in the bibliography at the end of this article. We
now proceed to notice the law of homicide, but solely in connexion with
jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction; the five primitive tribunals for the trial of homicide.
The general term for a tribunal is [Greek: dikastêrion] (from [Greek:
dikazô]), Anglicized "dicastery." Of all the tribunals of Athens those
for the trial of homicide were at once the most primitive and the least
liable to suffer change through lapse of time. In the old Germanic law
all trials whatsoever were held in the open air (Grimm 793 f.). At
Athens this custom was characteristic of all the five primitive courts
of homicide, the object being to prevent the prosecutor and the judges
from coming under the same roof as one who was charged with the shedding
of blood (Antiphon, _De caede Herodis_, 11). The place where the trial
was held depended on the nature of the charge.
On the Areopagus.
1. The rock of the Acropolis, outside the earliest of the city-walls,
was the proper place for the trial of persons charged with
premeditated homicide, or with wounding with intent to kill. The
penalty for the former crime was death; for the latter exile; and, in
either case, the property was confiscated. If the votes were equal,
the person accused was acquitted. The proceedings lasted for three
days, and each side might make two speeches. After the first speech
the person accused of premeditated homicide was mercifully permitted
to go into exile, in which case his property was confiscated, and in
the ordinary course he remained in exile for the rest of his life.
At the Palladion.
2. Charges of unpremeditated homicide, or of instigating another to
inflict bodily harm on a third person, or of killing a slave or a
resident alien or a foreigner, were tried at the Palladion, the
ancient shrine of Pallas, east of the city-walls. The punishment for
unpremeditated homicide was exile (without confiscation) until such
time as the criminal had propitiated the relatives of the person
slain, or (failing that) for some definite time. The punishment for
instigating a crime was the same as for actually committing it.
At the Delphinion.
3. Trials at the Delphinion, the shrine of Apollo Delphinios, in the
same quarter, were reserved for special cases of either accidental or
justifiable homicide.
At Phreatto.
4. If a man already in exile for unpremeditated homicide were accused
of premeditated homicide, or of wounding with intent to kill,
provision was made for this rare contingency by permitting him to
approach the shore of Attica and conduct his defence on board a boat,
while his judges heard the cause on shore, at a "place of pits" called
Phreatto, near the harbour of Zea. If the accused were found guilty,
he incurred the proper penalty; if acquitted, he remained in exile.
At the Prytaneum.
5. The court in the precincts of the Prytaneum, to the north of the
Acropolis, was only of ceremonial importance. It "solemnly heard and
condemned undiscovered murderers, and animals or inanimate objects
that had caused the loss of life."[2] The writ ran "against the doer
of the deed," and any instrument of death that was found guilty was
thrown across the frontier. The trial was held by the four
"tribe-kings" ([Greek: phylobasileis]), an archaic survival from
before the time of Cleisthenes. (On these five courts see Aristotle's
_Constitution of Athens_, c. 57, and Dem. _Aristocr._ 65-79.)
Ephetae.
In all the courts of homicide the president was the archon-basileus,
or king-archon, who on these occasions laid aside his crown.
Originally all these courts were under the jurisdiction of an ancient
body of judges called the ephetae ([Greek: ephetai]), whose
institution was ascribed to Draco. The transfer of the first of the
above courts to the council of the Areopagus is attributed to Solon.
In practice the jurisdiction of the ephetae (see also AREOPAGUS) was
probably confined to the courts at the Palladion and Delphinion; but
even there the rights of this primitive body became obsolete, for
trials "at the Palladion" sometimes came before an ordinary tribunal
of 500 or 700 jurors (Isocr. _c. Callim._ 52, 54; [Dem.] _c. Neaeram_,
10).
The presidents of the tribunals.
The chief archon.
The king-archon.
The polemarch.
The strategi.
The thesmothetae.
Except in the case of the primitive courts of homicide, the right of
jurisdiction was entrusted to the several archons until the date of
Solon (594). When the direct jurisdiction of the archons was impaired by
Solon's institution of the "right of appeal to the law-courts," the
dignity of those officials was recognized by their having the privilege
of presiding over the new tribunals ([Greek: hêgemonia dikastêriou]). A
similar position was assigned to the other executive officers, such as
the strategi (generals), the board of police called the "Eleven," and
the financial officers, all of whom presided over cases connected with
their respective departments. In their new position as presidents of the
several courts, the archons received plaints, obtained from both parties
the evidence which they proposed to present, formally presided at the
trial, and gave instructions for the execution of the sentence. The
choice of the presiding magistrate in each case was determined by the
normal duties of his office. Thus the chief archon, the official
guardian of orphans and widows, presided in all cases, public or
private, connected with the family property of citizens (Aristotle,
_u.s._ c. 56). The king-archon had charge of all offences against
religion, e.g. indictments for impiety, disputes within the family as to
the right to hold a particular priesthood, and all actions for homicide
(c. 57). The third archon, the polemarch, discharged in relation to
resident aliens all such legal duties as were discharged by the chief
archon in relation to citizens (c. 58). The trial of military offences
was under the presidency of the strategi, who were assisted by the other
military officers in preparing the case for the court. The six junior
archons, the _thesmothetae_, acted as a board which was responsible for
all cases not specially assigned to any other officials (details in c.
59).
The Forty.
The Forty, who were appointed by lot, four for each of the ten tribes,
acted as sole judges in petty cases where the damages claimed did not
exceed ten _drachmae_. Claims beyond that amount they handed over to the
arbitrators. The four representatives of any given tribe received notice
of such claims brought against members of that tribe. It seems probable
that they dealt with all private suits not otherwise assigned, but,
unlike the archons, they did not prepare any case for the court but
referred it, in the first instance, to a public arbitrator appointed by
lot (c. 53).[3]
The public arbitrators.
The public arbitrators ([Greek: diaitêtai]) were a body including all
Athenian citizens in the sixtieth year of their age. The arbitrator, on
receiving the case from the four representatives of the Forty, first
endeavoured to bring the parties to an agreement. If this failed, he
heard the evidence and gave a decision. If the decision were accepted,
the case was at an end, but, if either of the two parties insisted on
appealing to a law-court, the arbitrator placed in two caskets (one for
each party) copies of all the depositions, oaths and challenges, and of
all the laws quoted in the case, sealed them up, and, after attaching a
copy of his own decision, handed them over to the four representatives
of the Forty, who brought the case into court and presided over the
trial. Documents which had not been brought before the arbitrator could
not be produced in court. The court consisted of 201 jurors where the
sum in question was not more than 1000 _drachmae_ (£40); in other cases
the number of jurors was 401 (c. 53).
Eisagogeis.
A small board of five appointed by lot, one for each pair of tribes, and
known as the "introducers" ([Greek: eisagôgeis]), brought up certain of
the cases that had to be decided within a month ([Greek: emmênoi
dikai]), such as actions for restitution of dowry, repayment of capital
for setting up a business, and cases connected with banking.
Heliaea.
The largest and most important of the legal tribunals, the "dicastery"
(_par excellence_), was known as the _heliaea_. The name, which is of
uncertain origin,[4] denotes not only the place where the court was held
but also the members of the court,--the _heliastae_ of Aristophanes, the
_dicastae_, or [Greek: andres dikastai], of the Attic orators. During
the palmy days of the Athenian democracy, in the interval between the
Persian and the Peloponnesian wars, the total number liable to serve as
jurors is said to have been 6000 (Aristotle, _u.s._ c. 24. 3), and this
number was never exceeded (Aristoph. _Vesp._ 661 f.). Any Athenian
citizen in full possession of his rights, and over thirty years of age,
was entitled to be placed on the list (Aristotle, _u.s._ c. 63. 3). At
the beginning of the year the whole body of jurors assembled on the hill
of Ardettos looking down on the Panathenaic Stadium, and there took a
solemn oath to the effect that they would judge according to the laws
and decrees of the Athenian people and of the council of the Five
Hundred (Boule), and that, in cases where there were no laws, they would
decide to the best of their judgment; that they would hear both sides
impartially, and vote on the case actually before the court.
It has been suggested that, as the normal number of a court was 500, the
maximum number of 6000 jurors was probably divided into ten sections of
500 each, with 1000 reserves. There is evidence in the 4th century for
courts of 200, 400, 500, 700 and (in important political trials)
various multiples of 500, namely, 1000, 1500, 2000 or 2500. To some of
these numbers one juror is added; it was probably added to all, to
obviate the risk of the votes being exactly equal.
The evidence as to the organization of the jurors in the early part of
the 4th century is imperfect. Passages in Aristophanes (_Ecclesiazusae_,
682-688; _Plutus_, 1166 f.) imply that in 392-388 B.C. the total number
was divided into ten sections distinguished by the first ten letters of
the Greek alphabet, A to K. Every juror, on his first appointment,
received a ticket of boxwood (or of bronze) bearing his name with that
of his father and his deme, and with one of the above letters in the
upper left-hand corner. Of the bronze tickets many have been found (see
notes on Aristotle's _Constitution of Athens_, c. 63, and fig. 1 in
frontispiece, ed. Sandys). These tickets formed part of the machinery
for allotting the jurors to the several courts. To guard against the
possibility of bribery or other undue influence, the allotment did not
take place until immediately before the hearing of the case. Each court
contained an equal number of jurors from each of the ten tribes, and
thus represented the whole body of the state. The juror, on entering the
court assigned him, received a counter (see fig. 3 in frontispiece,
_u.s._), on presenting which at the end of the day he received his fee.
The machinery for carrying out the above arrangements is minutely
described at the end of Aristotle's _Constitution of Athens_ (for
details, cf. Gilbert, 397-399, Eng. trans., or Wyse in Whibley's
_Companion to Greek Studies_, 387 f.).
Jurisdiction of the council and assembly.
Eisangelia.
The law-courts gradually superseded most of the ancient judicial
functions of the council and the assembly, but the council continued to
hold a strict scrutiny ([Greek: dokimasia]) of candidates for office or
for other privileges, while the council itself, as well as all other
officials, had to give account ([Greek: euthyna]) on ceasing to hold
office. The council also retained the right to deal with extraordinary
crimes against the state. It was open to any citizen to bring such
crimes to the knowledge of the council in writing. The technical term
for this information, denunciation or impeachment was _eisangelia_
([Greek: eisangelia]). The council could inflict a fine of 500
_drachmae_ (£20), or, in important cases, refer the matter either to a
law-court, as in the trial of Antiphon (Thuc. viii. 68), or to the
ecclesia, as in that of Alcibiades (415 B.C.), and the strategi in
command at Arginusae (406; Xen. _Hell._ i. 7. 19). The term [Greek:
eisangelia] was also applied to denunciations brought against persons
who wronged the orphan or the widow, or against a public arbitrator who
had neglected his duty (Dem. _Meidias_, 86 f.).
Probole.
A "presentation" of criminal information ([Greek: probolê]) might be
laid before the assembly with a view to obtaining its preliminary
sanction for bringing the case before a judicial tribunal. Such was the
mode of procedure adopted against persons who had brought malicious,
groundless or vexatious accusations, or who had violated the sanctity of
certain public festivals. The leading example of the former is the trial
of the accusers who prompted the people to put to death the generals who
had won the Battle of Arginusae (Xen. _Hell._ i. 7. 34); and, of the
latter, the proceedings of Demosthenes against Meidias.
Classes of legal actions.
Legal actions ([Greek: dikai]) were classified as private ([Greek:
idiai]) or public ([Greek: dêmosiai]). The latter were also described as
[Greek: graphai] or "prosecutions," but some [Greek: graphai] were
called "private," when the state was regarded as only indirectly injured
by a wrong done to an individual citizen (Dem. xxi. 47). A private suit
could only be brought by the man directly interested, or, in the case of
a slave, a ward or an alien, by the master, guardian or patron
respectively; and, if the suit were successful, the sum claimed
generally went to the plaintiff. Public actions may be divided into
ordinary criminal cases, and offences against the state. As a rule they
could be instituted by any person who possessed the franchise, and the
penalty was paid to the state. If the prosecutor failed to obtain
one-fifth of the votes, he had to pay a fine of 1000 _drachmae_ (£40),
and lost the right of ever bringing a similar action.
Lawsuits, whether public or private, were also distinguished as [Greek:
dikai kata tinos] or [Greek: pros tina], according as the defeated party
could or could not be personally punished. Actions ([Greek: agônes])
were also distinguished as [Greek: agônes timêtoi] ("to be assessed"),
in which the amount of damages had to be determined by the court,
because it had not been fixed by law, and [Greek: atimêtoi] ("not to be
assessed"), in which the damages had _not_ to be determined by the
court, because they had already been fixed by law or by special
agreement.
Among special kinds of action were [Greek: apagôgê], [Greek: ephêgêsis]
and [Greek: endeixis]. These could only be employed when the offence was
patent and could not be denied. In the first, the person accused was
summarily arrested by the prosecutor and haled into the presence of the
proper official. In the second, the accuser took the officer with him to
arrest the culprit (Dem. xxii. 26). In the third, he lodged an
information with the official, and left the latter to effect the
capture. [Greek: Phasis], a general term for many kinds of legal
"information," was a form of procedure specially directed against those
who injured the fiscal interests of the state, and against guardians who
neglected the pecuniary interests of their wards. [Greek: Apographê] was
an action for confiscating property in private hands, which was claimed
as belonging to the state, the term being derived from the claimants'
written inventory of the property in question.
Ordinary legal procedure.
The ordinary procedure in all lawsuits, public or private, began with a
personal summons ([Greek: prosklêsis]) of the defendant by the plaintiff
accompanied by two witnesses ([Greek: klêtêres]). If the defendant
failed to appear in court, these witnesses gave proof of the summons,
and judgment went by default.
The action was begun by presenting a written statement of the case to
the magistrate who presided over trials of the class in question. If the
statement were accepted, court-fees were paid by both parties in a
private action, and by the prosecutor alone in a public action. The
magistrate fixed a day for the preliminary investigation ([Greek:
anakrisis]), and, whenever several causes were instituted at the same
time, he drew lots to determine the order in which they should be taken.
Hence the plaintiff was said "to have a suit assigned him by lot"
([Greek: lanchanein dikên]), a phrase practically equivalent to
"obtaining leave to bring an action." At the [Greek: anakrisis] the
plaintiff and defendant both swore to the truth of their statements. If
the defendant raised no formal protest, the trial proceeded in regular
course ([Greek: euthydikia]), but he might contend that the suit was
inadmissible, and, to prove his point, might bring witnesses to confront
those on the side of the plaintiff ([Greek: diamartyria]), or he might
rely on argument without witnesses by means of a written statement
traversing that of the plaintiff ([Greek: paragraphê]). The person who
submitted the special plea in bar of action naturally spoke first, and,
if he gained the verdict, the main suit could not come on, or, at any
rate, not in the way proposed or before the same court. A cross-action
([Greek: antigraphê]) might be brought by the defendant, but the verdict
did not necessarily affect that of the original suit.
Documents.
Challenges.
In the preliminary examination copies of the laws or other documents
bearing on the case were produced. If any such document were in the
hands of a third person, he could be compelled to produce it by an
action for that purpose ([Greek: eis emphanôn katastasin]). The
depositions were ordinarily made before the presiding officer and were
taken down in his presence. If a witness were compelled to be absent, a
certified copy of his deposition might be sent ([Greek: ekmartyria]).
The depositions of slaves were not accepted, unless made under torture,
and for receiving such evidence the consent of both parties was
required. Either party could challenge the other to submit his slaves to
the test ([Greek: proklêsis eis basanon]), and, in the event of the
challenge being refused, could comment on the fact when the case came
before the court. Either party could also challenge the other to take an
oath ([Greek: proklêsis eis horkon]), and, if the oath were declined,
could similarly comment on the fact.
The trial.
Mercantile cases had to be decided within the interval of a month;
others might be postponed for due cause. If, on the day of trial, one of
the parties was absent, his representative had to show cause under oath
([Greek: hupômosia]); if the other party objected, he did so under oath
([Greek: anthupômosia]). If the plea for delay were refused by the
court, and it were the defendant who failed to appear, judgment went by
default; in the absence of the plaintiff, the case was given in favour
of the defendant.
The official who had conducted the preliminary inquiry also presided at
the trial. The proceedings began with a solemn sacrifice. The plea of
the plaintiff and the formal reply of the defendant were then read by
the clerk. The court was next addressed first by the plaintiff, next by
the defendant; in some cases there were two speeches on each side. Every
litigant was legally required to conduct his own case. The speeches were
often composed by professional experts for delivery by the parties to
the suit, who were required to speak in person, though one or more
unprofessional supporters ([Greek: synhêgoroi]) might subsequently speak
in support of the case. The length of the speeches was in many cases
limited by law to a fixed time recorded by means of a water-clock
(clepsydra). Documents were not regarded as part of the speech, and,
while these were being read, the clock was stopped (Goethe found a
similar custom in force in Venice in October 1786). The witnesses were
never cross-examined, but one of the litigants might formally
interrogate the other. The case for the defence was sometimes finally
supported by pathetic appeals on the part of relatives and friends.
When the speeches were over, the votes were taken. In the 5th century
mussel-shells ([Greek: choirinai]) were used for the purpose. Each of
the jurors received a shell, which he placed in one of the two urns, in
that to the front if he voted for acquittal; in that to the back if he
voted for condemnation. If a second vote had to be taken to determine
the amount of the penalty, wax tablets were used, on which the juror
drew a long line, if he gave the heavy penalty demanded by the
plaintiff; a short one, if he decided in favour of the lighter penalty
proposed by the defendant.
In the 4th century the mussel-shells were replaced by disks of bronze.
Each disk (inscribed with the words [Greek: PSÊPHOS DÊMOSIA]) was about
1 in. in diameter, with a short tube running through the centre. This
tube was either perforated or closed (see figs. 6 and 7 in frontispiece
to Aristotle's _Constitution of Athens_, ed. Sandys). One of each kind
was given to every juror, who was required to use the perforated or the
closed disk, according as he voted for the plaintiff or for the
defendant. On the platform there were two urns, one of bronze and one of
wood. The juror placed in the hollow of his hand the disk that he
proposed to use, and closed his fingers on the extremity of the tube, so
that no one could see whether it were a perforated disk or not, and then
deposited it in the bronze urn, and (with the same precaution to ensure
secrecy) dropped the unused disk into the wooden urn. The votes were
sorted by persons appointed by lot, and counted by the president of the
court, and the result announced by the herald. For any second vote the
same procedure was adopted (Aristotle, _u.s._, c. 68 of Kenyon's Berlin
text).
Penalties.
Pecuniary penalties were inflicted both in public and in private suits;
personal penalties, in public suits only. Personal penalties included
sentences of death or exile, or different degrees of disfranchisement
([Greek: atimia]) with or without confiscation. Imprisonment _before_
trial was common, and persons mulcted in penalties might be imprisoned
until the penalties were paid, but imprisonment was never inflicted as
the _sole_ penalty after conviction. Foreigners alone could be sold into
slavery. Sentences of death were carried out under the supervision of
the board of police called the "Eleven." In ancient times a person
condemned was hurled into a deep pit (the barathrum) in a north-western
suburb of Athens. In later times he was compelled to drink the fatal
draught of hemlock. Common malefactors were beaten to death with clubs.
Fines were collected and confiscated property sold by special
officials, called [Greek: praktores] and [Greek: pôlêtai] respectively.
In private suits the sentence was executed by the state if the latter
had a share in any fine imposed, or if imprisonment were part of the
penalty. Otherwise, the execution of the sentence was left to the
plaintiff, who had the right of distraint, or, if this failed, could
bring an action of ejectment ([Greek: dikê hexougês]).
From the verdict of the heliaea there was no appeal. But, if judgment
had been given by default, the person condemned might bring an action to
prove that he was not responsible for such default, [Greek: tên erêmon]
(_sc._ [Greek: dikên]) [Greek: antilanchanein]. The corresponding term
for challenging the award of an arbitrator was [Greek: tên mê ousan
antilanchanein]. He might also bring an action for false evidence
([Greek: dikê pseudomartyrion]) against his opponent's witnesses, and,
on their conviction, have the sentence annulled. This "denunciation" of
false evidence was technically called [Greek: episkêpsis] and [Greek:
episkêptesthai].
Character of the Athenian tribunals.
The large number of the jurors made bribery difficult, but, as was first
proved by Anytus (in 409), not impossible. It also diminished the
feeling of personal responsibility, while it increased the influence of
political motives. In addressing such a court, the litigants were not
above appealing to the personal interests of the general public. We have
a striking example of this in the terms in which Lysias makes one of his
clients close a speech in prosecution of certain retail corn-dealers who
have incurred the penalty of death by buying more than 75 bushels of
wheat at one time: "If you _condemn_ these persons, you will be doing
what is right, and will pay _less_ for the purchase of your corn; if you
_acquit_ them, you will pay _more_" (xxii. § 22).
Speakers were also tempted to take advantage of the popular ignorance by
misinterpreting the enactments of the law, and the jurors could look for
no aid from the officials who formally presided over the courts. The
latter were not necessarily experts, for they owed their own original
appointment to the caprice of the lot. Almost the only officials
specially elected as experts were the strategi, and these presided only
in their own courts. Again, there was every temptation for the informer
to propose the confiscation of the property of a wealthy citizen, who
would naturally prefer paying blackmail to running the risk of having
his case tried before a large tribunal which was under every temptation
to decide in the interests of the treasury. In conclusion we may quote
the opinions on the judicial system of Athens which have been expressed
by two eminent classical scholars and English lawyers.
A translator of Aristophanes, Mr B. B. Rogers, records his opinion
"that it would be difficult to devise a judicial system less adapted
for the due administration of justice" (Preface to _Wasps_, xxxv. f.),
while a translator of Demosthenes, Mr C. R. Kennedy, observes that the
Athenian jurors "were persons of no legal education or learning; taken
at haphazard from the whole body of citizens, and mostly belonging to
the lowest and poorest class. On the other hand, the Athenians were
naturally the quickest and cleverest people in the world. Their wits
were sharpened by the habit ... of taking an active part in important
debates, and hearing the most splendid orators. There was so much
litigation at Athens that they were constantly either engaged as
jurors, or present as spectators in courts of law" (_Private
Orations_, p. 361).
AUTHORITIES.--1. Greek Law. B. W. Leist, _Gräco-italische
Rechtsgeschichte_ (Jena, 1884); L. Mitteis, _Reichsrecht und
Volksrecht in den östlichen Provinzen des römischen Kaiserreichs, mit
Beiträgen zur Kenntnis des griechischen Rechts_ (Leipzig, 1891); J. H.
Lipsius, _Von der Bedeutung des griechischen Rechts_ (Leipzig, 1893);
G. Gilbert, "Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte des ... griechischen Rechtes"
in _Jahrb. für kl. Philologie_ (Leipzig, 1896); H. J. Hitzig, _Die
Bedeutung des altgriechischen Rechtes für die vergleichende
Rechtswissenschaft_ (Stuttgart, 1906); R. Hirzel, _Themis, Dike und
Verwandtes_ (Leipzig, 1907); J. J. Thonissen, _Le Droit criminel de la
Grèce légendaire_, followed by _Le Droit pénal de la république
athénienne_ (Brussels, 1875).
2. Attic Law. (a) Editions of Greek texts: I. B. Télfy, _Corpus juris
Attici_ (Pest and Leipzig, 1868); Aristotle's _Constitution of
Athens_, ed. Kenyon (London, 1891, &c., and esp. ed. 4, Berlin, 1903);
ed. 4, Blass (Leipzig, 1903); text with critical and explanatory
notes, ed. Sandys (London, 1893); Lysias, ed. Frohberger (Leipzig,
1866-1871); Isaeus, ed. Wyse (Cambridge, 1904); Demosthenes, _Private
Orations_, ed. Paley and Sandys, ed. 3 (Cambridge, 1896-1898);
_Against Midias_, ed. Goodwin (Cambridge, 1906); Dareste,
Haussoullier, Th. Reinach, _Inscr. juridiques grecques_ (Paris,
1891-1904). (b) Modern treatises: K. F. Hermann, _De vestigiis
institutorum ... Atticorum per Platonis de legibus libros indagandis_
(Marburg, 1836); _Staatsaltertümer_, ed. 6, Thumser (Freiburg, 1892);
_Rechtsaltertümer_, ed. 3, Thalheim (Freiburg, 1884); G. Busolt,
_Staatsund Rechtsaltertümer_, ed. 2 (Munich, 1892); U. von
Wilamowitz-Möllendorff, _Aristoteles und Athen_ (Berlin, 1893); G.
Gilbert, _Gk. Constitutional Antiquities_ (vol. i., Eng. trans., pp.
376-416, London, 1895); J. H. Lipsius, (1) new ed. of Meier and
Schömann, _Der attische Process_ (Berlin, 1883-1887); (2) ed. 4 of
Schömann, _Gr. Altertümer_ (Berlin, 1897-1902); (3) _Das attische
Recht und Rechtsverfahren_ (Leipzig, 1905); Daremberg and Saglio,
_Dictionnaire des antiquités_ (Paris, 1877); G. Glotz, _La Solidarité
de la famille dans le droit criminel en Grèce_ (Paris, 1904); L.
Beauchet, _Droit privé de la rép. athén._ (4 vols., Paris, 1897); C.
R. Kennedy, _Appendices to transl. of Dem._ vols. iii. and iv.
(1856-1861); Smith's _Dictionary of ... Antiquities_, ed. 3 (1891); F.
B. Jevons, in Gardner and Jevons, _Greek Antiquities_ (1895, pp.
526-597); W. Wyse, in Whibley's _Companion to Greek Studies_
(Cambridge, 1905), pp. 377-402. (J. E. S.*)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For further information as to the evolution of the Athenian
constitution see ARCHON, AREOPAGUS, BOULE, ECCLESIA, STRATEGUS, and
articles on all the chief legislators.
[2] In the case of "animals," we may compare the Mosaic law of Exod.
xxxi. 28 and the old Germanic law (Grimm 664); and in that of
"inanimate objects," the English law of deodands (Blackstone i. 300),
repealed in 1846. See also Frazer on Pausanias, i. 28. 10.
[3] Cf. R. J. Bonner, in _Classical Philology_ (Chicago, 1907),
407-418, who urges that only cases belonging to the Forty were
subject to public arbitration.
[4] Connected either with [Greek: halizesthai], "to assemble," or
[Greek: hêlios], or [Greek: Hêlis] (cf. Curt Wachsmuth, _Stadt
Athen_, ii. (1) 359-364). The first is possibly right (cf. Rogers on
Aristoph. _Wasps_, xvii. f.); the second implies that this large
court was held in the open air (Lipsius, _Att. Recht_, 172).
GREEK LITERATURE.--The literature of the Greek language is broadly
divisible into three main sections: (1) Ancient, (2) Byzantine, (3)
Modern. These are dealt with below in that order.
1. THE ANCIENT GREEK LITERATURE
The ancient literature falls into three periods: (A) _The Early
Literature_, to about 475 B.C.; epic, elegiac, iambic and lyric poetry;
the beginnings of literary prose. (B) _The Attic Literature_ 475-300
B.C.; tragic and comic drama; historical, oratorical and philosophical
prose. (C) _The Literature of the Decadence_, 300 B.C. to A.D. 529;
which may again be divided into the Alexandrian period, 300-146 B.C.,
and the Graeco-Roman period, 146 B.C. to A.D. 529.
For details regarding particular works or the lives of their authors
reference should be made to the separate articles devoted to the
principal Greek writers. The object of the following pages is to sketch
the literary development as a whole, to show how its successive periods
were related to each other, and to mark the dominant characteristics of
each.
(A) _The Early Literature._--A process of natural growth may be traced
through all the best work of the Greek genius. The Greeks were not
literary imitators of foreign models; the forms of poetry and prose in
which they attained to such unequalled excellence were first developed
by themselves. Their literature had its roots in their political and
social life; it is the spontaneous expression of that life in youth,
maturity and decay; and the order in which its several fruits are
produced is not the result of accident or caprice. Further, the old
Greek literature has a striking completeness, due to the fact that each
great branch of the Hellenic race bore a characteristic part in its
development. Ionians, Aeolians, Dorians, in turn contributed their
share. Each dialect corresponded to a certain aspect of Hellenic life
and character. Each found its appropriate work.
The dialects.
The Ionians on the coast of Asia Minor--a lively and genial people,
delighting in adventure, and keenly sensitive to everything bright and
joyous--created artistic epic poetry out of the lays in which Aeolic
minstrels sang of the old Achaean wars. And among the Ionians arose
elegiac poetry, the first variation on the epic type. These found a
fitting instrument in the harmonious Ionic dialect, the flexible
utterance of a quick and versatile intelligence. The Aeolians of Lesbos
next created the lyric of personal passion, in which the traits of their
race--its chivalrous pride, its bold but sensuous fancy--found a fitting
voice in the fiery strength and tenderness of Aeolic speech. The Dorians
of the Peloponnesus, Sicily and Magna Graecia then perfected the choral
lyric for festivals and religious worship; and here again an earnest
faith, a strong pride in Dorian usage and renown had an apt interpreter
in the massive and sonorous Doric. Finally, the Attic branch of the
Ionian stock produced the drama, blending elements of all the other
kinds, and developed an artistic literary prose in history, oratory and
philosophy. It is in the Attic literature that the Greek mind receives
its most complete interpretation.
A natural affinity was felt to exist between each dialect and that
species of composition for which it had been specially used. Hence the
dialect of the Ionian epic poets would be adopted with more or less
thoroughness even by epic or elegiac poets who were not Ionians. Thus
the Aeolian Hesiod uses it in epos, the Dorian Theognis in elegy, though
not without alloy. Similarly, the Dorian Theocritus wrote love-songs in
Aeolic. All the faculties and tones of the language were thus gradually
brought out by the co-operation of the dialects. Old Greek literature
has an essential unity--the unity of a living organism; and this unity
comprehends a number of distinct types, each of which is complete in its
own kind.
Pre-Homeric poetry.
Songs of the seasons.
Hymns.
Extant Greek literature begins with the Homeric poems. These are works
of art which imply a long period of antecedent poetical cultivation. Of
the pre-Homeric poetry we have no remains, and very little knowledge.
Such glimpses as we get of it connect it with two different stages in
the religion of the prehistoric Hellenes. The first of these stages is
that in which the agencies or forms of external nature were personified
indeed, yet with the consciousness that the personal names were only
symbols. Some very ancient Greek songs of which mention is made may have
belonged to this stage--as the songs of Linus, Ialemus and Hylas. Linus,
the fair youth killed by dogs, seems to be the spring passing away
before Sirius. Such songs have been aptly called "songs of the seasons."
The second stage is that in which the Hellenes have now definitively
personified the powers which they worship. Apollo, Demeter, Dionysus,
Cybele, have now become to them beings with clearly conceived
attributes. To this second stage belong the hymns connected with the
names of the legendary bards, such as Orpheus, Musaeus, Eumolpus, who
are themselves associated with the worship of the Pierian Muses and the
Attic ritual of Demeter. The seats of this early sacred poetry are not
only "Thracian"--i.e. on the borders of northern Greece--but also
"Phrygian" and "Cretan." It belongs, that is, presumably to an age when
the ancestors of the Hellenes had left the Indo-European home in central
Asia, but had not yet taken full possession of the lands which were
afterwards Hellenic. Some of their tribes were still in Asia; others
were settling in the islands of the Aegean; others were passing through
the lands on its northern seaboard. If there was a period when the
Greeks possessed no poetry but hymns forming part of a religious ritual,
it may be conjectured that it was not of long duration. Already in the
_Iliad_ a secular character belongs to the marriage hymn and to the
dirge for the dead, which in ancient India were chanted by the priest.
The bent of the Greeks was to claim poetry and music as public joys;
they would not long have suffered them to remain sacerdotal mysteries.
And among the earliest themes on which the lay artist in poetry was
employed were probably war-ballads, sung by minstrels in the houses of
the chiefs whose ancestors they celebrated.
Epos.
Such war-ballads were the materials from which the earliest epic poetry
of Greece was constructed. By an "epic" poem the Greeks meant a
narrative of heroic action in hexameter verse. The term [Greek: epê]
meant at first simply "verses"; it acquired its special meaning only
when [Greek: melê], lyric songs set to music, came to be distinguished
from [Greek: epê] verses not set to music, but merely recited. Epic
poetry is the only kind of extant Greek poetry which is older than about
700 B.C. The early epos of Greece is represented by the _Iliad_ and the
_Odyssey_, Hesiod and the Homeric hymns; also by some fragments of the
"Cyclic" poets.
The "Iliad" and the "Odyssey."
After the Dorian conquest of the Peloponnesus, the Aeolian emigrants who
settled in the north-west of Asia Minor brought with them the warlike
legends of their chiefs, the Achaean princes of old. These legends lived
in the ballads of the Aeolic minstrels, and from them passed southward
into Ionia, where the Ionian poets gradually shaped them into higher
artistic forms. Among the seven places which claimed to be the
birthplace of Homer, that which has the best title is Smyrna. Homer
himself is called "son of Meles"--the stream which flowed through old
Smyrna, on the border between Aeolia and Ionia. The tradition is
significant in regard to the origin and character of the _Iliad_, for in
the _Iliad_ we have Achaean ballads worked up by Ionian art. A
preponderance of evidence is in favour of the view that the _Odyssey_
also, at least in its earliest form, was composed on the Ionian coast of
Asia Minor. According to the Spartan account, Lycurgus was the first to
bring to Greece a complete copy of the Homeric poems, which he had
obtained from the Creophylidae, a clan or gild of poets in Samos. A
better authenticated tradition connects Athens with early attempts to
preserve the chief poetical treasure of the nation. Peisistratus is said
to have charged some learned men with the task of collecting all "the
poems of Homer"; but it is difficult to decide how much was comprehended
under this last phrase, or whether the province of the commission went
beyond the mere task of collecting. Nor can it be determined what
exactly it was that Solon and Hipparchus respectively did for the
Homeric poems. Solon, it has been thought, enacted that the poems should
be recited from an authorized text ([Greek: ex hypobolês]); Hipparchus,
that they should be recited in a regular order ([Greek: ex
hypolêpseôs]). At any rate, we know that in the 6th century B.C. a
recitation of the poems of Homer was one of the established competitions
at the Panathenaea, held once in four years. The reciter was called a
_rhapsodist_--properly one who weaves a long, smoothly-flowing chant,
then an epic poet who chants his own or another's poem. The rhapsodist
did not, like the early minstrel, use the accompaniment of the harp; he
gave the verses in a flowing recitative, bearing in his hand a branch of
laurel, the symbol of Apollo's inspiration. In the 5th century B.C. we
find that various Greek cities had their own editions ([Greek: hai
politikai, kata poleis] or [Greek: ek poleôn ekdoseis]) of the poems,
for recitation at their festivals. Among these were the editions of
Massilia, of Chios and of Argolis. There were also editions bearing the
name of the individual editor ([Greek: hai kat' andra])--the best known
being that which Aristotle prepared for Alexander. The recension of the
poems by Aristarchus (156 B.C.) became the standard one, and is probably
that on which the existing text is based. The oldest Homeric MS. extant,
Venetus A of the _Iliad_, is of the 10th century; the first printed
edition of Homer was that edited by the Byzantine Demetrius Chalcondyles
(Florence, 1488).
The Homeric question.
The ancient Greeks were almost unanimous in believing the _Iliad_ and
the _Odyssey_ to be the work of one man, Homer, to whom they also
ascribed some extant hymns, and probably much more besides. Aristotle
and Aristarchus seem to have put Homer's date about 1044 B.C., Herodotus
about 850 B.C. It is not till about 170 B.C. that the grammarians
Hellanicus and Xenon put forward the view that Homer was the author of
the _Iliad_, but not of the _Odyssey_. Those who followed them in
assigning different authors to the two poems were called the Separators
(_Chorizontes_). Aristarchus combated "the paradox of Xenon," and it
does not seem to have had much acceptance in antiquity. Giovanni
Battista Vico, a Neapolitan (1668-1744), seems to have been the first
modern to suggest the composite authorship and oral tradition of the
Homeric poems; but this was a pure conjecture in support of his theory
that the names of ancient lawgivers and poets are often mere symbols. F.
A. Wolf, in the _Prolegomena_ to his edition (1795), was the founder of
a scientific scepticism. The _Iliad_, he said (for he recognized the
comparative unity and consistency of the _Odyssey_), was pieced together
from many small unwritten poems by various hands, and was first
committed to writing in the time of Peisistratus. This view was in
harmony with the tone of German criticism at the time; it was welcomed
as a new testimony to the superiority of popular poetry, springing from
fresh natural sources, to elaborate works of art; and it at once found
enthusiastic adherents. For the course of Homeric controversy since Wolf
the reader is referred to the article HOMER.
Cyclic poems.
The Ionian school of epos produced a number of poems founded on the
legends of the Trojan war, and intended as introductions or
continuations to the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_. The grammarian Proclus
(A.D. 140) has preserved the names and subjects of some of these; but
the fragments are very scanty. The _Nostoi_ or _Homeward Voyages_, by
Agias (or Hagias) of Troezen, filled up the gap of ten years between
the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_; the _Lay of Telegonus_, by Eugammon of
Cyrene, continued the story of the Odyssey to the death of Odysseus by
the hand of Telegonus, the son whom Circe bore to him. Similarly the
_Cyprian Lays_ by Stasinus of Cyprus, ascribed by others to Hegesias (or
Hegesinus) of Salamis or Halicarnassus, was introductory to the _Iliad_;
the _Aethiopis_ and the _Sack of Troy_, by Arctinus of Miletus, and the
_Little Iliad_, by Lesches of Mytilene, were supplementary to it. These
and many other names of lost epics--some taken also from the Theban
myths (_Thebaïs_, _Epigoni_, _Oedipodea_)--serve to show how prolific
was that epic school of which only two great examples remain. The name
of _epic cycle_ was properly applied to a prose compilation of abstracts
from these epics, pieced together in the order of the events. The
compilers were called "cyclic" writers; and the term has now been
transferred to the epic poets whom they used.[1]
Hesiodic epos.
The epic poetry of Ionia celebrated the great deeds of heroes in the old
wars. But in Greece proper there arose another school of epos, which
busied itself with religious lore and ethical precepts, especially in
relation to the rural life of Boeotia. This school is represented by the
name of Hesiod. The legend spoke of him as vanquishing Homer in a
poetical contest of Chalcis in Euboea; and it expresses the fact that,
to the old Greek mind, these two names stood for two contrasted epic
types. Nothing is certainly known of his date, except that it must have
been subsequent to the maturity of Ionian epos. He is conjecturally
placed about 850-800 B.C.; but some would refer him to the early part of
the 7th century B.C. His home was at Ascra, a village in a valley under
Helicon, whither his father had migrated from Cyme in Aeolis on the
coast of Asia Minor. In Hesiod's _Works and Days_ we have the earliest
example of a didactic poem. The seasons and the labours of the Boeotian
farmer's year are followed by a list of the days which are lucky or
unlucky for work. The _Theogony_, or "Origin of the Gods," describes
first how the visible order of nature arose out of chaos; next, how the
gods were born. Though it never possessed the character of a sacred
book, it remained a standard authority on the genealogies of the gods.
So far as a corrupt and confused text warrants a judgment, the poet was
piecing together--not always intelligently--the fragments of a very old
cosmogonic system, using for this purpose both the hymns preserved in
the temples and the myths which lived in folklore. The epic lay in 480
lines called the _Shield of Heracles_--partly imitated from the 18th
book of the _Iliad_--is the work of an author or authors later than
Hesiod. In the Hesiodic poetry, as represented by the _Works and Days_
and the _Theogony_, we see the influence of the temple at Delphi. Hesiod
recognizes the existence of [Greek: daimones]--spirits of the departed
who haunt the earth as the invisible guardians of justice; and he
connects the office of the poet with that of the prophet. The poet is
one whom the gods have authorized to impress doctrine and practical
duties on men. A religious purpose was essentially characteristic of the
Hesiodic school. Its poets treated the old legends as relics of a sacred
history, and not merely, in the Ionian manner, as subjects of idealizing
art. Such titles as the _Maxims of Cheiron_ and the _Lay of Melampus_,
the seer--lost poems of the Hesiodic school--illustrate its ethical and
its mystic tendencies.
The Homeric hymns.
The _Homeric Hymns_ are a collection of pieces, some of them very short,
in hexameter verse. Their traditional title is--_Hymns_ or _Preludes of
Homer and the Homeridae_. The second of the alternative designations is
the true one. The pieces are not "hymns" used in formal worship, but
"preludes" or prefatory addresses ([Greek: prooimia]) with which the
rhapsodists ushered in their recitations of epic poetry. The "prelude"
might be addressed to the presiding god of the festival, or to any local
deity whom the reciter wished to honour. The pieces (of which there are
33) range in date perhaps from 750 to 500 B.C. (though some authorities
assign dates as late as the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D.; see ed. by Sikes
and Allen, e.g. p. 228), and it is probable that the collection was
formed in Attica, for the use of rhapsodists. The style is that of the
Ionian or Homeric epos; but there are also several traces of the
Hesiodic or Boeotian school. The principal "hymns" are (1) to Apollo
(generally treated as two or more hymns combined in one); (2) to Hermes;
(3) to Aphrodite; and (4) to Demeter. The hymn to Apollo, quoted by
Thucydides (iii. 104) as Homer's, is of peculiar interest on account of
the lines describing the Ionian festival at Delos. Two celebrated pieces
of a sportive kind passed under Homer's name. The _Margites_--a comic
poem on one "who knew many things but knew them all badly"--is regarded
by Aristotle as the earliest germ of comedy, and was possibly as old as
700 B.C. Only a few lines remain. The _Batracho(myo)machia_, or _Battle
of the Frogs and Mice_ probably belongs to the decline of Greek
literature, perhaps to the 2nd century B.C.[2] About 300 verses of it
are extant.
Transition from epos to elegy.
In the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ the personal opinions or sympathies of
the poet may sometimes be conjectured, but they are not declared or even
hinted. Hesiod, indeed, sometimes gives us a glimpse of his own troubles
or views. Yet Hesiod is, on the whole, essentially a prophet. The
message which he delivers is not from himself; the truths which he
imparts have not been discovered by his own search. He is the mouthpiece
of the Delphian Apollo. Personal opinion and feeling may tinge his
utterance, but they do not determine its general complexion. The egotism
is a single thread; it is not the basis of the texture. Epic poetry was
in Greece the foundation of all other poetry; for many centuries no
other kind was generally cultivated, no other could speak to the whole
people. Politically, the age was monarchical or aristocratic;
intellectually, it was too simple for the analysis of thought or
emotion. Kings and princes loved to hear of the great deeds of their
ancestors; common men loved to hear of them too, for they had no other
interest. The mind of Greece found no subject of contemplation so
attractive as the warlike past of the race, or so useful as that lore
which experience and tradition had bequeathed. But in the course of the
8th century B.C. the rule of hereditary princes began to disappear.
Monarchy gave place to oligarchy, and this--often after the intermediate
phase of a tyrannis--to democracy. Such a change was necessarily
favourable to the growth of reflection. The private citizen is no longer
a mere cipher, the Homeric [Greek: tis], a unit in the dim multitude of
the king-ruled folk; he gains more power of independent action, his
mental horizon is widened, his life becomes fuller and more interesting.
He begins to feel the need of expressing the thoughts and feelings that
are stirred in him. But as yet a prose literature does not exist; the
new thoughts, like the old heroic stories, must still be told in verse.
The forms of verse created by this need were the Elegiac and the Iambic.
Elegy.
The elegiac metre is, in form, a simple variation on the epic metre,
obtained by docking the second of two hexameters so as to make it a
verse of five feet or measures. But the poetical capabilities of the
elegiac couplet are of a wholly different kind from those of heroic
verse. [Greek: elegos] seems to be the Greek form of a name given by the
Carians and Lydians to a lament for the dead. This was accompanied by
the soft music of the Lydian flute, which continued to be associated
with Greek elegy. The non-Hellenic origin of elegy is indicated by this
very fact. The flute was to the Greeks an Asiatic instrument--string
instruments were those which they made their own--and it would hardly
have been wedded by them to a species of poetry which had arisen among
themselves. The early elegiac poetry of Greece was by no means confined
to mourning for the dead. War, love, politics, proverbial philosophy,
were in turn its themes; it dealt, in fact, with the chief interest of
the poet and his friends, whatever that might be at the time. It is the
direct expression of the poet's own thoughts, addressed to a
sympathizing society. This is its first characteristic. The second is
that, even when most pathetic or most spirited, it still preserves, on
the whole, the tone of conversation or of narrative. Greek elegy stops
short of lyric passion. English elegy, whether funereal as in Dryden and
Pope, or reflective as in Gray, is usually true to the same normal type.
Roman elegy is not equally true to it, but sometimes tends to trench on
the lyric province. For Roman elegy is mainly amatory or sentimental;
and its masters imitated, as a rule, not the early Greek elegists, not
Tyrtaeus or Theognis, but the later Alexandrian elegists, such as
Callimachus or Philetas. Catullus introduced the metre to Latin
literature, and used it with more fidelity than his followers to its
genuine Greek inspiration.
Iambic verse.
Elegy, as we have seen, was the first slight deviation from epos. But
almost at the same time another species arose which had nothing in
common with epos, either in form or in spirit. This was the iambic. The
word [Greek: iambos], _iambus_ ([Greek: iaptein], to dart or shoot) was
used in reference to the licensed raillery at the festivals of Demeter;
it was the maiden Iambe, the myth said, who drew the first smile from
the mourning goddess. The iambic metre was at first used for satire; and
it was in this strain that it was chiefly employed by its earliest
master of note, Archilochus of Paros (670 B.C.). But it was adapted to
the expression generally of any pointed thought. Thus it was suitable to
fables. Elegiac and iambic poetry both belong to the borderland between
epic and lyric. While, however, elegy stands nearer to epos, iambic
stands nearer to the lyric. Iambic poetry can express the personal
feeling of the poet with greater intensity than elegy does; on the other
hand, it has not the lyric flexibility, self-abandonment or glow. As we
see in the case of Solon, iambic verse could serve for the expression of
that deeper thought, that more inward self-communing, for which the
elegiac form would have been inappropriate.
But these two forms of poetry, both Ionian, the elegiac and the iambic,
belong essentially to the same stage of the literature. They stand
between the Ionian epos and the lyric poetry of the Aeolians and
Dorians. The earliest of the Greek elegists, Callinus and Tyrtaeus, use
elegy to rouse a warlike spirit in sinking hearts. Archilochus too wrote
warlike elegy, but used it also in other strains, as in lament for the
dead. The elegy of Mimnermus of Smyrna or Colophon is the plaintive
farewell of an ease-loving Ionian to the days of Ionian freedom. In
Solon elegy takes a higher range; it becomes political and ethical.[3]
Theognis represents the maturer union of politics with a proverbial
philosophy. Another gnomic poet was Phocylides of Miletus; an admonitory
poem extant under his name is probably the work of an Alexandrine Jewish
Christian. Xenophanes gives a philosophic strain to elegy. With
Simonides of Ceos it reverts, in an exquisite form, to its earliest
destination, and becomes the vehicle of epitaph on those who fell in the
Persian Wars. Iambic verse was used by Simonides (or Semonides) of
Amorgus, as by Archilochus, for satire--but satire directed against
classes rather than persons. Solon's iambics so far preserve the old
associations of the metre that they represent the polemical or
controversial side of his political poetry. Hipponax of Ephesus was
another iambic satirist--using the [Greek: skazôn] ("limping") or
choliambic verse, produced by substituting a spondee for an iambus in
the last place. But it was not until the rise of the Attic drama that
the full capabilities of iambic verse were seen.
Lyric poetry.
The lyric poetry of early Greece may be regarded as the final form of
that effort at self-expression which in the elegiac and iambic is still
incomplete. The lyric expression is deeper and more impassioned. Its
intimate union with music and with the rhythmical movement of the dance
gives to it more of an ideal character. At the same time the continuity
of the music permits pauses to the voice--pauses necessary as reliefs
after a climax. Before lyric poetry could be effective, it was necessary
that some progress should have been made in the art of music. The
instrument used by the Greeks to accompany the voice was the
four-stringed lyre, and the first great epoch in Greek music was when
Terpander of Lesbos (660 B.C.), by adding three strings, gave the lyre
the compass of the octave. Further improvements are ascribed to Olympus
and Thaletas. By 500 B.C. Greek music had probably acquired all the
powers of expression which the lyric poet could demand. The period of
Greek lyric poetry may be roughly defined as from 670 to 440 B.C. Two
different parts in its development were taken by the Aeolians and the
Dorians.
Aeolian school.
The lyric poetry of the Aeolians--especially of Lesbos--was essentially
the utterance of personal feeling, and was usually intended for a single
voice, not for a chorus. Lesbos, in the 7th century B.C., had attained
some naval and commercial importance. But the strife of oligarchy and
democracy was active; the Lesbian nobles were often driven by revolution
to exchange their luxurious home-life for the hardships of exile. It is
such a life of contrasts and excitements, working on a sensuous and
fiery temperament, that is reflected in the fragments of Alcaeus. In
these glimpses of war and love, of anxiety for the storm-tossed state
and of careless festivity, there is much of the cavalier spirit; if
Archilochus is in certain aspects a Greek Byron, Alcaeus might be
compared to Lovelace. The other great representative of the Aeolian
lyric is Sappho, the only woman of Greek race who is known to have
possessed poetical genius of the first order. Intensity and melody are
the characteristics of the fragments that remain to us.[4] Probably no
poet ever surpassed Sappho as an interpreter of passion in exquisitely
subtle harmonies of form and sound. Anacreon of Teos, in Ionia, may be
classed with the Aeolian lyrists in so far as the matter and form of his
work resembled theirs, though the dialect in which he wrote was mainly
the Ionian. A few fragments remain from his hymns to the gods, from
love-poems and festive songs. The collection of sixty short pieces which
passes current under his name date only from the 10th century. The short
poems which it comprises are of various age and authorship, probably
ranging in date from c. 200 B.C. to A.D. 400 or 500. They have not the
pure style, the flexible grace, or the sweetness of the classical
fragments; but the verses, though somewhat mechanical, are often pretty.
Dorian school.
The Dorian lyric poetry, in contrast with the Aeolian, had more of a
public than of a personal character, and was for the most part choral.
Hymns or choruses for the public worship of the gods, and odes to be
sung at festivals on occasions of public interest, were its
characteristic forms. Its central inspiration was the pride of the
Dorians in the Dorian past, in their traditions of worship, government
and social usage. The history of the Dorian lyric poetry does not
present us with vivid expressions of personal character, like those of
Alcaeus and Sappho, but rather with a series of artists whose names are
associated with improvements of form. Thus Alcman (the Doric form of
Alcmaeon; 660 B.C.) is said to have introduced the balanced movement of
strophe and antistrophe. Stesichorus, of Himera in Sicily, added the
epode, sung by the chorus while stationary after these movements; Arion
of Methymna in Lesbos gave a finished form to the choral hymn
("dithyramb") in honour of Dionysus, and organized the "cyclic" or
circular chorus which sang it at the altar. Ibycus of Rhegium (c. 540)
wrote choral lyrics after Stesichorus and glowing love-songs in the
Aeolic style.
Simonides and Pindar.
The culmination of the lyric poetry is marked by two great names,
Simonides and Pindar. Simonides (556-468) was an Ionian of the island of
Ceos, but his lyrics belonged by form to the choral Dorian school. Many
of his subjects were taken from the events of the Persian wars: his
epitaphs on those who fell at Thermopylae and Salamis were celebrated.
In him the lyric art of the Dorians is interpreted by Ionian genius, and
Athens--where part of his life was passed--is the point at which they
meet. Simonides is the first Greek lyrist whose significance is not
merely Aeolian or Dorian but Panhellenic. The same character belongs
even more completely to his younger contemporary. Pindar (518-c. 443)
was born in Boeotia of a Dorian stock; thus, as Ionian and Dorian
elements meet in Simonides, so Dorian and Aeolian elements meet in
Pindar. Simonides was perhaps the most tender and most exquisite of the
lyric poets. Pindar was the boldest, the most fervid and the most
sublime. His extant fragments[5] represent almost every branch of the
lyric art. But he is known to us mainly by forty-four _Epinicia_, or
odes of victory, for the Olympian, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian
festivals. The general characteristic of the treatment is that the
particular victory is made the occasion of introducing heroic legends
connected with the family or city of the victor, and of inculcating the
moral lessons which they teach. No Greek lyric poetry can be completely
appreciated apart from the music, now lost, to which it was set.
Pindar's odes were, further, essentially occasional poems; they abound
in allusions of which the effect is partly or wholly lost on us; and the
glories which they celebrate belong to a life which we can but
imperfectly realize. Of all the great Greek poets, Pindar is perhaps the
one to whom it is hardest for us to do justice; yet we can at least
recognize his splendour of imagination, his strong rapidity and his
soaring flight.
Bacchylides of Ceos (c. 504-430), the youngest of the three great lyric
poets and nephew of Simonides, was known only by scanty fragments until
the discovery of nineteen poems on an Egyptian papyrus in 1896. They
consist of thirteen (or fourteen) epinicia, two of which celebrate the
same victories as two odes of Pindar. The papyrus also contains six odes
for the festivals of gods or heroes. The poems contain valuable
information on the court life of the time and legendary history.
Bacchylides, the little "Cean nightingale," is inferior to his great
rival Pindar, "the Swan of Dirce," in originality and splendour of
language, but he writes simply and elegantly, while his excellent
[Greek: gnômai] attracted readers of a philosophical turn of mind,
amongst them the emperor Julian.
Similarly, the scanty fragments of Timotheus of Miletus (d. 357),
musical composer and poet, and inventor of the eleven-stringed lyre,
were increased by the discovery in 1902 of some 250 lines of his "nome"
the _Persae_, written after the manner of Terpander. The beginning is
lost; the middle describes the battle of Salamis; the end is of a
personal nature. The papyrus is the oldest Greek MS. and belongs to the
age of Alexander the Great. The language is frequently very obscure, and
the whole is a specimen of lyric poetry in its decline.
(B) _The Attic Literature._--The Ionians of Asia Minor, the Aeolians and
the Dorians had now performed their special parts in the development of
Greek literature. Epic poetry had interpreted the heroic legends of
warlike deeds done by Zeus-nourished kings and chiefs. Then, as the
individual life became more and more elegiac and iambic poetry had
become the social expression of that life in all its varied interests
and feelings. Lastly, lyric poetry had arisen to satisfy a twofold
need--to be the more intense utterance of personal emotion, or to give
choral voice, at stirring moments, to the faith or fame, the triumph or
the sorrow, of a city or a race. A new form of poetry was now to be
created, with elements borrowed from all the rest. And this was to be
achieved by the people of Attica, in whose character and language the
distinctive traits of an Ionian descent were tempered with some of the
best qualities of the Dorian stock.
Origin of drama.
Tragedy.
The drama (q.v.) arose from the festivals of Dionysus, the god of wine,
which were held at intervals from the beginning of winter to the
beginning of spring. A troop of rustic worshippers would gather around
the altar of the god, and sing a hymn in his honour, telling of his
victories or sufferings in his progress over the earth. "Tragedy" meant
"the goat-song," a goat ([Greek: tragos]) being sacrificed to Dionysus
before the hymn was sung. "Comedy," "the village-song," is the same hymn
regarded as an occasion for rustic jest. Then the leader of the chorus
would assume the part of a messenger from Dionysus, or even that of the
god himself, and recite an adventure to the worshippers, who made choral
response. The next step was to arrange a dialogue between the leader
([Greek: koryphaios], _coryphaeus_) and one chosen member of the chorus,
hence called "the answerer" ([Greek: hypokritês], _hypocrites_,
afterwards the ordinary word for "actor"). This last improvement is
ascribed to the Attic Thespis (about 536 B.C.). The elements of drama
were now ready. The choral hymn to Dionysus (the "dithyramb") had
received an artistic form from the Dorians; dialogue, though only
between the leader of the chorus and a single actor, had been introduced
in Attica. Phrynichus, an Athenian, celebrated in this manner some
events of the Persian Wars; but in his "drama" there was still only one
actor. Choerilus of Athens and Pratinas of Phlius, who belonged to the
same period, developed the satyric drama; Pratinas also wrote tragedies,
dithyrambs, and _hyporchemata_ (lively choral odes chiefly in honour of
Apollo).
Aeschylus.
Sophocles.
Euripides.
Aeschylus (born 525 B.C.) became the real founder of tragedy by
introducing a second actor, and thus rendering the dialogue independent
of the chorus. At the same time the choral song--hitherto the principal
part of the performance--became subordinate to the dialogue; and drama
was mature. Aeschylus is also said to have made various improvements of
detail in costume and the like; and it was early in his career that the
theatre of Dionysus under the acropolis was commenced--the first
permanent home of Greek drama, in place of the temporary wooden
platforms which had hitherto been used. The system of the "trilogy" and
the "tetralogy" is further ascribed to Aeschylus,--the "trilogy" being
properly a series of three tragedies connected in subject, such as the
_Agamemnon_, _Choëphori_, _Eumenides_, which together form the
_Oresteia_, or Story of Orestes. The "tetralogy" is such a triad with a
"satyric drama" added--that is, a drama in which "satyrs," the grotesque
woodland beings who attended on Dionysus, formed the chorus, as in the
earlier dithyramb from which drama sprang. The _Cyclops_ of Euripides is
the only extant specimen of a satyric drama. In the seven tragedies
which alone remain of the seventy which Aeschylus is said to have
composed, the forms of kings and heroes have a grandeur which is truly
Homeric; there is a spirit of Panhellenic patriotism such as the Persian
Wars in which he fought might well quicken in a soldier-poet; and,
pervading all, there is a strain of speculative thought which seeks to
reconcile the apparent conflicts between the gods of heaven and of the
underworld by the doctrine that both alike, constrained by necessity,
are working out the law of righteousness. Sophocles, who was born thirty
years after Aeschylus (495 B.C.), is the most perfect artist of the
ancient drama. No one before or after him gave to Greek tragedy so high
a degree of ideal beauty, or appreciated so finely the possibilities and
the limitations of its sphere. He excels especially in drawing
character; his _Antigone_, his _Ajax_, his _Oedipus_--indeed, all the
chief persons of his dramas--are typical studies in the great primary
emotions of human nature. He gave a freer scope to tragic dialogue by
adding a third actor; and in one of his later plays, the _Oedipus at
Colonus_, a fourth actor is required. From the time when he won the
tragic prize against Aeschylus in 468 to his death in 405 B.C. he was
the favourite dramatist of Athens; and for us he is not only a great
dramatist, but also the most spiritual representative of the age of
Pericles. The distinctive interest of Euripides is of another kind. He
was only fifteen years younger than Sophocles; but when he entered on
his poetical career, the old inspirations of tragedy were already
failing. Euripides marks a period of transition in the tragic art, and
is, in fact, the mediator between the classical and the romantic drama.
The myths and traditions with which the elder dramatists had dealt no
longer commanded an unquestioning faith. Euripides himself was imbued
with the new intellectual scepticism of the day; and the speculative
views which were conflicting in his own mind are reflected in his plays.
He had much picturesque and pathetic power; he was a master of
expression; and he shows ingenuity in devising fresh resources for
tragedy--especially in his management of the choral songs. Aeschylus is
Panhellenic, Sophocles is Athenian, Euripides is cosmopolitan. He stands
nearer to the modern world than either of his predecessors; and though
with him Attic tragedy loses its highest beauty, it acquires new
elements of familiar human interest.
In Attica, as in England, a period of rather less than fifty years
sufficed for the complete development of the tragic art. The two
distinctive characteristics of Athenian drama are its originality and
its abundance. The Greeks of Attica were not the only inventors of
drama, but they were the first people who made drama a complete work of
art. And the great tragic poets of Attica were remarkably prolific.
Aeschylus was the reputed author of 70 tragedies, Sophocles of 113,
Euripides of 92; and there were others whose productiveness was equally
great.
Comedy.
Aristophanes.
Comedy represented the lighter side, as tragedy the graver side, of the
Dionysiac worship; it was the joy of spring following the gloom of
winter. The process of growth was nearly the same as in tragedy; but the
Dorians, not the Ionians of Attica, were the first who added dialogue to
the comic chorus. Susarion, a Dorian of Megara, exhibited, about 580
B.C., pieces of the kind known as "Megarian farces." Epicharmus of Cos
(who settled at Syracuse) gave literary form to the Doric farce, and
treated in burlesque style the stories of gods and heroes, and subjects
taken from everyday life. His Syracusan contemporary Sophron (c. 450)
was a famous writer of mimes, chiefly scenes from low-class life. The
most artistic form of comedy seems, however, to have been developed in
Attica. The greatest names before Aristophanes are those of Cratinus and
Eupolis; but from about 470 B.C. there seems to have been a continuous
succession of comic dramatists, amongst them Plato Comicus, the author
of 28 comedies, political satires and parodies after the style of the
Middle Comedy. Aristophanes came forward as a comic poet in 427 B.C.,
and retained his popularity for about forty years. He presents a perhaps
unique union of bold fancy, exquisite humour, critical acumen and
lyrical power. His eleven extant comedies may be divided into three
groups, according as the licence of political satire becomes more and
more restricted. In the _Acharnians_, _Knights_, _Clouds_, _Wasps_ and
_Peace_ (425-421) the poet uses unrestrained freedom. In the _Birds_,
_Lysistrata_, _Thesmophoriazusae_ and _Frogs_ (414-405) a greater
reserve may be perceived. Lastly, in the _Ecclesiazusae_ and the
_Plutus_ (392-388) personal satire is almost wholly avoided. The same
general tendency continued. The so-called "Middle Comedy" (390-320)
represents the transition from the Old Comedy, or political satire, to
satire of a literary or social nature; its chief writers were Antiphanes
of Athens and Alexis of Thurii. The "New Comedy" (320-250) resembled the
modern "comedy of manners."
Its chief representative was Menander (342-291), the author of 105
comedies. Fragments have been discovered of seven of these, of
sufficient length to give an idea of their dramatic action. His plays
were produced on the stage as late as the time of Plutarch, and his
[Greek: gnômai], distinguished by worldly wisdom, were issued in the
form of anthologies, which enjoyed great popularity. Other prominent
writers of this class were Diphilus, Philemon, Posidippus and
Apollodorus of Carystus. About 330 B.C. Rhinthon of Tarentum revived the
old Doric farce in his _Hilarotragoediae_ or travesties of tragic
stories. These successive periods cannot be sharply or precisely marked
off. The change which gradually passed over the comic drama was simply
the reflection of the change which passed over the political and social
life of Athens. The Old Comedy, as we see it in the earlier plays of
Aristophanes, was probably the most powerful engine of public criticism
that has ever existed in any community. Unsparing personality was its
essence. The comic poet used this recognized right on an occasion at
once festive and sacred, in a society where every man of any note was
known by name and sight to the rest. The same thousands who heard a
policy or a character denounced or lauded in the theatre might be
required to pass sentence on it in the popular assembly or in the courts
of law.
Literary prose.
The development of Greek poetry had been completed before a prose
literature had begun to exist. The earliest name in extant Greek prose
literature is that of Herodotus; and, when he wrote, the Attic drama had
already passed its prime. There had been, indeed, writers of prose
before Herodotus; but there had not been, in the proper sense of the
term, a prose literature. The causes of this comparatively late origin
of Greek literary prose are independent of the question as to the time
at which the art of writing began to be generally used for literary
purposes. Epic poetry exercised for a very long period a sovereign spell
over the Greek mind. In it was deposited all that the race possessed of
history, theology, philosophy, oratory. Even after an age of reflection
had begun, elegiac poetry, the first offshoot of epic, was, with iambic
verse, the vehicle of much which among other races would have been
committed to prose. The basis of Greek culture was essentially poetical.
A political cause worked in the same direction. In the Eastern
monarchies the king was the centre of all, and the royal records
afforded the elements of history from a remote date. The Greek nation
was broken up into small states, each busied with its own affairs and
its own men. It was the collision between the Greek and the barbarian
world which first provided a national subject for a Greek historian. The
work of Herodotus, in its relation to Greek prose, is so far analogous
to the _Iliad_ in its relation to Greek poetry, that it is the earliest
work of art, and that it bears a Panhellenic stamp.
Early prose writers.
The sense and the degree in which Herodotus was original may be inferred
from what is known of earlier prose-writers. For about a century before
Herodotus there had been a series of writers in philosophy, mythology,
geography and history. The earliest, or among the earliest, of the
philosophical writers were Pherecydes of Syros (550 B.C.) and the Ionian
Anaximenes and Anaximander. It is doubtful whether Cadmus of Miletus,
supposed to have been the first prose writer, was an historical
personage. The Ionian writers, especially called [Greek: logographoi],
"narrators in prose" (as distinguished from [Greek: epopoioi], makers of
verse), were those who compiled the myths, especially in genealogies, or
who described foreign countries, their physical features, usages and
traditions. Hecataeus of Miletus (500 B.C.) is the best-known
representative of the _logographi_ in both these branches. Hellanicus of
Mytilene (450 B.C.), among whose works was a history of Attica, appears
to have made a nearer approach to the character of a systematic
historian. Other logographi were Charon of Lampsacus; Pherecydes of
Leros, who wrote on the myths of early Attica; Hippys of Rhegium, the
oldest writer on Italy and Sicily; and Acusilaus of Argos in Boeotia,
author of genealogies (see LOGOGRAPHI, and GREECE: _Ancient History_,
"Authorities").
Herodotus.
Herodotus was born in 484 B.C.; and his history was probably not
completed before the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (431 B.C.). His
subject is the struggle between Greece and Asia, which he deduces from
the legendary rape of the Argive Io by Phoenicians, and traces down to
the final victory of the Greeks over the invading host of Xerxes. His
literary kinship with the historical or geographical writers who had
preceded him is seen mainly in two things. First, though he draws a line
between the mythological and the historical age, he still holds that
myths, as such, are worthy to be reported, and that in certain cases it
is part of his duty to report them. Secondly, he follows the example of
such writers as Hecataeus in describing the natural and social features
of countries. He seeks to combine the part of the geographer or
intelligent traveller with his proper part as historian. But when we
turn from these minor traits to the larger aspects of his work,
Herodotus stands forth as an artist whose conception and whose method
were his own. His history has an epic unity. Various as are the
subordinate parts, the action narrated is one, great and complete; and
the unity is due to this, that Herodotus refers all events of human
history to the principle of divine Nemesis. If Sophocles had told the
story of Oedipus in the _Oedipus Tyrannus_ alone, and had not added to
it the _Oedipus at Colonus_, it would have been comparable to the story
of Xerxes as told by Herodotus. Great as an artist, great too in the
largeness of his historical conception, Herodotus fails chiefly by lack
of insight into political cause and effect, and by a general silence in
regard to the history of political institutions. Both his strength and
his weakness are seen most clearly when he is contrasted with that other
historian who was strictly his contemporary and who yet seems divided
from him by centuries.
Thucydides.
Thucydides was only thirteen years younger than Herodotus; but the
intellectual space between the men is so great that they seem to belong
to different ages. Herodotus is the first artist in historical writing;
Thucydides is the first thinker. Herodotus interweaves two threads of
causation--human agency, represented by the good or bad qualities of
men, and divine agency, represented by the vigilance of the gods on
behalf of justice. Thucydides concentrates his attention on the human
agency (without, however, denying the other), and strives to trace its
exact course. The subject of Thucydides is the Peloponnesian War. In
resolving to write its history, he was moved, he says, by these
considerations. It was probably the greatest movement which had ever
affected Hellas collectively. It was possible for him as a contemporary
to record it with approximate accuracy. And this record was likely to
have a general value, over and above its particular interest as a
record, seeing that the political future was likely to resemble the
political past. This is what Thucydides means when he calls his work "a
possession for ever." The speeches which he ascribes to the persons of
the history are, as regards form, his own essays in rhetoric of the
school to which Antiphon belongs. As regards matter, they are always so
far dramatic that the thoughts and sentiments are such as he conceived
possible for the supposed speaker. Thucydides abstains, as a rule, from
moral comment; but he tells his story as no one could have told it who
did not profoundly feel its tragic force; and his general claim to the
merit of impartiality is not invalidated by the possible
exceptions--difficult to estimate--in the cases of Cleon and Hyperbolus.
Xenophon.
Strong as is the contrast between Herodotus and Thucydides, their works
have yet a character which distinguish both alike from the historical
work of Xenophon in the _Anabasis_ and the _Hellenica_. Herodotus gives
us a vivid drama with the unity of an epic. Thucydides takes a great
chapter of contemporary history and traces the causes which are at work
throughout it, so as to give the whole a scientific unity. Xenophon has
not the grasp either of the dramatist or of the philosopher. His work
does not possess the higher unity either of art or of science. The true
distinction of Xenophon consists in his thorough combination of the
practical with the literary character. He was an accomplished soldier,
who had done and seen much. He was also a good writer, who could make a
story both clear and lively. But the several parts of the story are not
grouped around any central idea, such as a divine Nemesis is for
Herodotus, or such as Thucydides finds in the nature of political man.
The seven books of the _Hellenica_ form a supplement to the history of
Thucydides, beginning in 411 and going down to 362 B.C. The chief blot
on the _Hellenica_ is the author's partiality to Sparta, and in
particular to Agesilaus. Some of the greatest achievements of
Epaminondas and Pelopidas are passed over in silence. On the whole,
Xenophon is perhaps seen at his best in his narrative of the _Retreat of
the Ten Thousand_--a subject which exactly suits him. The _Cyropaedeia_
is a romance of little historical worth, but with many good passages.
_The Recollections of Socrates_, on the other hand, derive their
principal value from being uniformly matter-of-fact. In his minor pieces
on various subjects Xenophon appears as the earliest essayist. It may be
noted that one of the essays erroneously ascribed to him--that _On the
Athenian Polity_--is probably the oldest specimen in existence of
literary Attic prose.
His contemporaries Ctesias of Cnidus and Philistus of Syracuse wrote
histories of Persia and Sicily. In the second half of the 4th century a
number of histories were compiled by literary men of little practical
knowledge, who had been trained in the rhetorical schools. Such were
Ephorus of Cyme and Theopompus of Chios, both pupils of Isocrates; and
the writers of _Atthides_ (chronicles of Attic history), the chief of
whom were Androtion and Philochorus. Timaeus of Tauromenium was the
author of a great work on Sicily, and introduced the system of reckoning
by Olympiads.
Oratory.
The steps by which an Attic prose style was developed, and the principal
forms which it assumed, can be traced most clearly in the Attic orators.
Every Athenian citizen who aspired to take part in the affairs of the
city, or even to be qualified for self-defence before a law-court,
required to have some degree of skill in public speaking; and an
Athenian audience looked upon public debate, whether political or
forensic, as a competitive trial of proficiency in a fine art. Hence the
speaker, no less than the writer, was necessarily a student of finished
expression; and oratory had a more direct influence on the general
structure of literary prose than has ever perhaps been the case
elsewhere. A systematic rhetoric took its rise in Sicily, where Corax of
Syracuse (466 B.C.) devised his _Art of Words_ to assist those who were
pleading before the law-courts; and it was brought to Athens by his
disciple Tisias. The teaching of the Sophists, again, directed
attention, though in a superficial and imperfect way, to the elements of
grammar and logic; and Gorgias of Leontini--whose declamation, however
turgid, must have been striking--gave an impulse at Athens to the taste
for elaborate rhetorical brilliancy.
The Attic orators.
Demosthenes.
Antiphon represents the earliest, and what has been called the grand,
style of Attic prose; its chief characteristics are a grave, dignified
movement, a frequent emphasis on verbal contrasts, and a certain austere
elevation. The interest of Andocides is mainly historical; but he has
graphic power. Lysias, the representative of the "plain style," breaks
through the rigid mannerism of the elder school, and uses the language
of daily life with an ease and grace which, though the result of study,
do not betray their art. He is, in his own way, the canon of an Attic
style; and his speeches, written for others, exhibit also a high degree
of dramatic skill. Isocrates, whose manner may be regarded as
intermediate between that of Antiphon and that of Lysias, wrote for
readers rather than for hearers. The type of literary prose which he
founded is distinguished by ample periods, by studied smoothness and by
the temperate use of rhetorical ornament. From the middle of the 4th
century B.C. the Isocratic style of prose became general in Greek
literature. From the school of Rhodes, in which it became more florid,
it passed to Cicero, and through him it has helped to shape the literary
prose of the modern world. The speeches of Isaeus in will-cases are
interesting,--apart from their bearing on Attic life,--because in them
we see, as Dionysius says, "the seeds and the beginnings" of that
technical mastery in rhetorical argument which Demosthenes carries to
perfection. Isaeus has also, in a degree, some of the qualities of
Lysias. Demosthenes excels all other masters of Greek prose not only in
power but in variety; his political speeches, his orations in public or
private causes, show his consummate and versatile command over all the
resources of the language. In him the development of Attic prose is
completed, and the best elements in each of its earlier phases are
united. The modern world can more easily appreciate Demosthenes as a
great natural orator than as an elaborate artist. But, in order to
apprehend his place in the history of Attic prose, we must remember that
the ancients felt him to be both; and that he was even reproached by
detractors with excessive study of effect. Aeschines is the most
theatrical of the Greek orators; he is vehement, and often brilliant,
but seldom persuasive. Hypereides was, after Demosthenes, probably the
most effective; he had much of the grace of Lysias, but also a wit, a
fire and a pathos which were his own. Portions of six of his speeches,
found in Egypt between 1847 and 1890, are extant. The one oration of
Lycurgus which remains to us is earnest and stately, reminding us both
of Antiphon and of Isocrates. Dinarchus was merely a bad imitator of
Demosthenes. There seems more reason to regret that Demades is not
represented by larger fragments. The decline of Attic oratory may be
dated from Demetrius of Phalerum (318 B.C.), the pupil of Aristotle, and
the first to introduce the custom of making speeches on imaginary
subjects as practised in the rhetorical schools. Cicero names him as the
first who impaired the vigour of the earlier eloquence, "preferring his
own sweetness to the weight and dignity of his predecessors." He forms a
connecting link between Athens and Alexandria, where he found refuge
after his downfall and promoted the foundation of the famous library.
In later times oratory chiefly flourished in the coast and island
settlements of Asia Minor, especially Rhodes. Here a new, florid style
of oration arose, called the "Asiatic," which owed its origin to
Hegesias of Magnesia (c. 250 B.C.).
Philosophical prose--Plato and Aristotle.
The place of Plato in the history of Greek literature is as unique as
his place in the history of Greek thought. The literary genius shown in
the dialogues is many-sided: it includes dramatic power, remarkable
skill in parody, a subtle faculty of satire, and, generally, a command
over the finer tones of language. In passages of continuous exposition,
where the argument rises into the higher regions of discussion, Plato's
prose takes a more decidedly poetical colouring--never florid or
sentimental, however, but lofty and austere. In Plato's later
works--such, for instance, as the _Laws_, _Timaeus_, _Critias_--we can
perceive that his style did not remain unaffected by the smooth literary
prose which contemporary writers had developed. Aristotle's influence on
the form of Attic prose literature would probably have been considerable
if his _Rhetoric_ had been published while Attic oratory had still a
vigorous life before it. But in this, as in other departments of mental
effort, it was Aristotle's lot to set in order what the Greek intellect
had done in that creative period which had now come to an end. His own
chief contribution to the original achievements of the race was the most
fitting one that could have been made by him in whose lifetime they were
closed. He bequeathed an instrument by which analysis could be carried
further, he founded a science of reasoning, and left those who followed
him to apply it in all those provinces of knowledge which he had mapped
out.[6] Theophrastus, his pupil and his successor in the Lyceum, opens
the new age of research and scientific classification with his extant
works on botany, but is better known to modern readers by his lively
_Characters_, the prototypes of such sketches in English literature as
those of Hall, Overbury and Earle.
Character of the creative age.
(C) _The Literature of the Decadence._--The period of decadence in Greek
literature begins with the extinction of free political life in the
Greek cities. So long as the Greek commonwealths were independent and
vigorous, Greek life rested on the identity of the man with the citizen.
The city state was the highest unit of social organization; the whole
training and character of the man were viewed relatively to his
membership of the city. The market-place, the assembly, the theatre were
places of frequent meeting, where the sense of citizenship was
quickened, where common standards of opinion or feeling were formed.
Poetry, music, sculpture, literature, art, in all their forms, were
matters of public interest. Every citizen had some degree of
acquaintance with them, and was in some measure capable of judging them.
The poet and the musician, the historian and the sculptor, did not live
a life of studious seclusion or engrossing professional work. They were,
as a rule, in full sympathy with the practical interests of their time.
Their art, whatever its form might be, was the concentrated and ennobled
expression of their political existence. Aeschylus breathed into tragedy
the inspiration of one who had himself fought the great fight of
national liberation. Sophocles was the colleague of Pericles in a high
military command. Thucydides describes the operations of the
Peloponnesian War with the practical knowledge of one who had been in
charge of a fleet. Ictinus and Pheidias gave shape in stone, not to mere
visions of the studio, but to the more glorious, because more real and
vivid, perceptions which had been quickened in them by a living
communion with the Athenian spirit, by a daily contemplation of Athenian
greatness, in the theatre where tragic poets idealized the legends of
the past, in the ecclesia where every citizen had his vote on the policy
of the state, or in that free and gracious society, full of beauty, yet
exempt from vexatious constraint, which belonged to the age of Pericles.
The tribunal which judged these works of literature or art was such as
was best fitted to preserve the favourable conditions under which they
arose. Criticism was not in the hands of a literary clique or of a
social caste. The influence of jealousy or malevolence, and the more
fatal influence of affectation, had little power to affect the verdict.
The verdict was pronounced by the whole body of the citizens. The
success or failure of a tragedy was decided, not by the minor
circumstance that it gained the first or second prize, but by the
collective opinion of the citizens assembled in the theatre of Dionysus.
A work of architecture or sculpture was approved or condemned, not by
the sentence of a few whom the multitude blindly followed, but by the
general judgment of some twenty thousand persons, each of whom was in
some degree qualified by education and by habit to form an independent
estimate. The artist worked for all his fellow-citizens, and knew that
he would be judged by all. The soul of his work was the fresh and living
inspiration of nature; it was the ennobled expression of his own life;
and the public opinion before which it came was free, intelligent and
sincere.
The transition to Hellenism.
Philip of Macedon did not take away the municipal independence of the
Greek cities, but he dealt a death-blow to the old political life. The
Athenian poet, historian, artist might still do good work, but he could
never again have that which used to be the very mainspring of all such
activity--the daily experience and consciousness of participation in the
affairs of an independent state. He could no longer breathe the
invigorating air of constitutional freedom, or of the social intercourse
to which that freedom lent dignity as well as grace. Then came
Alexander's conquests; Greek civilization was diffused over Asia and the
East by means of Greek colonies in which Asiatic and Greek elements were
mingled. The life of such settlements, under the monarchies into which
Alexander's empire broke up, could not be animated by the spirit of the
Greek commonwealths in the old days of political freedom. But the
externals of Greek life were there--the temples, the statues, the
theatres, the porticos. Ceremonies and festivals were conducted in the
Greek manner. In private life Greek usages prevailed. Greek was the
language most used; Greek books were in demand. The mixture of races
would always in some measure distinguish even the outward life of such a
community from that of a pure Greek state; and the facility with which
Greek civilization was adopted would vary in different places. Syria,
for example, was rapidly and completely Hellenized. Judaea resisted the
process to the last. In Egypt a Greek aristocracy of office, birth and
intellect existed side by side with a distinct native life. But, viewed
in its broadest aspect, this new civilization may be called Hellenism.
Hellenism (q.v.) means the adoption of Hellenic ways; and it is properly
applied to a civilization, generally Hellenic in external things,
pervading people not necessarily or exclusively Hellenic by race. What
the Hellenic literature was to Hellas, that the Hellenistic literature
was to Hellenism. The literature of Hellenism has the Hellenic form
without the Hellenic soul. The literature of Hellas was creative; the
literature of Hellenism is derivative.
The Alexandrian period.
Poetry.
Erudition and science.
Summary.
Alexandria was the centre of Greek intellectual activity from Alexander
to Augustus. Its "Museum," or college, and its library, both founded by
the first Ptolemy (Soter), gave it such attractions for learned men as
no other city could rival. The labours of research or arrangement are
those which characterize the Alexandrian period. Even in its poetry
spontaneous motive was replaced by erudite skill, as in the hymns,
epigrams and elegies of Callimachus, in the enigmatic verses of
Lycophron, in the highly finished epic of Apollonius Rhodius, and in the
versified lore, astronomical or medical, of Aratus and Nicander. The
mimes of Herodas (or Herondas) of Cos (c. 200 B.C.), written in the
Ionic dialect and choliambic verse, represent scenes from everyday life.
The papyrus (published in 1891) contains seven complete poems and
fragments of an eighth. They are remarkably witty and full of shrewd
observations, but at times coarse. The pastoral poetry of the
age--Dorian by origin--was the most pleasing; for this, if it is to
please at all, must have its spring in the contemplation of nature.
Theocritus is not exempt from the artificialism of the Hellenizing
literature; but his true sense of natural beauty entitles him to a place
in the first rank of pastoral poets. Bion of Ionia and Moschus of
Syracuse also charm by the music and often by the pathos of their
bucolic verse. Excavations on the site of the temple of Asclepius at
Epidaurus have brought to light two hexameter poems and a paean (in
Ionic metre) on Apollo and Asclepius by a local poet named Isyllus, who
flourished about 280. Tragedy was represented by the poets known as the
Alexandrian _Pleiad_. But it is not for its poetry of any kind that this
period of Greek literature is memorable. Its true work was in erudition
and science. Aristarchus (156 B.C.), the greatest in a long line of
Alexandrian critics, set the example of a more thorough method in
revising and interpreting the ancient texts, and may in this sense be
said to have become the founder of scientific scholarship. The critical
studies of Alexandria, carried on by the followers of Aristarchus,
gradually formed the basis for a science of grammar. The earliest Greek
grammar is that of Dionysius Thrax (born c. 166), a pupil of
Aristarchus. Translation was another province of work which employed the
learned of Alexandria--where the Septuagint version of the Old Testament
was begun, probably about 300-250 B.C. Chronology was treated
scientifically by Eratosthenes, and was combined with history by Manetho
in his chronicles of Egypt, and by Berossus in his chronicles of
Chaldaea. Euclid was at Alexandria in the reign of Ptolemy Soter.
Herophilus and Erasistratus were distinguished physicians and
anatomists, and the authors of several medical works. The general
results of the Alexandrian period might perhaps be stated thus.
Alexandria produced a few eminent men of science, some learned poets (in
a few cases, of great literary merit) and many able scholars. The
preservation of the best Greek literature was due chiefly to the
unremitting care of the Alexandrian critics, whose appreciation of it
partly compensated for the decay of the old Greek perceptions in
literature and art, and who did their utmost to hand it down in a form
as free as possible from the errors of copyists. On the whole, the
patronage of letters by the Ptolemies had probably as large a measure of
success as was possible under the existing conditions; and it was
afforded at a time when there was special danger that a true literary
tradition might die out of the world.
The Graeco-Roman period.
The Graeco-Roman period in the literature of Hellenism may be dated from
the Roman subjugation of Greece. "Greece made a captive of the rough
conqueror," but it did not follow from this intellectual conquest that
Athens became once more the intellectual centre of the world. Under the
empire, indeed, the university of Athens long enjoyed a pre-eminent
reputation. But Rome gradually became the point to which the greatest
workers in every kind were drawn. Greek literature had already made a
home there before the close of the 2nd century B.C. Sulla brought a
Greek library from Athens to Rome. Such men as Cicero and Atticus were
indefatigable collectors and readers of Greek books. The power of
speaking and writing the Greek language became an indispensable
accomplishment for highly educated Romans. The library planned by Julius
Caesar and founded by Augustus had two principal departments, one for
Latin, the other for Greek works. Tiberius, Vespasian, Domitian and
Trajan contributed to enlarge the collection. Rome became more and more
the rival of Alexandria, not only as possessing great libraries, but
also as a seat of learning at which Greek men of letters found
appreciation and encouragement. Greek poetry, especially in its higher
forms, rhetoric and literary criticism, history and philosophy, were all
cultivated by Greek writers at Rome.
First part: 146-30 B.C.
The first part of the Graeco-Roman period may be defined as extending
from 146 B.C. to the close of the Roman republic. At its commencement
stands the name of one who had more real affinity than any of his
contemporaries with the great writers of old Athens, and who, at the
same time, saw most clearly how the empire of the world was passing to
Rome. The subject of Polybius (c. 205-120) was the history of Roman
conquest from 264 to 146 B.C. His style, plain and straightforward, is
free from the florid rhetoric of the time. But the distinction of
Polybius is that he is the last Greek writer who in some measure retains
the spirit of the old citizen-life. He chose his subject, not because it
gave scope to learning or literary skill, but with a motive akin to that
which prompted the history of Thucydides--namely, because, as a Greek
citizen, he felt intensely the political importance of those wars which
had given Rome the mastery of the world. The chief historical work which
the following century produced--the _Universal History_ of Diodorus
Siculus (fl. c. 50 B.C.)--resembled that of Polybius in recognizing Rome
as the political centre of the earth, as the point on which all earlier
series of events converged. In all else Diodorus represents the new age
in which the Greek historian had no longer the practical knowledge and
insight of a traveller, a soldier or a statesman, but only the
diligence, and usually the dullness, of a laborious compiler.
Second part: 30 B.C.-A.D. 529.
The Greek literature of the Roman empire, from Augustus to Justinian,
was enormously prolific. The area over which the Greek language was
diffused--either as a medium of intercourse or as an established branch
of the higher education--was co-extensive with the empire itself. An
immense store of materials had now been accumulated, on which critics,
commentators, compilers, imitators, were employed with incessant
industry. In very many of its forms, the work of composition or
adaptation had been reduced to a mechanical knack. If there is any one
characteristic which broadly distinguishes the Greek literature of these
five centuries, it is the absence of originality either in form or in
matter. Lucian is, in his way, a rare exception; and his great
popularity--he is the only Greek writer of this period, except Plutarch,
who has been widely popular--illustrates the flatness of the arid level
above which he stands out. The sustained abundance of literary
production under the empire was partly due to the fact that there was no
open political career. Never, probably, was literature so important as a
resource for educated men; and the habit of reciting before friendly or
obsequious audiences swelled the number of writers whose taste had been
cultivated to a point just short of perceiving that they ought not to
write.
Departments of prose literature.
In the manifold prose work of this period, four principal departments
may be distinguished. (1) _History_, with _Biography_, and _Geography_.
History is represented by Dionysius of Halicarnassus--also memorable for
his criticisms on the orators and his effort to revive a true standard
of Attic prose--by Cassius Dio, Josephus, Arrian, Appian, Herodian,
Eusebius and Zosimus. In biography, the foremost names are Plutarch,
Diogenes Laërtius and Philostratus; in geography, Hipparchus of Nicaea,
Strabo, Ptolemy and Pausanias. (2) _Erudition_ and _Science_. The
learned labours of the Alexandrian schools were continued in all their
various fields. Under this head may be mentioned such works as the
lexicons of Julius Pollux, Harpocration and Hesychius, Hephaestion's
treatise on metre, and Herodian's system of accentuation; the
commentaries of Galen on Plato and on Hippocrates; the learned
miscellanies of Athenaeus, Aelian and Stobaeus; and the _Stratagems_ of
Polyaenus. (3) _Rhetoric_ and _Belles-Lettres_. The most popular writers
on the theory of rhetoric were Hermagoras, Hermogenes, Aphthonius and
Cassius Longinus--the last the reputed author of the essay _On
Sublimity_. Among the most renowned teachers of rhetoric--now
distinctively called "Sophists," or rhetoricians--were Dio Chrysostom,
Aelius Aristides, Themistius, Himerius, Libanius and Herodes Atticus.
Akin to the rhetorical exercises were various forms of ornamental or
imaginative prose--dialogues, letters, essays or novels. Lucian, in his
dialogues, exhibits more of the classical style and of the classical
spirit than any writer of the later age; he has also a remarkable
affinity with the tone of modern satire, as in Swift or Voltaire. His
Attic prose, though necessarily artificial, was at least the best that
had been written for four centuries. The emperor Julian was the author
both of orations and of satirical pieces. The chief of the Greek
novelists (the forerunner of whom was Aristides of Miletus, c. 100 B.C.,
in his _Milesian Tales_) are Xenophon of Ephesus and Longus,
representing a purely Greek type of romance, and Heliodorus--with his
imitators Achilles Tatius and Chariton--representing a school influenced
by Oriental fiction. There were also many Christian romances in Greek,
usually of a religious tendency. Alciphron's fictitious
_Letters_--founded largely on the New Comedy of Athens--represent the
same kind of industry which produced the letters of Phalaris,
Aristaenetus and similar collections. (4) _Philosophy_ is represented
chiefly by Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, in both of whom the Stoic
element is the prevailing one; by the Neoplatonists, such as Plotinus,
Porphyry, Iamblichus; and by Proclus, of that eclectic school which
arose at Athens in the 5th century A.D.
Verse.
The Anthology.
The Greek poetry of this period presents no work of high merit. Babrius
versified the Aesopic _Fables_; Oppian (or two poets of this name) wrote
didactic poems on fishing and hunting; Nonnus and Quintus Smyrnaeus made
elaborate essays in epic verse; and the Orphic lore inspired some poems
and hymns of a mystic character. The so-called _Sibylline Oracles_, in
hexameter verse, range in date from about 170 B.C. to A.D. 700, and are
partly the expression of the Jewish longings for the restoration of
Israel, partly predictions of the triumph of Christianity. By far the
most pleasing compositions in verse which have come to us from this age
are some of the short poems in the Greek Anthology, which includes some
pieces as early as the beginning of the 5th century B.C. and some as
late as the 6th century of the Christian era.
The 4th century may be said to mark the beginning of the last stage in
the decay of literary Hellenism. From that point the decline was rapid
and nearly continuous. The attitude of the church towards it was no
longer that which had been held by Clement of Alexandria, by Justin
Martyr or by Origen. There was now a Christian Greek literature, and a
Christian Greek eloquence of extraordinary power. The laity became more
and more estranged from the Greek literature--however intrinsically pure
and noble--of the pagan past. At the same time the Greek language--which
had maintained its purity in Italian seats--was becoming corrupted in
the new Greek Rome of the East. In A.D. 529 Justinian put forth an edict
by which the schools of heathen philosophy were formally closed. The act
had at least a symbolical meaning. It is necessary to guard against the
supposition that such assumed landmarks in political or literary history
always mark a definite transition from one order of things to another.
But it is practically convenient, or necessary, to use such landmarks.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The first attempt at a connected history of Greek
literature was the monumental and still indispensable work of J. A.
Fabricius (14 vols., 1705-1728; new ed. in 12 vols. by G. C. Harless,
1790-1809); this was followed by F. Schöll's _Hist. de la littérature
grecque_ (1813). Both these works begin with the earliest times and go
down to the latest period of the Byzantine empire. Of more modern and
recent works the following may be mentioned: G. Bernhardy, _Grundriss
der griechischen Literatur_ (1836-1845; 4th ed., 1876-1880; 5th ed. of
vol. i., by R. Volkmann, 1892), chiefly confined to the poets; C. O.
Müller, _History of Greek Literature_ (unfinished), written for the
London Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and published in
English in 1840, the translation being by G. Cornewall Lewis and J. W.
Donaldson (the latter completed the work to the end of the Byzantine
period for the edition of 1858; the German text was published by E.
Müller in 1841; 4th ed. by E. Heitz, 1882-1884); W. Mure, _Critical
History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece_ (1850-1857);
T. Bergk, _Griechische Literaturgeschichte_ (1872-1894, vols. 2, 3,
ed. G. Hinrichs, vol. 4 by R. Peppmüller) containing epos, lyric,
drama down to Euripides, and the beginnings of prose; R. Nicolai,
_Griechische Literaturgeschichte_ (2nd ed., 1873-1878), useful for
bibliography, but in other respects unsatisfactory; J. P. Mahaffy,
_Hist. of Classical Greek Literature_ (4th ed., 1903); A. and M.
Croiset, _Hist. de la littérature grecque_ (1887-1899, 2nd ed. 1896);
W. Christ, _Geschichte der griechischen Literatur bis auf die Zeit
Justinians_ (4th ed., 1905; 5th ed., pt. i., by O. Stählin and W.
Schmid, 1908), by far the most serviceable handbook for the student.
F. Susemihl's _Geschichte der griechischen Literatur in der
Alexandrinerzeit_ (1891-1892) is especially valuable for its notes. Of
smaller manuals the following will be found most useful: G. G. Murray,
_History of Ancient Greek Literature_ (1897); F. B. Jevons, _History
of Greek Literature_ (3rd ed., 1900) down to the time of Demosthenes;
A. and M. Croiset, _Manuel d'hist. de la littérature grecque_ (1900;
Eng. trans., by G. F. Heffelbower, N.Y., 1904); also the general
sketches by U. von Wilamowitz-Möllendorff in _Die Kultur der
Gegenwart_, i. 8 (1905), by A. Gercke in the _Sammlung Göschen_
(Leipzig, 2nd ed., 1905), and by R. C. Jebb in _Companion to Greek
Studies_ (Cambridge, 1905). Other works generally connected with the
subject are: E. Hübner, _Bibliographie der klassischen
Altertumswissenschaft_ (2nd ed., 1889), pp. 161-17l; W. Engelmann,
_Bibliotheca scriptorum classicorum_ (8th ed., by E. Preuss, 1880); J.
B. Mayor, _Guide to the Choice of Classical Books_ (1896), p. 86; W.
Kroll, _Die Altertumswissenschaft im letzten Vierteljahrhundert_
1875-1900 (1905), p. 465 foll.; J. E. Sandys, _History of Classical
Scholarship_ (1906-1908); "Bibliotheca philologica classica," in C.
Bursian's _Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte der klassischen
Altertumswissenschaft_; articles in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopädie
der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_ (1894--). (R. C. J.; X.)
II. BYZANTINE LITERATURE
Definition.
By "Byzantine literature" is generally meant the literature, written in
Greek, of the so-called Byzantine period. There is no justification
whatever for the inclusion of Latin works of the time of the East Roman
empire. The close of the Byzantine period is clearly marked by the year
1453, at which date, with the fall of the Eastern empire, the peculiar
culture and literary life of the Byzantines came to an end. It is only
as regards the beginning of the Byzantine period that any doubts exist.
There are no sufficient grounds for dating it from Justinian, as was
formerly often done. In surveying the whole development of the
political, ecclesiastical and literary life and of the general culture
of the Roman empire, and particularly of its eastern portion, we arrive,
on the contrary, at the conclusion that the actual date of the beginning
of this new era--i.e. the Christian-Byzantine, in contradistinction to
the Pagan-Greek and Pagan-Roman--falls within the reign of Constantine
the Great. By the foundation of the new capital city of Constantinople
(which lay amid Greek surroundings) and by the establishment of the
Christian faith as the state religion, Constantine finally broke with
the Roman-Pagan tradition, and laid the foundation of the
Christian-Byzantine period of development. Moreover, in the department
of language, so closely allied with that of literature, the 4th century
marks a new epoch. About this time occurred the final disappearance of a
characteristic of the ancient Greek language, important alike in poetry
and in rhythmic prose, the difference of "quantity." Its place was
henceforth taken by the accent, which became a determining principle in
poetry, as well as for the rhythmic conclusion of the prose sentence.
Thus the transition from the old musical language to a modern
conversational idiom was complete.
Transitional period.
The reign of Constantine the Great undoubtedly marks the beginning of a
new period in the most important spheres of national life, but it is
equally certain that in most of them ancient tradition long continued to
exercise an influence. Sudden breaches of continuity are less common in
the general culture and literary life of the world than in its political
or ecclesiastical development. This is true of the transition from pagan
antiquity to the Christian middle ages. Many centuries passed before the
final victory of the new religious ideas and the new spirit in public
and private intellectual and moral life. The last noteworthy remnants of
paganism disappeared as late as the 6th and 7th centuries. The last
great educational establishment which rested upon pagan foundations--the
university of Athens--was not abolished till A.D. 529. The Hellenizing
of the seat of empire and of the state, which was essential to the
independent development of Byzantine literature, proceeds yet more
slowly. The first purely _Greek_ emperor was Tiberius II. (578-582); but
the complete Hellenizing of the character of the state had not been
accomplished until the 7th century. We shall, therefore, regard the
period from the 4th to the 7th century as that of the transition between
ancient times and the middle ages. This period coincides with the rise
of a new power in the world's history--Islam. But though, in this
transitional period, the old and the new elements are both to a large
extent present and are often inextricably interwoven, yet it is certain
that the new elements are, both as regards their essential force and
their influence upon the succeeding period, of infinitely greater moment
than the decrepit and mostly artificial survivals of the antique.
Mixed character of Byzantine culture.
In order to estimate rightly the character of Byzantine literature and
its distinctive peculiarities, in contradistinction to ancient Greek, it
is imperative to examine the great difference between the civilizations
that produced them. The Byzantine did not possess the homogeneous,
organically constructed system of the ancient civilization, but was the
outcome of an amalgamation of which Hellenism formed the basis. For,
although the Latin character of the empire was at first completely
retained, even after its final division in 395, yet the dominant
position of Greek in the Eastern empire gradually led to the Hellenizing
of the state. The last great act of the Latin tradition was the
codification, in the Latin language, of the law by Justinian (527-565).
But it is significant that the _Novels_ of Justinian were composed
partly in Greek, as were all the laws of the succeeding period. Of the
emperors in the centuries following Justinian, many of course were
foreigners, Isaurians, Armenians and others; but in language and
education they were all Greeks. In the last five centuries of the
empire, under the Comneni and the Palaeologi, court and state are purely
Greek.
In spite of the dominant position of Greek in the Eastern empire, a
linguistic and national uniformity such as formed the foundation of the
old Latin _Imperium Romanum_ never existed there. In the West, with the
expansion of Rome's political supremacy, the Latin language and Latin
culture were everywhere introduced--first into the non-Latin provinces
of Italy, later into Spain, Gaul and North Africa, and at last even into
certain parts of the Eastern empire. This Latinizing was so thorough
that it weathered all storms, and, in the countries affected by it, was
the parent of new and vigorous nationalities, the French, the Spaniards,
the Portuguese and the Rumanians. Only in Africa did "Latinism" fail to
take root permanently. From the 6th century that province relapsed into
the hands of the native barbarians and of the immigrant Arabs, and both
the Latin and the Greek influences (which had grown in strength during
the period of the Eastern empire) were, together with Christianity,
swept away without leaving a trace behind. It might have been expected
that the Hellenizing of the political system of the Eastern empire would
have likewise entailed the Hellenizing of the non-Greek portions of the
empire. Such, however, was not the case; for all the conditions
precedent to such a development were wanting. The non-Greek portions of
the Eastern empire were not, from the outset, gradually incorporated
into the state from a Greek centre, as were the provinces in the West
from a Latin centre. They had been acquired in the old period of the
homogeneous Latin _Imperium_. In the centuries immediately following the
division of the empire, the idea of Hellenizing the Eastern provinces
could not take root, owing to the fact that Latin was retained, at least
in principle, as the state language. During the later centuries, in the
non-Greek parts, centrifugal tendencies and the destructive inroads of
barbarians began on all sides; and the government was too much occupied
with the all but impossible task of preserving the political unity of
the empire to entertain seriously the wider aim of an assimilation of
language and culture. Moreover, the Greeks did not possess that enormous
political energy and force which enabled the Romans to assimilate
foreign races; and, finally, they were confronted by sturdy Oriental,
mostly Semitic, peoples, who were by no means so easy to subjugate as
were the racially related inhabitants of Gaul and Spain. Their
impotence against the peoples of the East will be still less hardly
judged if we remember the fact already mentioned, that even the Romans
were within a short period driven back and overwhelmed by the North
African Semites who for centuries had been subjected to an apparently
thorough process of Latinization.
The influence of Greek culture then, was very slight; how little indeed
it penetrated into the oriental mind is shown by the fact that, after
the violent Arab invasion in the south-east corner of the Mediterranean,
the Copts and Syrians were able to retain their language and their
national characteristics, while Greek culture almost completely
disappeared. The one great instance of assimilation of foreign
nationalities by the Greeks is the Hellenizing of the Slavs, who from
the 6th century had migrated into central Greece and the Peloponnese.
All other non-Greek tribes of any importance which came, whether for
longer or for shorter periods, within the sphere of the Eastern empire
and its civilization--such as the Copts, Syrians, Armenians, Georgians,
Rumanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians--one and all retained their
nationality and language. The complete Latinizing of the West has,
accordingly, no counterpart in a similar Hellenizing of the East. This
is clearly shown during the Byzantine period in the progress of
Christianity. Everywhere in the West, even among the non-Romanized
Anglo-Saxons, Irish and Germans, Latin maintained its position in the
church services and in the other branches of the ecclesiastical system;
down to the Reformation the church remained a complete organic unity. In
the East, at the earliest period of its conversion to Christianity,
several foreign tongues competed with Greek, i.e. Syrian, Coptic,
Armenian, Georgian, Gothic, Old-Bulgarian and others. The sacred books
were translated into these languages and the church services were held
in them and not in Greek. One noticeable effect of this linguistic
division in the church was the formation of various sects and national
churches (cf. the Coptic Nestorians, the Syrian Monophysites, the
Armenian and, in more recent times, the Slavonic national churches). The
Church of the West was characterized by uniformity in language and in
constitution. In the Eastern Church parallel to the multiplicity of
languages developed also a corresponding variety of doctrine and
constitution.
Roman influence.
Though the character of Byzantine culture is mainly Greek, and Byzantine
literature is attached by countless threads to ancient Greek literature,
yet the Roman element forms a very essential part of it. The whole
political character of the Byzantine empire is, despite its Greek form
and colouring, genuinely Roman. Legislation and administration, the
military and naval traditions, are old Roman work, and as such, apart
from immaterial alterations, they continued to exist and operate, even
when the state in head and limbs had become Greek. It is strange,
indeed, how strong was the political conception of the Roman state
(_Staatsgedanke_), and with what tenacity it held its own, even under
the most adverse conditions, down to the latter days of the empire. The
Greeks even adopted the name "Romans," which gradually became so closely
identified with them as to supersede the name "Hellenes"; and thus a
political was gradually converted into an ethnographical and linguistic
designation. _Rhomaioi_ was the most common popular term for Greeks
during the Turkish period, and remains so still. The old glorious name
"Hellene" was used under the empire and even during the middle ages in a
contemptuous sense--"Heathen"--and has only in quite modern times, on
the formation of the kingdom of "Hellas," been artificially revived. The
vast organization of the Roman political system could not but exercise
in various ways a profound influence upon Byzantine civilization; and it
often seemed as if Roman political principles had educated and nerved
the unpolitical Greek people to great political enterprise. The Roman
influence has left distinct traces in the Greek language, Greek of the
Byzantine and modern period is rich in Latin terms for conceptions
connected with the departments of justice, administration and the
imperial court. In literature such "barbarisms" were avoided as far as
possible, and were replaced by Greek periphrases.
Christianity.
The Orient.
But by far the most momentous and radical change wrought on the old
Hellenism was effected by Christianity; and yet the transition was, in
fact, by no means so abrupt as one might be led to believe by comparing
the Pagan-Hellenic culture of Plato's day with the Christian-Byzantine
of the time of Justinian. For the path had been most effectually
prepared for the new religion by the crumbling away of the ancient
belief in the gods, by the humane doctrine of the Stoics, and, finally,
by the mystic intellectual tendencies of Neoplatonism. Moreover, in many
respects Christianity met paganism halfway by adapting itself to popular
usages and ideas and by adopting important parts of the pagan
literature. The whole educational system especially, even in Christian
times, was in a very remarkable manner based almost entirely on the
methods and material inherited from paganism. Next to the influences of
Rome and of Christianity, that of the East was of importance in
developing the Byzantine civilization, and in lending Byzantine
literature its distinctive character. Much that was oriental in the
Eastern empire dates back to ancient times, notably to the period of
Alexander the Great and his successors. Since the Greeks had at that
period Hellenized the East to the widest extent, and had already founded
everywhere flourishing cities, they themselves fell under the manifold
influences of the soil they occupied. In Egypt, Palestine and Syria, in
Asia Minor as far inland as Mesopotamia, Greek and oriental
characteristics were often blended. In respect of the wealth and the
long duration of its Greek intellectual life, Egypt stands supreme. It
covers a period of nearly a thousand years from the foundation of
Alexandria down to the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs (A.D. 643). The
real significance of Egyptian Hellenism during this long period can be
properly estimated only if a practical attempt be made to eliminate from
the history of Greek literature and science in pagan and in Christian
times all that owed its origin to the land of the Nile. The soil of
Egypt proved itself especially productive of Greek literature under the
Cross (Origen, Athanasius, Arius, Synesius), in the same way as the soil
of North Africa was productive of Latin literature (Tertullian, Cyprian,
Lactantius, Augustine). Monastic life, which is one of the chief
characteristic elements of Christian-Byzantine civilization, had its
birth in Egypt.
Syria and Palestine came under the influence of Greek civilization at a
later date than Egypt. In these, Greek literature and culture attained
their highest development between the 3rd and the 8th centuries of the
Christian era. Antioch rose to great influence, owing at first to its
pagan school of rhetoric and later to its Christian school of exegesis.
Gaza was renowned for its school of rhetoric; Berytus for its academy of
law. It is no mere accident that sacred poetry, aesthetically the most
valuable class of Byzantine literature, was born in Syria and Palestine.
In Asia Minor, the cities of Tarsus, Caesarea, Nicaea, Smyrna, Ephesus,
Nicopolis, &c., were all influential centres of Greek culture and
literature. For instance, the three great fathers of Cappadocia, Basil,
Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus all belonged to Asia Minor.
If all the greater Greek authors of the first eight centuries of the
Christian era, i.e. the period of the complete development of Byzantine
culture, be classified according to the countries of their birth, the
significant fact becomes evident that nine-tenths come from the African
and Asiatic districts, which were for the most part opened up only after
Alexander the Great, and only one-tenth from European Greece. In other
words, the old original European Greece was, under the emperors,
completely outstripped in intellectual productive force by the newly
founded African and Asiatic Greece. This huge tide of conquest which
surged from Greece over African and Syrian territories occupied largely
by foreign races and ancient civilizations, could not fail to be fraught
with serious consequences for the Greeks themselves. The experience of
the Romans in their conquest of Greece (_Graecia capta ferum victorem
cepit_) repeated itself in the conquest of the East by Greece, though to
a minor extent and in a different way. The whole literature of Egypt,
Syria and Asia Minor cannot, despite its international and cosmopolitan
character, disavow the influence of the Oriental soil on which it was
nourished. Yet the growth of too strong a local colouring in its
literature was repressed, partly by the checks imposed by ancient Greek
tradition, partly by the spirit of Christianity which reconciled all
national distinctions. Even more clearly and unmistakably is Oriental
influence shown in the province of Byzantine art, as Joseph Strzygowski
has conclusively proved.
Language.
The greater portion of Greek literature from the close of ancient times
down to the threshold of modern history was written in a language
identical in its principal features with the common literary language,
the so-called Koine, which had its origin in the Alexandrian age. This
is the literary form of Greek as a universal language, though a form
that scintillates with many facets, from an almost Attic diction down to
one that approaches the language of everyday life such as we have, for
instance, in the New Testament. From what has been already said, it
follows that this stable literary language cannot always have remained a
language of ordinary life. For, like every living tongue, the vernacular
Greek continually changed in pronunciation and form, as well as in
vocabulary and grammar, and thus the living language surely and
gradually separated itself from the rigid written language. This gulf
was, moreover, considerably widened owing to the fact that there took
place in the written language a retrograde movement, the so-called
"Atticism." Introduced by Dionysius of Halicarnassus in the 1st century
before Christ, this linguistic-literary fashion attained its greatest
height in the 2nd century A.D., but still continued to flourish in
succeeding centuries, and, indirectly, throughout the whole Byzantine
period. It is true that it often seemed as though the living language
would be gradually introduced into literature; for several writers, such
as the chronicler Malalas in the 6th century, Leontius of Neapolis (the
author of _Lives of Saints_) in the 7th century, the chronicler
Theophanes at the beginning of the 9th century, and the emperor
Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the 10th century, made in their writings
numerous concessions to the living language. This progressive tendency
might well have led, in the 11th and 12th centuries, to the founding in
the Greek vernacular of a new literary language similar to the promising
national languages and literature which, at that period, in the Romance
countries, developed out of the despised popular idiom. In the case of
the Byzantines, unfortunately, such a radical change never took place.
All attempts in the direction of a popular reform of the literary
language, which were occasionally made in the period from the 6th to the
10th centuries, were in turn extinguished by the resuscitation of
classical studies, a movement which, begun in the 9th century by Photius
and continued in the 11th by Psellus, attained its full development
under the Comneni and the Palaeologi. This classical renaissance turned
back the literary language into the old ossified forms, as had
previously happened in the case of the Atticism of the early centuries
of the empire. In the West, humanism (so closely connected with the
Byzantine renaissance under the Comneni and the Palaeologi) also
artificially reintroduced the "Ciceronian" Latin, but was unable
seriously to endanger the development of the national languages, which
had already attained to full vitality. In Byzantium, the humanistic
movement came prematurely, and crushed the new language before it had
fairly established itself. Thus the language of the Byzantine writers of
the 11th-15th centuries is almost Old Greek in colour; artificially
learnt by grammar, lexicon and assiduous reading, it followed Attic
models more and more slavishly; to such an extent that, in determining
the date of works, the paradoxical principle holds good that the more
ancient the language, the more recent the author.
Owing to this artificial return to ancient Greek, the contrast that had
long existed with the vernacular was now for the first time fully
revealed. The gulf between the two forms of language could no longer be
bridged; and this fact found its expression in literature also. While
the vulgarizing authors of the 6th-10th centuries, like the
Latin-writing Franks (such as Gregory of Tours), still attempted a
compromise between the language of the schools and that of conversation,
we meet after the 12th century with authors who freely and naturally
employed the vernacular in their literary works. They accordingly form
the Greek counterpart of the oldest writers in Italian, French and other
Romance languages. That they could not succeed like their Roman
colleagues, and always remained the pariahs of Greek literature, is due
to the all-powerful philological-antiquarian tendency which existed
under the Comneni and the Palaeologi. Yet once more did the vernacular
attempt to assert its literary rights, i.e. in Crete and some other
islands in the 16th and 17th centuries. But this attempt also was foiled
by the classical reaction of the 19th century. Hence it comes about that
Greek literature even in the 20th century employs grammatical forms
which were obsolete long before the 10th century. Thus the Greeks, as
regards their literary language, came into a _cul de sac_ similar to
that in which certain rigidly conservative Oriental nations find
themselves, e.g. the Arabs and Chinese, who, not possessing a literary
language suited to modern requirements, have to content themselves with
the dead Old-Arabic or the ossified Mandarin language. The divorce of
the written and spoken languages is the most prominent and also the most
fatal heritage that the modern Greeks have received from their Byzantine
forefathers.
General character of Byzantine literature.
The whole Byzantine intellectual life, like that of the Western medieval
period, is dominated by theological interests. Theology accordingly, in
literature too, occupies the chief place, in regard to both quantity and
quality. Next to it comes the writing of history, which the Byzantines
cultivated with great conscientiousness until after the fall of the
empire. All other kinds of prose writing, e.g. in geography, philosophy,
rhetoric and the technical sciences, were comparatively neglected, and
such works are of value for the most part only in so far as they
preserve and interpret old material. In poetry, again, theology takes
the lead. The poetry of the Church produced works of high aesthetic
merit and enduring value. In secular poetry, the writing of epigrams
especially was cultivated with assiduity and often with ability. In
popular literature poetry predominates, and many productions worthy of
notice, new both in matter and in form, are here met with.
Theology.
The great classical period of Greek theological literature is that of
the 4th century. Various factors contributed to this result--some of
them positive, particularly the establishment of Christianity as the
official religion and the protection accorded to it by the state, others
negative, i.e. the heretical movements, especially Arianism, which at
this period arose in the east of the empire and threatened the unity of
the doctrine and organization of the church. It was chiefly against
these that the subtle Athanasius of Alexandria directed his attacks. The
learned Eusebius founded a new department of literature, church history.
In Egypt, Antonius (St Anthony) founded the Greek monastic system;
Synesius of Cyrene, like his greater contemporary Augustine in the West,
represents both in his life and in his writings the difficult transition
from Plato to Christ. At the centre, in the forefront of the great
intellectual movement of this century, stand the three great
Cappadocians, Basil the Great, the subtle dogmatist, his brother Gregory
of Nyssa, the philosophically trained defender of the Christian faith,
and Gregory of Nazianzus, the distinguished orator and poet. Closely
allied to them was St Chrysostom, the courageous champion of
ecclesiastical liberty and of moral purity. To modern readers the
greater part of this literature appears strange and foreign; but, in
order to be appreciated rightly, it must be regarded as the outcome of
the period in which it was produced, a period stirred to its depths by
religious emotions. For the times in which they lived and for their
readers, the Greek fathers reached the highest attainable; though, of
course, they produced nothing of such general human interest, nothing
so deep and true, as the _Confessions_ of St Augustine, with which the
poetical autobiography of Gregory of Nazianzus cannot for a moment be
compared.
The glorious bloom of the 4th century was followed by a perceptible
decay in theological intellectual activity. Independent production was
in succeeding centuries almost solely prompted by divergent dogmatical
views and heresies, for the refutation of which orthodox authors were
impelled to take up the pen. In the 5th and 6th centuries a more copious
literature was called into existence by the Monophysites, who maintained
that there was but _one_ nature in Christ; in the 7th century by the
Monothelites, who acknowledged but _one_ will in Christ; in the 8th
century by the Iconoclasts and by the new teaching of Mahomet. One very
eminent theologian, whose importance it has been reserved for modern
times to estimate aright--Leontius of Byzantium (6th century)--was the
first to introduce Aristotelian definitions into theology, and may thus
be called the first scholastic. In his works he attacked the heretics of
his age, particularly the Monophysites, who were also assailed by his
contemporary Anastasius of Antioch. The chief adversaries of the
Monothelites were Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (whose main
importance, however, is due to his work in other fields, in hagiography
and homiletics), Maximus the Confessor, and Anastasius Sinaïtes, who
also composed an interpretation of the _Hexaëmeron_ in twelve books.
Among writers in the departments of critical interpretation and
asceticism in this period must be enumerated Procopius of Gaza, who
devoted himself principally to the exegesis of the Old Testament;
Johannes Climax (6th century), named after his much-read ascetic work
_Klimax_ (Jacob's ladder); and Johannes Moschus (d. 619), whose chief
work _Leimon_ ("spiritual pasture") describes monastic life in the form
of statements and narratives of their experiences by monks themselves.
The last great heresy, which shook the Greek Church to its very
foundations, the Iconoclast movement, summoned to the fray the last
great Greek theologian, John of Damascus (Johannes Damascenus). Yet his
chief merit lies not so much in his polemical speeches against the
Iconoclasts, and in his much admired but over-refined poetry, as in his
great dogmatic work, _The Fountain of Knowledge_, which contains the
first comprehensive exposition of Christian dogma. It has remained the
standard work on Greek theology down to the present day. Just as the
internal development of the Greek Church in all essentials reached its
limit with the Iconoclasts, so also its productive intellectual activity
ceased with John of Damascus. Such theological works as were
subsequently produced, consisted mostly in the interpretation and
revision of old materials. An extremely copious, but unfruitful,
literature was produced by the disputes about the reunion of the Greek
and Roman Churches. Of a more independent character is the literature
which in the 14th century centred round the dissensions of the
Hesychasts.
Among theologians after John of Damascus must be mentioned: the emperor
Leo VI., the Wise (886-911), who wrote numerous homilies and church
hymns, and Theodorus of Studium (759-826), who in his numerous writings
affords us instructive glimpses of monastic life. Pre-eminent stands the
figure of the patriarch Photius. Yet his importance consists less in his
writings, which often, to a remarkable extent, lack independence of
thought and judgment, than in his activity as a prince of the church.
For he it was who carried the differences which had already repeatedly
arisen between Rome and Constantinople to a point at which
reconciliation was impossible, and was mainly instrumental in preparing
the way for the separation of the Greek and Latin Churches accomplished
in 1054 under the patriarch Michael Cerularius. In the 11th century the
polyhistor Michael Psellus also wrote polemics against the Euchites,
among whom the Syrian Gnosis was reviving. All literature, including
theology, experienced a considerable revival under the Comneni. In the
reign of Alexius I. Comnenus (1081-1118), Euthymius Zigabenus wrote his
great dogmatic work, the _Dogmatic Panoply_, which, like _The Fountain
of Knowledge_ of John of Damascus in earlier times, was partly positive,
furnishing an armoury of theology, partly negative and directed against
the sects. In addition to attacking the dead and buried doctrines of the
Monothelites, Iconoclasts, &c., to fight which was at this time a mere
tilting at windmills, Zigabenus also carried on a polemic against the
heretics of his own day, the Armenians, Bogomils and Saracens.
Zigabenus's _Panoply_ was continued and enlarged a century later by the
historian Nicetas Acominatus, who published it under the title _Treasure
of Orthodoxy_. To the writings against ancient heresies were next added
a flood of tracts, of all shapes and sizes, "against the Latins," i.e.
against the Roman Church, and among their authors must also be
enumerated an emperor, the gifted Theodore II. Lascaris (1254-1258). The
chief champion of the union with the Roman Church was the learned
Johannes Beccus (patriarch of Constantinople 1275-1282). Of his
opponents by far the most eminent was Gregory of Cyprus, who succeeded
him on the patriarchal throne. The fluctuations in the fortunes of the
two ecclesiastical parties are reflected in the occupation of the
patriarchal throne. The battles round the question of the union, which
were waged with southern passion, were for a while checked by the
dissensions aroused by the mystic tendency of the Hesychasts. The
impetus to this great literary movement was given by the monk Barlaam, a
native of Calabria, who came forward in Constantinople as an opponent of
the Latins and was in 1339 entrusted by Andronicus III. with a mission
to Pope Benedict XII. at Avignon. He condemned the doctrine of the
Hesychasts, and attacked them both orally and in writing. Among those
who shared his views are conspicuous the historian Nicephorus Gregoras
and Gregorius Acindynus, the latter of whom closely followed Thomas
Aquinas in his writings. In fact the struggle against the Hesychasts was
essentially a struggle between sober western scholasticism and dreamy
Graeco-Oriental mysticism. On the side of the Hesychasts fought
Gregorius Palamas, who tried to give a dogmatic foundation to the
mysticism of the Hesychasts, Cabasilas, and the emperor John VI.
Cantacuzenus who, after his deposition, sought, in the peaceful retreat
of a monastery, consolation in theological studies, and in his literary
works refuted the Jews and the Mahommedans. For the greatest Byzantine
"apologia" against Islamism we are indebted to an emperor, Manuel II.
Palaeologus (1391-1425), who by learned discussions tried to make up for
the deficiency in martial prowess shown by the Byzantines in their
struggle with the Turks. On the whole, theological literature was in the
last century of the empire almost completely occupied with the struggles
for and against the union with Rome. The reason lay in the political
conditions. The emperors saw more and more clearly that without the aid
of the West they would no longer be able to stand their ground against
the Turks, the vanguard of the armies of the Crescent; while the
majority of Byzantine theologians feared that the assistance of the West
would force the Greeks to unite with Rome, and thereby to forfeit their
ecclesiastical independence. Considering the supremacy of the
theological party in Byzantium, it was but natural that religious
considerations should gain the day over political; and this was the view
almost universally held by the Byzantines in the later centuries of the
empire; in the words of the chronicler Ducas: "it is better to fall into
the hands of the Turks than into those of the Franks." The chief
opponent of the union was Marcus Eugenicus, metropolitan of Ephesus,
who, at the Council of Florence in 1439, denounced the union with Rome
accomplished by John VIII. Palaeologus. Conspicuous there among the
partisans of the union, by reason of his erudition and general literary
merit, was Bessarion, afterwards cardinal, whose chief activity already
falls under the head of Graeco-Italian humanism.
Hagiography.
Hagiography, i.e. the literature of the acts of the martyrs and the
lives of the saints, forms an independent group and one comparatively
unaffected by dogmatic struggles. The main interest centres here round
the objects described, the personalities of the martyrs and saints
themselves. The authors, on the other hand--the _Acts of the Martyrs_
are mostly anonymous--keep more in the background than in other branches
of literature. The man whose name is mainly identified with Greek
hagiography, Symeon Metaphrastes, is important not as an original
author, but only as an editor. Symeon revised in the 10th century,
according to the rhetorical and linguistic principles of his day,
numerous old _Acts of the Martyrs_, and incorporated them in a
collection consisting of several volumes, which was circulated in
innumerable copies, and thus to a great extent superseded the older
original texts. These _Acts of the Martyrs_, in point of time, are
anterior to our period; but of the _Lives of Saints_ the greater portion
belong to Byzantine literature. They began with biographies of monks
distinguished for their saintly living, such as were used by Palladius
about 420 in his _Historia Lausiaca_. The most famous work of this
description is that by Athanasius of Alexandria, viz. the biography of
St Anthony, the founder of monachism. In the 6th century Cyril of
Scythopolis wrote several lives of saints, distinguished by a simple and
straightforward style. More expert than any one else in reproducing the
naïve popular style was Leontius of Neapolis in Cyprus who, in the 7th
century, wrote, among other works, a life of St John the Merciful,
archbishop of Alexandria, which is very remarkable as illustrating the
social and intellectual conditions of the time. From the popular _Lives
of Saints_, which for the reading public of the middle ages formed the
chief substitute for modern "belles lettres," it is easy to trace the
transition to the religious novel. The most famous work of this class is
the history of BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT (q.v.).
Religious poetry.
The religious poetry of the Greeks primarily suffered from the influence
of the ancient Greek form, which was fatal to original development. The
oldest work of this class is the hymn, composed in anapaestic monometers
and dimeters, which was handed down in the manuscripts with the
_Paedagogus_ of Clement of Alexandria (d. about 215), but was probably
not his work. The next piece of this class is the famous "Maidens' Song"
in the _Banquet_ of St Methodius (d. about 311), in which many striking
violations of the old rules of quantity are already apparent. More
faithful to the tradition of the schools was Gregory of Nazianzus. But,
owing to the fact that he generally employed antiquated versification
and very erudite language, his poems failed to reach the people or to
find a place in the services of the church. Just as little could the
artificial paraphrase of the Psalms composed by the younger Apollinaris,
or the subtle poems of Synesius, become popular. It became more and more
patent that, with the archaic metre which was out of keeping with the
character of the living language, no genuine poetry suited to the age
could possibly be produced. Fortunately, an entirely new form of
poetical art was discovered, which conferred upon the Greek people the
blessings of an intelligible religious poetry--the rhythmic poem. This
no longer depended on difference of quantity in the syllables, which had
disappeared from the living language, but on the accent. Yet the
transition was not effected by the substitution of accent for the old
long syllables; the ancient verse form was entirely abandoned, and in
its stead new and variously constructed lines and strophes were formed.
In the history of the rhythmic sacred poetry three periods are clearly
marked--the preparatory period; that of the hymns; and that of the
_Canones_. About the first period we know, unfortunately, comparatively
little. It appears that in it church music was in the main confined to
the insertion of short songs between the Psalms or other portions of
Holy Writ and the acclamations of the congregation. The oldest rhythmic
songs date from Gregory of Nazianzus--his "Maidens' Song" and his
"Evening Hymn." Church poetry reached its highest expression in the
second period, in the grand development of the hymns, i.e. lengthy songs
comprising from twenty to thirty similarly constructed strophes, each
connected with the next in acrostic fashion. Hymnology, again, attained
its highest perfection in the first half of the 6th century with
Romanos, who in the great number and excellence of his hymns dominated
this species of poetry, as Homer did the Greek epic. From this period
dates, moreover, the most famous song of the Greek Church, the so-called
_Acathistus_, an anonymous hymn of praise to the Virgin Mary, which has
sometimes, but erroneously, been attributed to the patriarch Sergius.
Canones.
Church poetry entered upon a new stage, characterized by an increase in
artistic finish and a falling off in poetical vigour, with the
composition of the _Canones_, songs artfully built up out of eight or
nine lyrics, all differently constructed. Andreas, archbishop of Crete
(c. 650-720), is regarded as the inventor of this new class of song. His
chief work, "the great Canon," comprises no less than 250 strophes. The
most celebrated writers of _Canones_ are John of Damascus and Cosmas of
Jerusalem, both of whom flourished in the first half of the 8th century.
The "vulgar" simplicity of Romanos was regarded by them as an obsolete
method; they again resorted to the classical style of Gregory of
Nazianzus, and John of Damascus even took a special delight in the most
elaborate tricks of expression. In spite of this, or perhaps on that
very account, both he and Cosmas were much admired in later times, were
much read, and--as was very necessary--much commentated. Later, sacred
poetry was more particularly cultivated in the monastery of the Studium
at Constantinople by the abbot Theodorus and others. Again, in the 9th
century, Joseph, "the hymn-writer," excelled as a writer of songs, and,
finally, John Mauropus (11th century), bishop of Euchaita, John Zonaras
(12th century), and Nicephorus Blemmydes (13th century), were also
distinguished as authors of sacred poems, i.e. _Canones_. The Basilian
Abbey of Grotta Ferrata near Rome, founded in 1004, and still existing,
was also a nursery of religious poetry. As regards the rhythmic church
poetry, it may now be regarded as certain that its origin was in the
East. Old Hebrew and Syrian models mainly stimulated it, and Romanos
(q.v.) was especially influenced by the metrical homilies of the great
Syrian father Ephraem (d. about 373).
Profane literature; historical accounts.
In profane literature the writing of history takes the first place, as
regards both form and substance. The Greeks have always been deeply
interested in history, and they have never omitted, amid all the
vicissitudes of their existence, to hand down a record to posterity.
Thus, they have produced a literature extending from the Ionian
logographers and Herodotus down to the times of Sultan Mahommed II. In
the Byzantine period all historical accounts fall under one of two
groups, entirely different, both in form and in matter, (1) historical
works, the authors of which described, as did most historians of ancient
times, a period of history in which they themselves had lived and moved,
or one which only immediately preceded their own times; and (2)
chronicles, shortly recapitulating the history of the world. This latter
class has no exact counterpart in ancient literature. The most clearly
marked stage in the development of a Christian-Byzantine universal
history was the chronicle (unfortunately lost) written by the Hellenized
Jew, Justus of Tiberias, at the beginning of the 2nd century of the
Christian era; this work began with the story of Moses.
Byzantine histories of contemporary events do not differ substantially
from ancient historical works, except in their Christian colouring. Yet
even this is often very faint and blurred owing to close adherence to
ancient methods. Apart from this, neither a new style nor a new critical
method nor any radically new views appreciably altered the main
character of Byzantine historiography. In their style most Byzantine
compilers of contemporary history followed the beaten track of older
historians, e.g. Herodotus, Thucydides, and, in some details, also
Polybius. But, in spite of their often excessive tendency to imitation,
they displayed considerable power in the delineation of character and
were not wanting in independent judgment. As regards the selection of
their matter, they adhered to the old custom of beginning their
narrative where their predecessors left off.
The outstripping of the Latin West by the Greek East, which after the
close of the 4th century was a self-evident fact, is reflected in
historiography also. After Constantine the Great, the history of the
empire, although its Latin character was maintained until the 6th
century, was mostly written by Greeks; e.g. Eunapius (c. 400),
Olympiodorus (c. 450), Priscus (c. 450), Malchus (c. 490), and Zosimus,
the last pagan historian (c. 500), all of whom, with the exception of
Zosimus, are unfortunately preserved to us only in fragments.
Historiography received a great impulse in the 6th century. The powerful
Procopius and Agathias (q.v.), tinged with poetical rhetoric, described
the stirring and eventful times of Justinian, while Theophanes of
Byzantium, Menander Protector, Johannes of Epiphaneia and Theophylactus
of Simocatta described the second half of the 6th century. Towards the
close of the 6th century also flourished the last independent
ecclesiastical historian, Evagrius, who wrote the history of the church
from 431 to 593. There now followed, however, a lamentable falling off
in production. From the 7th to the 10th century the historical side is
represented by a few chronicles, and it was not until the 10th century
that, owing to the revival of ancient classical studies, the art of
writing history showed some signs of life. Several historical works are
associated with the name of the emperor Constantine VII.
Porphyrogenitus. To his learned circle belonged also Joseph Genesius,
who at the emperor's instance compiled the history of the period from
813 to 886. A little work, interesting from the point of view of
historical and ethnographical science, is the account of the taking of
Thessalonica by the Cretan Corsairs (A.D. 904), which a priest, Johannes
Cameniata, an eyewitness of the event, has bequeathed to posterity.
There is also contained in the excellent work of Leo Diaconus (on the
period from 959 to 975) a graphic account of the bloody wars of the
Byzantines with the Arabs in Crete and with the Bulgarians. A
continuation was undertaken by the philosopher Michael Psellus in a work
covering the period from 976 to 1077. A valuable supplement to the
latter (describing the period from 1034 to 1079) was supplied by the
jurist Michael Attaliata. The history of the Eastern empire during the
Crusades was written in four considerable works, by Nicephorus
Bryennius, his learned consort Anna Comnena, the "honest Aetolian,"
Johannes Cinnamus, and finally by Nicetas Acominatus in an exhaustive
work which is authoritative for the history of the 4th Crusade. The
melancholy conditions and the ever increasing decay of the empire under
the Palaeologi (13th-15th centuries) are described in the same lofty
style, though with a still closer following of classical models. The
events which took place between the taking of Constantinople by the
Latins and the restoration of Byzantine rule (1203-1261) are recounted
by Georgius Acropolita, who emphasizes his own share in them. The
succeeding period was written by the versatile Georgius Pachymeres, the
erudite and high-principled Nicephorus Gregoras, and the emperor John
VI. Cantacuzenus. Lastly, the death-struggle between the East Roman
empire and the mighty rising power of the Ottomans was narrated by three
historians, all differing in culture and in style, Laonicus
Chalcocondyles, Ducas and Georgius Phrantzes. With them may be classed a
fourth (though he lived outside the Byzantine period), Critobulus, a
high-born Greek of Imbros, who wrote, in the style of the age of
Pericles, the history of the times of the sultan Mahommed II. (down to
1467).
Chronicles.
The essential importance of the Byzantine chronicles (mostly chronicles
of the history of the world from the Creation) consists in the fact that
they in part replace older lost works, and thus fill up many gaps in our
historical survey (e.g. for the period from about 600 to 800 of which
very few records remain). They lay no claim to literary merit, but are
often serviceable for the history of language. Many such chronicles were
furnished with illustrations. The remains of one such illustrated
chronicle on papyrus, dating from the beginning of the 5th century, has
been preserved for us by the soil of Egypt.[7] The authors of the
chronicles were mostly monks, who wished to compile handbooks of
universal history for their brethren and for pious laymen; and this
explains the strong clerical and popular tendency of these works. And it
is due to these two qualities that the chronicles obtained a
circulation abroad, both in the West and also among the peoples
Christianized from Byzantium, e.g. the Slavs, and in all of them sowed
the seeds of an indigenous historical literature. Thus the chronicles,
despite the jejuneness of their style and their uncritical treatment of
material were for the general culture of the middle ages of far greater
importance than the erudite contemporary histories designed only for the
highly educated circles in Byzantium. The oldest Byzantine chronicle of
universal history preserved to us is that of Malalas (6th century),
which is also the purest type of this class of literature. In the 7th
century was completed the famous _Easter_ or _Paschal Chronicle_
(_Chronicon Paschale_). About the end of the 8th or the beginning of the
9th century Georgius Syncellus compiled a concise chronicle, which began
with the Creation and was continued down to the year 284. At the request
of the author, when on his death-bed, the continuation of this work was
undertaken by Theophanes Confessor, who brought down the account from
A.D. 284 to his own times (A.D. 813). This exceedingly valuable work of
Theophanes was again continued (from 813-961) by several anonymous
chroniclers. A contemporary of Theophanes, the patriarch Nicephorus,
wrote, in addition to a _Short History_ of the period from 602 to 769, a
chronological sketch from Adam down to the year of his own death in 829.
Of great influence on the age that followed was Georgius Monachus, only
second in importance as chronicler of the early Byzantine period, who
compiled a chronicle of the world's history (from Adam until the year
843, the end of the Iconoclast movement), far more theological and
monkish in character than the work of Theophanes. Among later
chroniclers Johannes Scylitza stands out conspicuously. His work
(covering the period from 811 to 1057), as regards the range of its
subject-matter, is something between a universal and a contemporary
history. Georgius Cedrenus (c. 1100) embodied the whole of Scylitza's
work, almost unaltered, in his _Universal Chronicle_. In the 12th
century the general increase in literary production was evident also in
the department of chronicles of the world. From this period dates, for
instance, the most distinguished and learned work of this class, the
great universal chronicle of John Zonaras. In the same century Michael
Glycas compiled his chronicle of the world's history, a work written in
the old popular style and designed for the widest circles of readers.
Lastly, in the 12th century, Constantine Manasses wrote a universal
chronicle in the so-called "political" verse. With this verse-chronicle
must be classed the imperial chronicle of Ephraem, written in Byzantine
trimeters at the beginning of the 14th century.
Geography.
Geography and topography, subjects so closely connected with history,
were as much neglected by the Byzantines as by their political
forerunners, the Romans. Of purely practical importance are a few
handbooks of navigation, itineraries, guides for pilgrims, and
catalogues of provinces and cities, metropolitan sees and bishoprics.
The geographical work of Stephanus of Byzantium, which dates from
Justinian's time, has been lost. To the same period belongs the only
large geographical work which has been preserved to us, the _Christian
Topography_ of Cosmas Indicopleustes. For the topography of
Constantinople a work entitled _Ancient History (Patria) of
Constantinople_, which may be compared to the medieval _Mirabilia urbis
Romae_, and in late manuscripts has been wrongly attributed to a certain
Codinus, is of great importance.
Philosophy.
Ancient Greek philosophy under the empire sent forth two new
shoots--Neopythagoreanism and Neoplatonism. It was the latter with which
moribund paganism essayed to stem the advancing tide of Christianity.
The last great exponent of this philosophy was Proclus in Athens (d.
485). The dissolution, by order of Justinian, of the school of
philosophy at Athens in 529 was a fatal blow to this nebulous system,
which had long since outlived the conditions that made it a living
force. In the succeeding period philosophical activity was of two main
kinds; on the one hand, the old philosophy, e.g. that of Aristotle, was
employed to systematize Christian doctrine, while, on the other, the
old works were furnished with copious commentaries and paraphrases.
Leontius of Byzantium had already introduced Aristotelian definitions
into Christology; but the real founder of medieval ecclesiastical
philosophy was John of Damascus. Owing, however, to his having early
attained to canonical authority, the independent progress of
ecclesiastical philosophy was arrested; and to this it is due that in
this respect the later Byzantine period is far poorer than is the West.
Byzantium cannot boast a scholastic like Thomas Aquinas. In the 11th
century philosophical studies experienced a satisfactory revival, mainly
owing to Michael Psellus, who brought Plato as well as Aristotle again
into fashion.
Rhetoric.
Ancient rhetoric was cultivated in the Byzantine period with greater
ardour than scientific philosophy, being regarded as an indispensable
aid to instruction. It would be difficult to imagine anything more
tedious than the numerous theoretical writings on the subject and the
examples of their practical application: mechanical school essays, which
here count as "literature," and innumerable letters, the contents of
which are wholly insignificant. The evil effects of this were felt
beyond the proper sphere of rhetoric. The anxious attention paid to the
laws of rhetoric and the unrestricted use of its withered flowers were
detrimental to a great part of the rest of Byzantine literature, and
greatly hampered the development of any individuality and simplicity of
style. None the less, among the rhetorical productions of the time are
to be found a few interesting pieces, such as the _Philopatris_, in the
style of Lucian, which gives us a remarkable picture of the times of
Nicephorus Phocas (10th century). In two other smaller works a journey
to the dwellings of the dead is described, after the pattern of Lucian's
_Nekyomanteia_, viz. in _Timarion_ (12th century) and in Mazaris'
_Journey to the Underworld_ (c. 1414). A very charming representative of
Byzantine rhetoric is Michael Acominatus, who, in addition to
theological works, wrote numerous occasional speeches, letters and
poems.
The sciences.
In the field of scientific production, which can be accounted literature
in the modern acceptation of the term only in a limited sense, Byzantium
was dominated to an extravagant and even grotesque extent by the rules
of what in modern times is termed "classical scholarship." The numerous
works which belong to this category, such as grammars, dictionaries,
commentaries on ancient authors, extracts from ancient literature, and
metrical and musical treatises, are of little general interest, although
of great value for special branches of philological study, e.g. for
tracing the influences through which the ancient works handed down to us
have passed, as well as for their interpretation and emendation; for
information about ancient authors now lost; for the history of
education; and for the underlying principles of intellectual life in
Byzantium. The most important monument of Byzantine philology is,
perhaps, the _Library_ of the patriarch Photius. The period from about
650 to 850 is marked by a general decay of culture. Photius, who in the
year 850 was about thirty years of age, now set himself with admirable
energy to the task of making ancient literature, now for the most part
dead and forgotten, known once more to his contemporaries, thus
contributing to its preservation. He gave an account of all that he
read, and in this way composed 280 essays, which were collected in what
is commonly known as the _Library_ or _Myriobiblon_. The character of
the individual sketches is somewhat mechanical and formal; a more or
less complete account of the contents is followed by critical
discussion, which is nearly always confined to the linguistic form. With
this work may be compared in importance the great _Lexikon_ of Suidas,
which appeared about a century later, a sort of encyclopaedia, of which
the main feature was its articles on the history of literature. A truly
sympathetic figure is Eustathius, the famous archbishop of Thessalonica
(12th century). His voluminous commentaries on Homer, however, rivet the
attention less than his enthusiastic devotion to science, his energetic
action on behalf of the preservation of the literary works of antiquity,
and last, not least, his frank and heroic character, which had nothing
in it of the Byzantine. If, on the other hand, acquaintance with a
caricature of Byzantine philology be desired, it is afforded by Johannes
Tzetzes, a contemporary of Eustathius, a Greek in neither name nor
spirit, narrow-minded, angular, superficial, and withal immeasurably
conceited and ridiculously coarse in his polemics. The transition to
Western humanism was effected by the philologists of the period of the
Palaeologi, such as Maximus Planudes, whose translations of numerous
works renewed the long-broken ties between Byzantium and the West;
Manuel Moschopulus, whose grammatical works and commentaries were, down
to the 16th century, used as school text-books; Demetrius Triclinius,
distinguished as a textual critic; the versatile Theodorus Metochites,
and others.
Jurisprudence.
Originally, as is well known, Latin was the exclusive language of Roman
law. But with Justinian, who codified the laws in his _Corpus juris_,
the Hellenizing of the legal language also began. The _Institutes_ and
the _Digest_ were translated into Greek, and the _Novels_ also were
issued in a Greek form. Under the Macedonian dynasty there began, after
a long stagnation, the resuscitation of the code of Justinian. The
emperor Basilius I. (867-886) had extracts made from the existing law,
and made preparations for the codifying of all laws. But the whole work
was not completed till the time of Leo VI. the Wise (886-912), and
Constantine VII. Porphyrogenitus (912-959), when it took the form of a
grand compilation from the _Digests_, the _Codex_, and the _Novels_, and
is commonly known as the _Basilica_ ([Greek: Ta basilika]). In the East
it completely superseded the old Latin _Corpus juris_ of Justinian. More
that was new was produced, during the Byzantine period, in canon law
than in secular legislation. The purely ecclesiastical rules of law, the
_Canones_, were blended with those of civil law, and thus arose the
so-called _Nomocanon_, the most important edition of which is that of
Theodorus Bestes in 1090. The alphabetical handbook of canon law written
by Matthaeus Blastares about the year 1335 also exercised a great
influence.
Mathematics and astronomy.
In the province of mathematics and astronomy the remarkable fact must be
recorded that the revival among the Greeks of these long-forgotten
studies was primarily due to Perso-Arabian influence. The _Great
Syntaxis_ of Ptolemy operated in the oriental guise of the _Almagest_.
The most important direct source of this intellectual loan was not
Arabia, however, but Persia. Towards the close of the 13th century the
Greeks became acquainted with Persian astronomy. At the beginning of the
14th century Georgius Chrysococca and Isaac Argyrus wrote astronomical
treatises based on Persian works. Then the Byzantines themselves,
notably Theodorus Metochites and Nicephorus Gregoras, at last had
recourse to the original Greek sources.
Military science.
The Byzantines did much independent work in the field of military
science. The most valuable work of the period on this subject is one on
tactics, which has come down to posterity associated with the name of
Leo VI., the Wise.
Profane poetry.
Of profane poetry--in complete contrast to sacred poetry--the general
characteristic was its close imitation of the antique in point of form.
All works belonging to this category reproduce the ancient style and are
framed after ancient models. The metre is, for the most part, either the
Byzantine regular twelve-syllable trimeter, or the "political" verse;
more rarely the heroic and Anacreontic measures.
Epic.
Epic popular poetry, in the ancient sense, begins only with the
vernacular Greek literature (see below); but among the literary works of
the period there are several which can be compared with the epics of the
Alexandrine age. Nonnus (c. 400) wrote, while yet a pagan, a fantastic
epic on the triumphal progress of the god Dionysus to India, and, as a
Christian, a voluminous commentary on the gospel of St John. In the 7th
century, Georgius Pisides sang in several lengthy iambic poems the
martial deeds of the emperor Heraclius, while the deacon Theodosius
(10th century) immortalized in extravagant language the victories of the
brave Nicephorus Phocas.
Didactic poems.
From the 11th century onwards, religious, grammatical, astrological,
medical, historical and allegorical poems, framed partly in
duodecasyllables and partly in "political" verse, made their appearance
in large quantities. Didactic religious poems were composed, for
example, by Philippus ([Greek: ho Monotropos], Solitarius, c. 1100),
grammatico-philological poems by Johannes Tzetzes, astrological by
Johannes Camaterus (12th century), others on natural science by Manuel
Philes (14th century) and a great moral, allegorical, didactic epic by
Georgius Lapithes (14th century).
Romances.
To these may be added some voluminous poems, which in style and matter
must be regarded as imitations of the ancient Greek romances. They all
date from the 12th century, a fact evidently connected with the general
revival of culture which characterizes the period of the Comneni. Two of
these romances are written in the duodecasyllable metre, viz. the story
of Rodanthe and Dosicles by Theodorus Prodromus, and an imitation of
this work, the story of Drusilla and Charicles by Nicetas Eugenianus;
one in "political" verse, the love story of Aristander and Callithea by
Constantine Manasses, which has only been preserved in fragments, and
lastly one in prose, the story of Hysmine and Hysminias, by Eustathius
(or Eumathius) Macrembolita, which is the most insipid of all.
Lyrics.
The epigram.
The objective point of view which dominated the whole Byzantine period
was fatal to the development of a profane lyrical poetry. At most a few
poems by Johannes Geometres and Christophorus of Mytilene and others, in
which personal experiences are recorded with some show of taste, may be
placed in this category. The dominant form for all subjective poetry was
the epigram, which was employed in all its variations from playful
trifles to long elegiac and narrative poems. Georgius Pisides (7th
century) treated the most diverse themes. In the 9th century Theodorus
of Studium had lighted upon the happy idea of immortalizing monastic
life in a series of epigrams. The same century produced the only poetess
of the Byzantine period, Casia, from whom we have several epigrammatic
productions and church hymns, all characterized by originality.
Epigrammatic poetry reached its highest development in the 10th and 11th
centuries, in the productions of Johannes Geometres, Christophorus of
Mytilene and John Mauropus. Less happy are Theodorus Prodromus (12th
century) and Manuel Philes (14th century). From the beginning of the
10th century also dates the most valuable collection of ancient and of
Byzantine epigrammatic poems, the _Anthologia Palatina_ (see ANTHOLOGY).
Drama.
Dramatic poetry, in the strict sense of the term, was as completely
lacking among the Byzantine Greeks as was the condition precedent to its
existence, namely, public performance. Apart from some moralizing
allegorical dialogues (by Theodorus Prodromus, Manuel Philes and
others), we possess only a single work of the Byzantine period that, at
least in external form, resembles a drama: the _Sufferings of Christ_
([Greek: Christos Paschôn]). This work, written probably in the 12th
century, or at all events not earlier, is a cento, i.e. is in great
measure composed of verses culled from ancient writers, e.g. Aeschylus,
Euripides and Lycophron; but it was certainly not written with a view to
the dramatic production.
Vernacular Greek literature.
The vernacular literature stands alone, both in form and in contents. We
have here remarkable originality of conception and probably also
entirely new and genuinely medieval matter. While in the artificial
literature prose is pre-eminent, in the vernacular literature, poetry,
both in quantity and quality, takes the first place, as was also the
case among the Latin nations, where the vulgar tongue first invaded the
field of poetry and only later that of prose. Though a few preliminary
attempts were made (proverbs, acclamations addressed by the people to
the emperor, &c.), the Greek vernacular was employed for larger works
only from the 12th century onwards; at first in poems, of which the
major portion were cast in "political" verse, but some in the trochaic
eight-syllabled line. Towards the close of the 15th century rhyme came
into use. The subjects treated in this vernacular poetry are
exceedingly diverse. In the capital city a mixture of the learned and
the popular language was first used in poems of admonition, praise and
supplication. In this oldest class of "vulgar" works must be reckoned
the _Spaneas_, an admonitory poem in imitation of the letter of
Pseudo-Isocrates addressed to Demonicus; a supplicatory poem composed in
prison by the chronicler Michael Glycas, and several begging poems of
Theodorus Prodromus (Ptochoprodromos). In the succeeding period erotic
poems are met with, such as the Rhodian love songs preserved in a MS. in
the British Museum (ed. W. Wagner, Leipzig, 1879), fairy-tale like
romances such as the _Story of Ptocholeon_, oracles, prayers, extracts
from Holy Writ, lives of saints, &c. Great epic poems, in which antique
subjects are treated, such as the legends of Troy and of Alexander, form
a separate group. To these may be added romances in verse after the
manner of the works written in the artificial classical language, e.g.
_Callimachus and Chrysorrhoë_, _Belthandrus and Chrysantza_, _Lybistrus
and Rhodamne_, also romances in verse after the Western pattern, such as
_Phlorius_ and _Platziaphlora_ (the old French story of _Flore et
Blanchefleur_). Curious are also sundry legends connected with animals
and plants, such as an adaptation of the famous medieval animal fables
of the _Physiologus_, a history of quadrupeds, and a book of birds, both
written with a satirical intention, and, lastly, a rendering of the
story of Reynard the Fox. Of quite peculiar originality also are several
legendary and historical poems, in which famous heroes and historical
events are celebrated. There are, for instance, poems on the fall of
Constantinople, the taking of Athens and Trebizond, the devastating
campaign of Timur, the plague in Rhodes in 1498, &c. In respect of
importance and antiquity the great heroic epic of Digenis Akritas stands
pre-eminent.
"Vulgar" prose works.
Among prose works written in the vulgar tongue, or at least in a
compromise with it, may be mentioned the Greek rendering of two works
from an Indian source, the _Book of the Seven Wise Masters_ (as
_Syntipas the Philosopher_ by Michael Andreopulus), and the _Hitopadera_
or _Mirror of Princes_ (through the Arabic _Kalilah and Dimnah_ by
Simeon Sethus as [Greek: Stephanitês kai Iknêlatês]), a fish book, a
fruit book (both skits on the Byzantine court and official circles). To
these must be added the Greek laws of Jerusalem and of Cyprus of the
12th and 13th centuries, chronicles, &c. In spite of many individual
successes, the literature written in the vulgar tongue succumbed, in the
race for existence, to its elder sister, the literature written in
classical and polished Greek. This was mainly due to the continuous
employment of the ancient language in the state, the schools and the
church.
General significance of Byzantine literature.
The importance of Byzantine culture and literature in the history of the
world is beyond dispute. The Christians of the East Roman empire guarded
for more than a thousand years the intellectual heritage of antiquity
against the violent onslaught of the barbarians. They also called into
life a peculiar medieval culture and literature. They communicated the
treasures of the old pagan as well as of their own Christian literature
to neighbouring nations; first to the Syrians, then to the Copts, the
Armenians, the Georgians; later, to the Arabians, the Bulgarians, the
Serbs and the Russians. Through their teaching they created a new East
European culture, embodied above all in the Russian empire, which, on
its religious side, is included in the Orthodox Eastern Church, and from
the point of view of nationality touches the two extremes of Greek and
Slav. Finally the learned men of the dying Byzantine empire, fleeing
from the barbarism of the Turks, transplanted the treasures of old
Hellenic wisdom to the West, and thereby fertilized the Western peoples
with rich germs of culture.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--1. General sources: K. Krumbacher, _Geschichte der
byzantinischen Literatur_ (2nd ed., 1897), supplemented in _Die
byzantinische Zeitschrift_ (1892 seq.), and the _Byzantinisches
Archiv_ (1898 seq.), which is intended for the publication of more
exhaustive matter. The Russian works in this department are comprised
in the _Vizantiisky Vremennik_ (1894 seq.).
2. Language: Grammar: A. N. Jannaris (Giannaris), _An Historical
Greek Grammar_ (1897); A. Dieterich, "Untersuchungen zur Geschichte
der griechischen Sprache von der hellenistischen Zeit bis zum 10ten
Jahrhundert," in _Byzant. Archiv_, i. (1898). Glossary: Ducange,
_Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae Graecitatis_ (1688), in
which particular attention is paid to the "vulgar" language; E. A.
Sophocles, _Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods_ (3rd
ed., 1888).
3. Theology: Chief work, A. Ehrhard in Krumbacher's _Geschichte der
byz. Lit._ pp. 1-218. For the ancient period, cf. the works on Greek
patrology (under article FATHERS OF THE CHURCH). Collective edition of
the Fathers (down to the 15th century); _Patrologia, series Graeca_
(ed. by Migne, 161 vols., 1857-1866). Church poetry: A collection of
Greek Church hymns was published by W. Christ and M. Paranikas,
entitled _Anthologia Graeca carminum Christianorum_ (1871). Many
unedited texts, particularly the songs of Romanos, were published by
Cardinal J. B. Pitra, under the title _Analecta sacra spicilegio
Solesmensi parata_ (1876). A complete edition of the hymns is edited
by K. Krumbacher.
4. Historical literature: A collective edition of the Byzantine
historians and chroniclers was begun under Louis XIV., and continued
later (1648-1819), called the _Paris Corpus_. This whole collection
was on B. G. Niebuhr's advice republished with some additions (Bonn,
1828-1878), under the title _Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae_.
The most important authors have also appeared in the _Bibliotheca
Teubneriana_. A few Byzantine and oriental historical works are also
contained in the collection edited by J. B. Bury (1898 seq.).
5. Vernacular Greek literature: The most important collective editions
are: W. Wagner, _Medieval Greek Texts_ (1870), _Carmina Graeca Medii
Aevi_ (1874), _Trois Poèmes grecs du moyen âge_ (1881); E. Legrand,
_Collection de monuments pour servir à l'étude de la langue
néo-hellénique_ (in 26 parts, 1869-1875), _Bibliothèque grecque
vulgaire_ (in 8 vols., 1880-1896). (K. Kr.)
III. MODERN GREEK LITERATURE (1453-1908)
After the capture of Constantinople, the destruction of Greek national
life and the almost total effacement of Greek civilization naturally
involved a more or less complete cessation of Greek literary production
in the regions subjected to the rule of a barbarous conqueror. Learned
Greeks found a refuge away from their native land; they spoke the
languages of foreign people, and when they wrote books they often used
those languages, but in most cases they also wrote in Greek. The fall of
Constantinople must not therefore be taken as indicating a break in the
continuity of Greek literary history. Nor had that event so decisive an
influence as has been supposed on the revival of learning in western
Europe. The crusades had already brought the Greeks and Westerns
together, and the rule of the Franks at Constantinople and in the Levant
had rendered the contact closer. Greeks and Latins had keenly discussed
the dogmas which divided the Eastern and Western Churches; some Greeks
had adopted the Latin faith or had endeavoured to reconcile the two
communions, some had attained preferment in the Roman Church. Many had
become connected by marriage or other ties with the Italian nobles who
ruled in the Aegean or the Heptanesos, and circumstances led them to
settle in Italy. Of the writers who thus found their way to the West
before the taking of Constantinople the most prominent were Leon or
Leontios Pilatos, Georgius Gemistus, or Pletho, Manuel and John
Chrysoloras, Theodore Gazes, George of Trebizond and Cardinal Bessarion.
The Klephtic poetry.
The Ottoman conquest had reduced the Christian races in the plains to a
condition of serfdom, but the spirit of liberty continued to breathe in
the mountains, where groups of desperate men, the Klephts and the
Haiduks, maintained the struggle against alien tyranny. The adventurous
and romantic life of these champions of freedom, spent amid the noblest
solitudes of nature and often tinged with the deepest tragedy, naturally
produced a poetry of its own, fresh, spontaneous and entirely
indigenous. The Klephtic ballads, all anonymous and composed in the
language of the people, are unquestionably the best and most genuine
Greek poetry of this epoch. They breathe the aroma of the forests and
mountains; like the early rhapsodies of antiquity, which peopled nature
with a thousand forms, they lend a voice to the trees, the rocks, the
rivers and to the mountains themselves, which sing the prowess of the
Klepht, bewail his death and comfort his disconsolate wife or mother.
Olympia boasts to Ossa that the footstep of the Turk has never
desecrated its valleys; the standard of freedom floats over its springs;
there is a Klepht beneath every tree of its forests; an eagle sits on
its summit with the head of a warrior in its talons. The dying Klepht
bids his companions make him a large and lofty tomb that he may stand
therein and load his musket: "Make a window in the side that the
swallows may tell me that spring has come, that the nightingales may
sing me the approach of flowery May." The wounded Vervos is addressed by
his horse: "Rise, my master, let us go and find our comrades." "My bay
horse, I cannot rise; I am dying: dig me a tomb with thy silver-shod
hoof; take me in thy teeth and lay me therein. Bear my arms to my
companions and this handkerchief to my beloved, that she may see it and
lament me." Another type of the popular poetry is presented by the
folk-songs of the Aegean islanders and the maritime population of the
Asiatic coast. In many of the former the influence of the Frankish
conquest is apparent. Traces of the ancient mythology are often to be
found in the popular songs. Death is commonly personified by Charon, who
struggles with his victim; Charon is sometimes worsted, but as a rule he
triumphs in the conflict.
Cretan poets.
In Crete, which for nearly two centuries after the fall of
Constantinople remained under Venetian rule, a school of Greek poetry
arose strongly impressed with Italian influences. The language employed
is the dialect of the Candiotes, with its large admixture of Venetian
words. The first product of this somewhat hybrid literature was
_Erotocritos_, an epic poem in five cantos, which relates the love story
of Arete, daughter of Hercules, king of Athens, and Erotocritos, the son
of his minister. The poem presents an interesting picture of Greece
under the feudal Frankish princes, though professing to describe an
episode of the classical epoch; notwithstanding some tedious passages,
it possesses considerable merit and contains some charming scenes. The
metre is the rhymed alexandrine. Of the author, Vicence Cornaro, who
lived in the middle or end of the 16th century, little is known; he
probably belonged to the ducal family of that name, from which Tasso was
descended. The second poem is the _Erophile_ of George Chortakis, a
Cretan, also written in the Candiote dialect. It is a tragic drama, the
scene of which is laid in Egypt. The dialogue is poor, but there are
some fine choral interludes, which perhaps are by a different hand.
Chortakis, who was brought up at Retimo, lived at the end of the 16th
and beginning of the 17th centuries. The third Cretan poem worthy of
notice is the _Shepherdess_, a charming and graceful idyll written by
Nicolas Drimyticos, a native of Apokorona, early in the 17th century.
Other Cretan poets were J. Gregoropoulos and G. Melissinos (1500), who
wrote epigrams, and Maroulos (1493), who endeavoured to write Pindaric
odes.
Literary activity after the fall of Constantinople.
Among the Greeks who were prominent in spreading a knowledge of Greek in
Europe after the fall of Constantinople were John Argyropulos, Demetrius
Chalcondyles, Constantine and John Lascaris and Marcus Musurus, a
Cretan. These men wrote in the accepted literary language; in general,
however, they were rather employed about literature than engaged in
producing it. They taught Greek; several of them wrote Greek grammars;
they transcribed and edited Greek classical writers, and they collected
manuscripts. Their stores enriched the newly founded libraries of St
Mark at Venice, of the Escorial, of the Vatican and of the National
Library in Paris. But none of them accomplished much in literature
strictly so called. The question which most deeply interested them was
that of the rival merits of the Platonic and Aristotelian philosophies,
over which a controversy of extraordinary bitterness broke out towards
the close of the 15th century. The dispute was in reality theological
rather than philosophical; the cause of Plato was championed by the
advocates of a union between the Eastern and Western Churches, that of
Aristotle was upheld by the opposing party, and all the fury of the old
Byzantine dogmatic controversies was revived. The patriarch, George
Kurtesios or Gennadius, whom Mahommed II. had appointed after the
capture of Constantinople, wrote a treatise in favour of Aristotle and
excommunicated Gemistus Pletho, the principal writer among the
Platonists. On the other hand, George of Trebizond, who attacked Pletho
with unmeasured virulence, was compelled to resign his post of secretary
to Pope Nicholas V. and was imprisoned by Pope Paul I. Scholarship was
not wholly extinct in Greece or among the Greeks for a considerable time
after the Turkish conquest. Arsenius, who succeeded Musurus as bishop of
Monemvasia (1510), wrote commentaries on Aristophanes and Euripides; his
father, Apostoles, made a collection of Greek proverbs. Aemilius Portos,
a Cretan, and Leo Allatios (1600-1650) of Chios edited a number of works
of the classical and later periods with commentaries and translations;
Allatios also wrote Greek verses showing skill and cleverness.
Constantine Rhodokanakes, physician to Charles II. of England, wrote
verses on the return of that monarch to England. About the time of the
fall of Constantinople we meet with some versifiers who wrote poems in
the spoken dialect on historical subjects; among these were
Papaspondylos Zotikos (1444), Georgilas Limenitis (1450-1500) and
Jacobos Trivoles (beginning of the 16th century); their poems have
little merit, but are interesting as specimens of the popular language
of the day and as illustrating the manners and ideas of contemporary
Greeks.
Historical works.
Among the prose writers of the 16th century were a number of
chroniclers. At the end of the 15th, Kritobulos of Imbros, who had been
private secretary of Mahommed II., wrote the history of his master,
Emmanuel Melaxos a history of the patriarchate, and Phranzes a history
of the Palaeologi. Theodosius Zygomalas (1580) wrote a history of
Constantinople from 1391 to 1578. In the 17th century Demetrius
Cantemir, a Moldavian by birth, wrote a history of the Ottoman empire,
and G. Kontares tales of ancient Athens. Others composed chronicles of
Cyprus and Crete, narratives of travels and biographies of saints. Most
of these works are written in the literary language, the study of which
was kept alive by the patriarchate and the schools which it maintained
at Constantinople and elsewhere. Various theological and philosophical
works, grammars and dictionaries were written during this period, but
elegant literature practically disappears.[8]
The literary revival.
A literary revival followed in the 18th century, the precursor of the
national uprising which resulted in the independence of Greece. The
efforts of the great Phanariote families at Constantinople, the
educational zeal of the higher Greek clergy and the munificence of
wealthy Greeks in the provinces, chiefly merchants who had acquired
fortunes by commerce, combined to promote the spread of education among
a people always eager for instruction. The Turks, indifferent to
educational matters, failed to discern the significance of the movement.
Schools were established in every important Greek town, and school-books
and translations from Western languages issued from the presses of
Venice, Triest, Vienna and other cities where the Greeks possessed
colonies. Young men completed their studies in the Western universities
and returned to the East as the missionaries of modern civilization. For
the greater part of the 18th century the literature was mainly
theological. Notable theological writers of this epoch were Elias
Miniates, an elegant preacher, whose sermons are written in the popular
language, and Meletios of Iannina, metropolitan of Athens, whose
principal works were an ecclesiastical history, written in ancient
Greek, and a descriptive geography of Greece in the modern language,
composed, like the work of Pausanias, after a series of tours. The works
of two distinguished prelates, both natives of Corfu and both ardent
partisans of Russia, Nikephoros Theotokes (1731?-1800) and Eugenios
Bulgares (1715-1806), mark the beginning of the national and literary
renaissance. They wrote much in defence of Greek orthodoxy against
Latin heresy. Theotokes, famous as a preacher, wrote, besides
theological and controversial works, treatises on mathematics, geography
and physics. Bulgares was a most prolific author; he wrote numerous
translations and works on theology, archaeology, philosophy,
mathematics, physics and astronomy; he translated the _Aeneid_ and
_Georgics_ of Virgil into Homeric verse at the request of Catherine II.
His writings exercised a considerable influence over his contemporaries.
Poets of the Greek revival.
The poets of the earlier period of the Greek revival were Constantinos
Rhigas (q.v.), the Alcman of the revolutionary movement, whose songs
fired the spirit of his fellow-countrymen; Christopoulos (1772-1847), a
Phanariote, who wrote some charming Anacreontics, and Jacobos Rizos
Neroulos (1778-1850), also a Phanariote, author of tragedies, comedies
and lyrics, and of a work in French on modern Greek literature. They are
followed in the epoch of Greek independence by the brothers Panagiotes
and Alexander Soutzos (1800-1868 and 1803-1863) and Alexander Rhizos
Rhangabes (Rhankaves, 1810-1892), all three Phanariotes. Both Soutzos
had a rich command of musical language, were highly ideal in their
conceptions, strongly patriotic and possessed an ardent love of liberty.
Both imitated to some extent Byron, Lamartine and Béranger; they tried
various forms of poetry, but the genius of Panagiotes was essentially
lyrical, that of Alexander satirical. The other great poet of the Greek
revival, Alexander Rizos Rhangabe, was a writer with a fine poetic
feeling, exquisite diction and singular beauty and purity of thought and
sentiment. Besides numerous odes, hymns, ballads, narrative poems,
tragedies and comedies, he wrote several prose works, including a
history of ancient Greece, a history of modern Greek literature, several
novels and works on ancient art and archaeology. Among the numerous
dramatic works of this time may be mentioned the [Greek: Maria
Doxipatrê] of Demetrios Bernardakes, a Cretan, the scene of which is
laid in the Morea at the time of the crusades.
Prose writers of the revival.
In prose composition, as in poetry, the national revival was marked by
an abundant output. Among the historians the greatest is Spiridon
Trikoupis, whose _History of the Revolution_ is a monumental work. It is
distinguished by beauty of style, clearness of exposition and an
impartiality which is all the more remarkable as the author played a
leading part in the events which he narrates. Almost all the chiefs of
the revolutionary movement left their memoirs; even Kolokotrones, who
was illiterate, dictated his recollections. John Philemon, of
Constantinople, wrote a history of the revolution in six volumes. He was
an ardent partisan of Russia, and as such was opposed to Trikoupis, who
was attached to the English party. K. Paparrhegopoulos's _History of the
Greek Nation_ is especially valuable in regard to the later periods; in
regard to the earlier he largely follows Gibbon and Grote. With him may
be mentioned Moustoxides of Corfu, who wrote on Greek history and
literature; Sakellarios, who dealt with the topography and history of
Cyprus; N. Dragoumes, whose historical memoirs treat of the period which
followed the revolution; K. Assopios, who wrote on Greek literature and
history. In theology Oeconomos fills the place occupied by Miniates in
the 17th century as a great preacher. Kontogones is well known by his
_History of Patristic Literature of the First Three Centuries_ and his
_Ecclesiastical History_, and Philotheos Bryennios, bishop of Serres, by
his elaborate edition of _Clemens Romanus_. Kastorches wrote well on
Latin literature. Great literary activity in the domains of law,
political economy, mathematics, the physical sciences and archaeology
displayed itself in the generation after the establishment of the Greek
kingdom.
Coraës.
But the writer who at the time of the national revival not only
exercised the greatest influence over his contemporaries but even to a
large extent shaped the future course of Greek literature was Adamantios
Coraës (Korais) of Chios. This remarkable man, who devoted his life to
philological studies, was at the same time an ardent patriot, and in the
prolegomena to his numerous editions of the classical writers, written
In Greek or French, he strove to awake the interest of his countrymen in
the past glories of their race or administered to them sage counsels, at
the same time addressing ardent appeals to civilized Europe on their
behalf. The great importance of Coraës, however, lies in the fact that
he was practically the founder of the modern literary language.
The modern literary language.
In contemporary Greek literature two distinct forms of the modern
language present themselves--the vernacular ([Greek: hê kathomiloumenê])
and the purified ([Greek: hê kathareuousa]). The former is the oral
language, spoken by the whole Greek world, with local dialectic
variations; the latter is based on the Greek of the Hellenistic writers,
modified, but not essentially altered, in successive ages by the popular
speech. At the time of the War of Independence the enthusiasm of the
Greeks and the Philhellenes was fired by the memory of an illustrious
past, and at its close a classical reaction followed: the ancient
nomenclature was introduced in every department of the new state, towns
and districts received their former names, and children were christened
after Greek heroes and philosophers instead of the Christian saints. In
the literary revival which attended the national movement, two schools
of writers made their appearance--the purists, who, rejecting the spoken
idiom as degenerate and corrupt, aimed at the restoration of the
classical language, and the vulgarists, who regarded the vernacular or
"Romaic" as the genuine and legitimate representative of the ancient
tongue. A controversy which had existed in former times was thus
revived, with the result that a state of confusion still prevails in the
national literature. The classical scholar who is as yet unacquainted
with modern Greek will find, in the pages of an ordinary periodical or
newspaper, specimens of the conventional literary language, which he can
read with ease side by side with poems or even prose in the vernacular
which he will be altogether unable to interpret.
Reforms of Coraës.
The vernacular or oral language is never taught, but is universally
spoken. It has been evolved from the ancient language by a natural and
regular process, similar to that which has produced the Romance
languages from the Latin, or the Russian, Bulgarian and Servian from the
old Slavonic. It has developed on parallel lines with the modern
European languages, and in obedience to the same laws; like them, it
might have grown into a literary language had any great writers arisen
in the middle ages to do for it what Dante and his successors of the
_trecento_ did for Italian. But the effort to adapt it to the
requirements of modern literature could hardly prove successful. In the
first place, the national sentiment of the Greeks prompts them to
imitate the classical writers, and so far as possible to appropriate
their diction. The beauty and dignity of the ancient tongue possesses
such an attraction for cultivated writers that they are led insensibly
to adopt its forms and borrow from its wealth of phrase and idiom. In
the next place, a certain literary tradition and usage has already been
formed which cannot easily be broken down. For more than half a century
the generally accepted written language, half modern half ancient, has
been in use in the schools, the university, the parliament, the state
departments and the pulpit, and its influence upon the speech of the
more educated classes is already noticeable. It largely owes its present
form--though a fixed standard is still lacking--to the influence and
teaching of Coraës. As in the time of the decadence a [Greek: koinê
dialektos] stood midway between the classical language and the popular
speech, so at the beginning of the 19th century there existed a common
literary dialect, largely influenced by the vernacular, but retaining
the characteristics of the old Hellenistic, from which it was derived by
an unbroken literary tradition. This written language Coraës took as the
basis of his reforms, purging it of foreign elements, preserving its
classical remnants and enlarging its vocabulary with words borrowed from
the ancient lexicon or, in case of need, invented in accordance with a
fixed principle. He thus adopted a middle course, discountenancing alike
the pedantry of the purists and the over-confident optimism of the
vulgarists, who found in the uncouth popular speech all the material
for a _langue savante_. The language which he thus endeavoured to shape
and reconstruct is, of course, conventional and artificial. In course of
time it will probably tend to approach the vernacular, while the latter
will gradually be modified by the spread of education. The spoken and
written languages, however, will always be separated by a wide interval.
Poetical writers in the vernacular.
Many of the best poets of modern Greece have written in the vernacular,
which is best adapted for the natural and spontaneous expression of the
feelings. Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857), the greatest of them all,
employed the dialect of the Ionian Islands. Of his lyrics, which are
full of poetic fire and inspiration, the most celebrated is his "Ode to
Liberty." Other poets, of what may be described as the Ionic school,
such as Andreas Kalvos (1796-1869), Julius Typaldos (1814-1883), John
Zampelios (1787-1856), and Gerasimos Markoras (b. 1826), followed his
example in using the Heptanesian dialect. On the other hand, Georgios
Terzetes (1806-1874), Aristotle Valaorites (1824-1879) and Gerasimos
Mavrogiannes, though natives of the Ionian Islands, adopted in their
lyrics the language of the Klephtic ballads--in other words, the
vernacular of the Pindus range and the mountainous district of Epirus.
This dialect had at least the advantage of being generally current
throughout the mainland, while it derived distinction from the heroic
exploits of the champions of Greek liberty. The poems of Valaorites,
which are characterized by vivid imagination and grace of style, have
made a deep impression on the nation. Other poets who largely employed
the Epirotic dialect and drew their inspiration from the Klephtic songs
were John Vilaras (1771-1823), George Zalokostas (1805-1857) in his
lyric pieces, and Theodore Aphentoules, a Cretan (d. 1893). With the
poems of this group may be classed those of Demetrius Bikelas (b. 1835).
The popular language has been generally adopted by the younger
generation of poets, among whom may be mentioned Aristomenes Probelegios
(b. 1850), George Bizyenos (1853-1896), George Drosines, Kostes Palamas
(b. 1859), John Polemes, Argyres Ephthaliotes, and Jacob Polylas (d.
1896).
Poetical writers in the conventional language.
Contemporary with the first-mentioned or Ionic group, there existed at
Constantinople a school of poets who wrote in the accepted literary
language, and whose writings serve as models for the later group which
gathered at Athens after the emancipation of Greece. The literary
traditions founded by Alexander Rizos Rhangabes (1810-1892) and the
brothers Alexander and Panagiotis Soutzos (1803-1863 and 1800-1868), who
belonged to Phanariot families, were maintained in Athens by Spiridion
Basiliades (1843-1874) Angelos Vlachos (b. 1838), John Karasoutzas
(1824-1873), Demetrios Paparrhegopoulos (1843-1873), and Achilles
Paraschos (b. 1838). The last, a poet of fine feeling, has also employed
the popular language. In general the practice of versification in the
conventional literary language has declined, though sedulously
encouraged by the university of Athens, and fostered by annual poetic
competitions with prizes provided by patriotic citizens. Greek lyric
poetry during the first half of the century was mainly inspired by the
patriotic sentiment aroused by the struggle for independence, but in the
present generation it often shows a tendency towards the philosophic and
contemplative mood under the influence of Western models.
Dramatists, translators and satirists.
There has been an abundant production of dramatic literature in recent
years. In succession to Alexander Rhangabes, John Zampelios and the two
Soutzos, who belong to the past generation, Kleon Rhangabes, Angelos
Vlachos, Demetrios Koromelas, Basiliades and Bernadakes are the most
prominent among modern dramatic writers. Numerous translations of
foreign masterpieces have appeared, among which the metrical versions of
_Romeo and Juliet_, _Othello_, _King Lear_, _Hamlet_, _Macbeth_ and _The
Merchant of Venice_, by Demetrios Bikelas, deserve mention as examples
of artistic excellence. Goethe's _Faust_ has been rendered into verse by
Probelegios, and _Hamlet_, _Antony and Cleopatra_, _Coriolanus and
Julius Caesar_, into prose by Damiroles. Among recent satirists, George
Soures (b. 1853) occupies a unique position. He reviews social and
political events in the [Greek: Rhômêos], a witty little newspaper
written entirely in verse, which is read with delight by all classes of
the population.
Recent prose writers.
Almost all the prose writers have employed the literary language. In
historical research the Greeks continue to display much activity and
erudition, but no great work comparable to Spiridion Trikoupis's
_History of the Revolution_ has appeared in the present generation. A
history of the Greek nation from the earliest times to the present day,
by Spiridion Lampros, and a general history of the 19th century by
Karolides, have recently been published. The valuable [Greek: Mnêmeia]
of Sathas, the [Greek: meletai Byzantinês historias] of Spiridion
Zampelios and Mavrogiannes's _History of the Ionian Islands_ deserve
special mention, as well as the essays of Bikelas, which treat of the
Byzantine and modern epochs of Greek history. Some of the last-named
were translated into English by the late marquis of Bute. Among the
writers on jurisprudence are Peter Paparrhegopoulos, Kalligas, Basileios
Oekonomedes and Nikolaos Saripolos. Brailas-Armenes and John
Skaltzounes, the latter an opponent of Darwin, have written
philosophical works. The _Ecclesiastical History_ of Diomedes Kyriakos
and the _Theological Treatises_ of Archbishop Latas should be noted. The
best-known writers of philological works are Constantine Kontos, a
strong advocate of literary purism, George Hatzidakes, Theodore
Papademetrakopoulos and John Psichari; in archaeology, Stephen
Koumanoudes, Panagiotes Kavvadias and Christos Tsountas have won a
recognized position among scholars. John Svoronos is a high authority on
numismatics. The works of John Hatzidakes on mathematics, Anast.
Christomanos on chemistry, and Demetrios Aeginetes on astronomy are well
known.
Fiction.
The earlier works of fiction, written in the period succeeding the
emancipation of Greece, were much affected by foreign influence. Modern
Greece has not produced any great novelist. The [Greek: Krêtikoi gamoi]
of Spiridion Zampelios, the scene of which is laid in Crete, and the
_Thanos Blechas_ of Kalligas are interesting, the former for accuracy of
historical detail, the latter as a picture of peasant life in the
mountains of Greece. Original novel writing has not been much
cultivated, but translations of foreign romances abound. In later times
the short story has come into vogue through the example of D. Bikelas,
whose tales have acquired great popularity; one of them, _Loukis Laras_,
has been translated into many languages. The example of Bikelas has been
followed by Drosines Karkavitzas, Ephthaliotis, Xenopoulos and many
others.
Prose writers in the vernacular.
The most distinguished of the writers who adhere to the vernacular in
prose is John Psichari, professor of the École des Hautes Études in
Paris. He is the recognized leader of the vulgarists. Among the best
known of his works are [Greek: To taxeidi mou], a narrative of a journey
in Greek lands, [Greek: Toneiro tou Giannirê], [Greek: Hê Zoulea], and
[Greek: ho Magos]. The tales of Karkavitzas and Ephthaliotis are also in
the vernacular. Among the younger of M. Psichari's followers is M.
Palli, who has recently published a translation of the _Iliad_. Owing to
the limited resources of the popular language, the writers of this
school are sometimes compelled to employ strange and little-known words
borrowed from the various dialects. The vernacular has never been
adopted by writers on scientific subjects, owing to its inherent
unsuitability and the incongruity arising from the introduction of
technical terms derived from the ancient language. Notwithstanding the
zeal of its adherents, it seems unlikely to maintain its place in
literature outside the domain of poetry; nor can any other result be
expected, unless its advocates succeed in reforming the system of public
instruction in Greece.
Periodicals and Journals.
Many periodicals are published at Athens, among which may be mentioned
the _Athena_, edited by Constantine Kontos, the _Ethniké Agoge_, a
continuation of the old _Hestia_, the _Harmonia_ and the [Greek:
Diaplasis tôn paidôn], an educational review. The Parnassos, the
Archaeological Society and other learned bodies issue annual or
quarterly reports. The Greek journals are both numerous and widely read.
They contain much clever writing, which is often marred by inaccuracy
and a deficient sense of responsibility. Their tendency to exaggerated
patriotic sentiment sometimes borders on the ludicrous. For many years
the Nea _Heméra_ of Trieste exerted a considerable influence over the
Greek world, owing to the able political reviews of its editor,
Anastasios Byzantios (d. 1898), a publicist of remarkable insight and
judgment.
AUTHORITIES.--Constantine Sathas, [Greek: Neoellênikê philologia]
(Athens, 1868); D. Bikelas, [Greek: Peri neoellênikês philologias
dokimion] (London, 1871), reprinted in [Greek: Dialexeis kai
anamnêseis] (Athens, 1893); J. S. Blackie, _Horae Hellenicae_ (London,
1874); R. Nicolai, _Geschichte der neugriechischen Literatur_
(Leipzig, 1876); A. R. Rhangabé, _Histoire littéraire de la Grèce
moderne_ (Paris, 1877); C. Gidel, _Études sur la littérature grecque
moderne_ (Paris, 1878); E. Legrand, _Bibliothèque grecque vulgaire_
(vol. i., Paris, 1880); J. Lamber, _Poètes grecs contemporains_
(Paris, 1881); Kontos, [Greek: Glôssikai paratêrêseis] (Athens, 1882);
Rhangabé and Sanders, _Geschichte der neugriechischen Literatur von
ihren Anfängen bis auf die neueste Zeit_ (Leipzig, 1885); J. Psichari,
_Essais de grammaire historique néo-grecque_ (2 vols., Paris, 1886 and
1889); _Études de philologie néo-grecque_ (Paris, 1892); F. Blass,
_Die Aussprache des Griechischen_ (3rd ed., Berlin, 1888);
Papademetrakopoulos, [Greek: Basanos hellênikês prophoras] (Athens,
1889); M. Konstantinides, _Neo-hellenica_ (_Dialogues in Modern Greek,
with Appendix on the Cypriot Dialect_) (London, 1892); Rhoïdes,
[Greek: Ta Eidôla. Glôssikê meletê] (Athens, 1893); Polites, [Greek:
Meletai peri tou biou kai tês glôssês Hellênikou laou] (2 vols.,
Athens, 1899).
For the Klephtic ballads and folk-songs: C. Fauriel, _Chants
populaires de la Grèce moderne_ (Paris, 1824, 1826); Passow,
_Popularia carmina Graeciae recentioris_ (Leipzig, 1860); von Hahn,
_Griechische und albanesische Märchen_ (Leipzig, 1864); [Greek:
Tepharikês, Lianotragouda] (2nd ed., Athens, 1868); E. Legrand,
_Recueil de chansons populaires grecques_ (Paris, 1874); _Recueil de
contes populaires grecs_ (Paris, 1881); Paul de Lagarde,
_Neugriechisches aus Kleinasien_ (Göttingen, 1886); A. Jannaris,
[Greek: Asmata Krêtika] (_Kreta's Volkslieder_) (Leipzig, 1876); A.
Sakellariou, [Greek: Ta Kypriaka] (Athens, 1891); [Greek: Zôgrapheios
Hagôn], published by the [Greek: Hellênikos philologikos syllogos]
(Constantinople, 1891). Translations: L. Garnett, _Greek Folksongs
from the Turkish Provinces of Greece_ (London, 1885); E. M. Geldart,
_Folklore of Modern Greece_ (London, 1884). Lexicons: A. N. Jannaris,
_A Concise Dictionary of the English and Modern Greek Languages_
(English-Greek) (London, 1895); Byzantios (Skarlatos D.), [Greek:
Lexikon tês Hellênikês glôssês] (Athens, 1895); A. Sakellario, [Greek:
Lexikon tês Hellênikês glôssês] (5th ed., Athens, 1898); S.
Koumanoudes, [Greek: Synagôgê neôn lexeôn] (Athens, 1900). Grammars:
Mitsotakes, _Praktische Grammatik der neugriechischen Schrift- und
Umgangssprache_ (Stuttgart, 1891); M. Gardner, _A Practical Modern
Greek Grammar_ (London, 1892); G. N. Hatzidakes, _Einleitung in die
neugriechische Grammatik_ (Leipzig, 1892); E. Vincent and T. G.
Dickson, _Handbook to Modern Greek_ (London, 1893); A. Thumb,
_Handbuch der neugriechischen Volkssprache_ (Strassburg, 1895); C.
Wied, _Die Kunst der neugriechischen Volkssprache durch
Selbstunterricht schnell und leicht zu lernen_ (2nd ed., undated,
Vienna); A. N. Jannaris, _Historical Greek Grammar_ (London, 1897).
(J. D. B.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For authorities and criticisms see T. W. Allen in _Classical
Quarterly_ (Jan. and April 1908).
[2] Others attribute it, as well as the _Margites_, to Pigres of
Halicarnassus, the supposed brother of the Carian queen Artemisia,
who fought on the side of Xerxes at the battle of Salamis.
[3] The extant fragments of Solon have been augmented by lengthy
quotations in the _Constitution of Athens_.
[4] Since the above was written, four considerable fragments
generally assigned to Sappho have been discovered: a prayer to the
Nereids for the safe return of her brother Charaxus; the leave-taking
of a favourite pupil; a greeting to Atthis, one of her friends, in
Lydia; the fourth, much mutilated, addressed to another pupil,
Gongyla. They are of great beauty and throw considerable light on the
personality of Sappho and the language and metre of her poems.
[5] Recently increased by specimens of the _Partheneia_ (choral songs
for maidens) and paeans.
[6] His Constitution of Athens (q.v.), of which a papyrus MS. was
found in Egypt and published in 1891, forms part of a larger work on
the constitution of 158 Greek and foreign cities.
[7] See Ad. Bauer and J. Strzygowski, "Eine alexandrinische
Weltchronik" (1905) (_Denkschrift der kaiserlich. Akademie der
Wissenschaften_, li.).
[8] The patriarch Cyrillos Lucares (1572-1638), who had studied for a
time in England and whose sympathies with Protestantism made him many
enemies, established a Greek printing-press at Constantinople, from
which he had the temerity to issue a work condemning the faith of
Mahomet; he was denounced to the Turks by the Jesuits, and his
printing-press was suppressed.
GREEK RELIGION. The recent development of anthropological science and of
the comparative study of religions has enabled us at last to assign to
ancient Greek religion its proper place in the classification of creeds
and to appreciate its importance for the history of civilization. In
spite of all the diversities of local cults we may find a general
definition of the theological system of the Hellenic communities, and
with sufficient accuracy may describe it as an anthropomorphic
polytheism, preserving many traces of a pre-anthropomorphic period,
unchecked by any exacting dogma or tradition of revelation, and
therefore pliantly adapting itself to all the changing circumstance of
the social and political history of the race, and easily able to
assimilate alien ideas and forms. Such a religion, continuing in whole
or in part throughout a period of at least 2000 years, was more capable
of progress than others, possibly higher, that have crystallized at an
early period into a fixed dogmatic type; and as, owing to its essential
character, it could not be convulsed by any inner revolution that might
obliterate the deposits of its earlier life, it was likely to preserve
the imprints of the successive ages of culture, and to reveal more
clearly than any other testimony the evolution of the race from savagery
to civilization. Hence it is that Greek religion appears to teem with
incongruities, the highest forms of religious life being often
confronted with the most primitive. And for this reason the student of
savage anthropology and the student of the higher religions of the
world are equally rewarded by its study.
Modern ethnology has arrived at the conviction that the Hellenic nation,
like others that have played great parts in history, was the product of
a blend of populations, the conquering tribes of Aryan descent coming
from the north and settling among and upon certain pre-Hellenic
Mediterranean stocks. The conclusion that is naturally drawn from this
is that Hellenic religion is also the product of a blend of early Aryan
or Indo-Germanic beliefs with the cult-ideas and practices of the
Mediterranean area that were from of old indigenous in the lands which
the later invaders conquered. But to disentangle these two component
parts of the whole, which might seem to be the first problem for the
history of the development of this religion, is by no means an easy
task; we may advance further towards its solution, when the mysterious
pre-Hellenic Mediterranean language or group of languages, of which
traces remain in Hellenic place-names, and which may be lying
uninterpreted on the brick-tablets of the palace of Cnossus, has found
its interpreter. For the first question is naturally one of language.
But the comparative study of the Indo-European speech-group, great as
its philological triumphs have been, has been meagre in its
contributions to our positive knowledge of the original belief of the
primitive stock. It is not possible to reconstruct a common
Indo-European religion. The greater part of the separate Aryan
cult-systems may have developed after the diffusion and may have been
the result of contact in prehistoric days with non-Aryan peoples. And
many old religious etymological equations, such as [Greek: Ouranos] =
Sanskrit Varuna, [Greek: Hermês] = Saramey[=a]s, Athena = Ahana, were
uncritically made and have been abandoned. The chief fact that philology
has revealed concerning the religious vocabulary of the Aryan peoples is
that many of them are found to have designated a high god by a word
derived from a root meaning "bright," and which appears in Zeus,
Jupiter, Sanskrit _Dyaus_. This is important enough, but we should not
exaggerate its importance, nor draw the unwarranted inference that
therefore the primitive Indo-Europeans worshipped one supreme God, the
Sky-Father. Besides the word "Zeus," the only other names of the
Hellenic pantheon that can be explained wholly or partly as words of
Aryan formation are Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Dionysus (whose name and
cult were derived from the Aryan stock of the Thraco-Phrygians) and
probably Pan. But other names, such as Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis,
Hera, Hermes, have no discovered affinities with other Aryan
speech-groups; and yet there is nothing suspiciously non-Aryan in the
formation of these words, and they may all have belonged to the earliest
Hellenic-Aryan vocabulary. In regard to others, such as Rhea, Hephaestus
and Aphrodite, it is somewhat more probable that they belonged to an
older pre-Hellenic stock that survived in Crete and other islands, and
here and there on the mainland; while we know that Zeus derived certain
unintelligible titles in Cretan cult from the indigenous Eteo-cretan
speech.
A minute consideration of a large mass of evidence justifies the
conclusion that the main tribes of the Aryan Hellenes, pushing down from
the north, already possessed certain deities in common such as Zeus,
Poseidon and Apollo with whom they associated certain goddesses, and
that they maintained the cult of Hestia or "Holy Hearth." Further, a
comparison of the developed religions of the respective Aryan peoples
suggests that they tended to give predominance to the male divinity,
although we have equally good reason to assert that the cult of
goddesses, and especially of the earth-goddess, is a genuinely "Aryan"
product. But when the tribes of this family poured into the Greek
peninsula, it is probable that they would find in certain centres of a
very ancient civilization, such as Argolis and Crete, the dominant cult
of a female divinity.[1] The recent excavations on the site of the Hera
temple at Argos prove that a powerful goddess was worshipped here many
centuries before it is probable that the Hellenic invader appeared. He
may have even found the name Hera there, or may have brought it with him
and applied it to the indigenous divinity. Again, we are certain that
the great mother-goddess of Crete, discovered by Dr Arthur Evans, is the
ancestress of Rhea and of the Greek "Mother of the gods": and it is a
reasonable conjecture that she accounts for many of the forms of Artemis
and perhaps for Athena. But the evidence by no means warrants us in
assuming as an axiom that wherever we find a dominant goddess-cult, as
that of Demeter at Eleusis, we are confronted with a non-Hellenic
religious phenomenon. The very name "Demeter" and the study of other
Aryan religions prove the prominence of the worship of the earth-goddess
in our own family of the nations. Finally, we must reckon with the
possibility that the other great nations which fringed the
Mediterranean, Hittite, Semitic and Egyptian peoples, left their impress
on early Greek religion, although former scholars may have made rash use
of this hypothesis.[2]
Animism.
Recognizing then the great perplexity of these problems concerning the
ethnic origins of Hellenic religion, we may at least reduce the tangle
of facts to some order by distinguishing its lower from its higher
forms, and thus provide the material for some theory of evolution. We
may collect and sift the phenomena that remain over from a
pre-anthropomorphic period, the imprints of a savage past, the beliefs
and practices that belong to the animistic or even the pre-animistic
period, fetishism, the worship of animals, human sacrifice. We shall at
once be struck with the contrast between such civilized cults as those
of Zeus, Athena, Apollo, high personal divinities to whom the attributes
of a progressive morality could be attached, and practices that long
survived in backward communities, such as the Arcadian worship of the
thunder and the winds, the cult of Zeus [Greek: Keraunos] "the thunder"
at Mantinea and Zeus [Greek: Kappôtas] in Laconia, who is none other
than the mysterious meteoric stone that falls from heaven. These are
examples of a religious view in which certain natural phenomena or
objects are regarded as mysteriously divine or sacred in their own right
and a personal divinity has not yet emerged or been separated from them.
A noteworthy product of primitive animistic feeling is the universally
prevalent cult of Hestia, who is originally "Holy Hearth" pure and
simple, and who even under the developed polytheism, in which she played
no small part, was never established as a separate anthropomorphic
personage.
Fetishism
The animistic belief that certain material objects can be charged with a
divine potency or spirit gives rise to fetishism, a term which properly
denotes the worshipful or superstitious use of objects made by art and
invested with mysterious power, so as to be used like amulets for the
purposes of protective magic or for higher purposes of communion with
the divinity. From the earliest discoverable period down to the present
day fetishism has been a powerful factor in the religion of the
Graeco-Roman world. The importance of the sacred stone and pillar in the
"Mycenaean" or "Minoan" period which preceded Homer has been
impressively shown by Dr Arthur Evans, and the same fetishistic worship
continued throughout the historic ages of classic paganism, the rude
aniconic emblem of pillar or tree-trunk surviving often by the side of
the iconic masterpiece. It is a reasonable conjecture that the earliest
anthropomorphic images of divinities, which were beginning to make their
appearance by the time of Homer, were themselves evolved by slow
transformation from the upright sacred column. And the altar itself may
have arisen as another form of this; the simple heap of stones, such as
those erected to Hermes by the way-side and called [Greek: Hermaioi
lophoi], may have served both as a place of worship and as an _agalma_
that could attract and absorb a divine potency into itself. Hence the
fetishistic power of the altar was fully recognized in Greek ritual, and
hence also in the cult of Apollo Agyieus the god and the altar are
called by the same name.
It has been supposed that the ancestors of the historic Greeks, before
they were habituated to conceive of their divinities as in human form,
may have been accustomed to invest them with animal attributes and
traits. We must not indeed suppose it to be a general law of religious
evolution that "theriomorphism" must always precede anthropomorphism and
that the latter transcends and obliterates the former. The two systems
can exist side by side, and savages of low religious development can
conceive of their deities as assuming at one time human, at another
bestial, shape. Now the developed Greek religion was devotedly
anthropomorphic, and herein lay its strength and its weakness;
nevertheless, the advanced Hellene could imagine his Dionysus entering
temporarily into the body of the sacrificial bull or goat, and the men
of Phigalia in Arcadia were attached to their horse-headed Demeter, and
the primitive Laconians possibly to a ram-headed Apollo. Theriolatry in
itself, i.e. the worship of certain animals as of divine power in their
own right, apart from any association with higher divinities, can
scarcely be traced among the Greek communities at any period. They are
not found to have paid reverence to any species, though individual
animals could acquire temporarily a divine character through communion
with the altar or with the god. The wolf might at one time have been
regarded as the incarnation of Apollo, the wolf-god, and here and there
we find faint traces of a wolf-sacrifice and of offerings laid out for
wolves. But the occasional propitiation of wild beasts may fall short of
actual worship. The Athenian who slew a wolf might give it a sumptuous
funeral, probably to avoid a blood-feud with the wolf's relatives, yet
the Athenian state offered rewards for a wolf's head. Nor did any Greek
individual or state worship flies as a class, although a small oblation
might be thrown to the flies before the great sacrifice to Apollo on the
Leucadian rock, to please them and to persuade them not to worry the
worshippers at the great solemnity, where the reek of roast flesh would
be likely to attract them.
Totemism.
Theriolatry suggests totemism; and though we now know that the former
can arise and exist quite independently of the latter, recent
anthropologists have interpreted the apparent sanctity or prestige of
certain animals in parts of Greek mythology and religion as the deposit
of an earlier totemistic system. But this interpretation, originated and
maintained with great acumen by Andrew Lang and W. Robertson Smith,
appears now somewhat hazardous; and as a scientific hypothesis there are
many flaws in it. The more observant study of existing totem-tribes has
weakened our impression of the importance of totemism as a primitive
religious phenomenon. It is in reality more important as a social than
as a religious factor. If indeed we choose to regard totemism as a mere
system of nomenclature, by which a tribe names itself after some animal
or plant, then we might quote a few examples of Hellenic tribes
totemistic in this sense. But totemism is a fact of importance only when
it affects the tribal marriage laws or the tribal religion. And the
tribal marriage laws of ancient Greece, so far as they are known, betray
no clear mark of totemistic arrangements; nor does the totemism of
contemporary savages appear to affect their religion in any such way as
to suggest a natural explanation for any of the peculiar phenomena of
early Hellenic polytheism. Here and there we have traces of a
snake-tribe in Greece, the [Greek: Ophieis] in Aetolia, the [Greek:
Ophiogeneis] in Cyprus and Parium, but we are not told that these
worshipped the snake, though the latter clan were on terms of intimacy
with it. Where the snake was actually worshipped in Hellenic cult--the
cases are few and doubtful--it may have been regarded as the incarnation
of the ancestor or as the _avatar_ of the under-world divinity.
Human sacrifice.
Finally, among the primitive or savage phenomena the practice of human
sacrifice looms large. Encouraged at one time by the Delphic oracle, it
was becoming rare and repellent to the conscience by the 6th century
B.C.; but it was not wholly extinct in the Greek world even by the time
of Porphyry. The facts are very complex and need critical handling, and
a satisfying scientific explanation of them all is still to be sought.
We can now observe the higher aspects of the advanced polytheism. And at
the outset we must distinguish between mythology and religion strictly
understood, between the stories about the divinities and the private or
public religious service. No doubt the former are often a reflection of
the latter, in many cases being suggested by the ritual which they may
have been invented to interpret, and often envisaging important
cult-ideas. Such for example are the myths about the purification and
trial of Orestes, Theseus, Ixion, the story of Demeter's sorrow, of the
sufferings and triumph of Dionysus, and those about the abolition of
human sacrifice. Yet Greek mythology as a whole was irresponsible,
without reserve, and unchecked by dogma or sacerdotal prohibition; and
frequently it sank below the level of the current religion, which was
almost free from the impurities which shock the modern reader of
Hellenic myths. Nor again did any one feel himself called upon to
believe any particular myth; in fact, faith, understood in the sense in
which the term is used in Christian theology, as the will to believe
certain dogmatic statements about the nature and action of divinity, is
a concept which was neither named nor recognized in Hellenic ethics or
religious doctrine; only, if a man proclaimed his disbelief in the
existence of the gods and refused to join in the ritual of the
community, he would become "suspect," and might at times be persecuted
by his fellows. Greek religion was not so much an affair of doctrine as
of ritual, religious formulae of which the cult-titles of the divinities
were an important component, and prayer; and the most illuminative
sources of our knowledge of it are the ritual-inscriptions and other
state-documents, the private dedications, the monuments of religious art
and certain passages in the literature, philology and archaeology being
equally necessary to the equipment of the student.
Religion in Homer.
We are tempted to turn to Homer as the earliest authority. And though
Homer is not primitive and does not present even an approximately
complete account of Greek religion, we can gather from his poems a
picture of an advanced polytheism which in form and structure at least
is that which was presented to the world of Aeschylus. We discern a
pantheon already to some extent systematized, a certain hierarchy and
family of divinities in which the supremacy of Zeus is established as
incontestable. And the anthropomorphic impulse, the strongest trend in
the Greek religious imagination, which filled the later world with
fictitious personages, generating transparent shams such as an
Ampidromus for the ritual of the Ampidromia, Amphiction for the
Amphictiones, a hero [Greek: Keramos] for the gild of potters, is
already at its height in the Homeric poems. The deities are already
clear-cut, individual personalities of distinct ethos, plastically
shaped figures such as the later sculpture and painting could work upon,
not vaguely conceived _numina_ like the forms of the old Roman religion.
Nor can we call them for the most part nature-deities like the
personages of the Vedic system, thinly disguised "personifications" of
natural phenomena. Athena is not the blue sky nor Apollo the sun; they
are simply Athena and Apollo, divine personages with certain powers and
character, as real for their people as Christ and the Virgin for
Christendom. By the side of these, though generally in a subordinate
position, we find that Homer recognized certain divinities that we may
properly call nature-powers, such as Helios, Gaia and the river-deities,
forms descending probably from a remote animistic period, but
maintaining themselves within the popular religion till the end of
Paganism. Again, though Homer may talk and think at times with levity
and _banalité_ about his deities, his deeper utterances impute an
advanced morality to the supreme God. His Zeus is on the whole a power
of righteousness, dealing with men by a righteous law of nemesis, never
being himself the author of evil--an idea revealed in the opening
passage of the _Odyssey_--but protecting the good and punishing the
wicked. Vengeance, indeed, was one of the attributes of divinity both
for Homer and the average Greek of the later period, as it is in Judaic
and Christian theology, though Plato and Euripides protested strongly
against such a view. But the Homeric Zeus is equally a god of pity and
mercy, and the man who neglects the prayers of the sorrowful and
afflicted, who violates the sanctity of the suppliant and guest, or
oppresses the poor or the wanderer, may look for divine punishment.
Though not regarded as the physical author of the universe or the
Creator, he is in a moral sense the father of gods and men. And though
the sense of sin and the need of piacular sacrifice are expressed in the
Homeric poems, the relations between gods and men that they reveal are
on the whole genial and social; the deity sits unseen at the good man's
festal sacrifice, and there is a simple apprehension of the idea of
divine communion. There is also indeed a glimmering of the dark
background of the nether world, and the chthonian powers that might send
up the Erinys to fulfil the curse of the wronged. Yet on the whole the
religious atmosphere is generally cheerful and bright; freer than that
of the later ages from the taint of magic and superstition; nor is Homer
troubled much about the life after death; he scarcely recognizes the
cult of the dead,[3] and is not oppressed by fear of the ghost-world.
The post-Homeric period.
If we look now broadly over the salient facts of the Greek public and
private worship of the historic period we find much in it that agrees
with Homeric theology. His "Olympian" system retains a certain life
almost to the end of Paganism, and it is a serious mistake to suppose
that it had lost its hold upon the people of the 5th and 4th century
B.C. We find it, indeed, enriched in the post-Homeric period with new
figures of prestige and power; Dionysus, of whom Homer had only faintly
heard, becomes a high god with a worship full of promise for the future.
Demeter and Kore, the mother and the girl, whom Homer knew well enough
but could not use for his epic purposes, attract the ardent affections
and hopes of the people; and Asclepius, whom the old poet did not
recognize as a god, wins a conspicuous place in the later shrines. But
much that has been said of the Homeric may be said of the later
classical theology. The deities remain anthropomorphic, and appear as
clearly defined individuals. A certain hierarchy is recognized; Zeus is
supreme, even in the city of Athena, but each of the higher divinities
played many parts, and local enthusiasm could frustrate the departmental
system of divine functions; certain members of the pantheon had a
preference for the life of the fields, but as the _polis_ emerged from
the village communities, Demeter, Hermes, Artemis and others, the gods
and goddesses of the husbandmen and shepherds, become powers of the
council-chamber and the market-place. The moral ideas that we find in
the Homeric religion are amply attested by cult-records of the later
period. The deities are regarded on the whole as beneficent, though
revengeful if wronged or neglected; the cult-titles used in prayer,
which more than any other witnesses reveal the thought and wish of the
worshipper, are nearly always euphemistic, the doubtful title of Demeter
Erinys being possibly an exception. The important cults of Zeus [Greek:
Hikesios] and [Greek: Prostropaios], the suppliant's protecting deity,
embody the ideas of pity and mercy that mark advanced religion; and many
momentous steps in the development of morality and law were either
suggested or assisted by the state-religion. For example, the sanctity
of the oath, the main source of the secular virtue of truthfulness, was
originally a religious sanction, and though the Greek may have been
prone to perjury, yet the Hellenic like the Hebraic religious ethics
regarded it as a heinous sin. The sanctity of family duties, the
sacredness of the life of the kinsman, were ideas fostered by early
Hellenic religion before they generated principles of secular ethics. In
the post-Homeric period, the development of the doctrine of purity,
which was associated with the Apolline religion, combining with a
growing dread of the ghost-world, stimulated and influenced in many
important ways the evolution of the Greek law concerning homicide.[4]
And the beginnings of international law and morality were rooted in
religious sanctions and taboo. In fact, Greek state-life was indebted in
manifold ways to Greek religion, and the study of the Greek oracles
would alone supply sufficient testimony of this. In many cases the very
origin of the state was religious, the earliest _polis_ sometimes having
arisen under the shadow of the temple.
Yet as Greek religion was always in the service of the state, and the
priest a state-official, society was the reverse of theocratic. Secular
advance, moral progress and the march of science, could never long be
thwarted by religious tradition; on the contrary, speculative thought
and artistic creation were considered as attributes of divinity. We may
say that the religion of Hellas penetrated the whole life of the people,
but rather as a servant than as a master.
Distinct and apart from these public worships and those of the clan and
family were the mystic cults of Eleusis, Andania and Samothrace, and the
private services of the mystic brotherhoods. The latter were scattered
broadcast over Hellas, and the influence of the former was strengthened
and their significance intensified by the wave of mysticism that spread
at first from the north from the beginning of the 7th century onwards,
and derived its strength from the power of Dionysus and the Orphic
brotherhoods. New ideals and hopes began to stir in the religious
consciousness, and we find a strong Salvationist tendency, the promise
of salvation relying on mystic communion with the deity. Also a new and
vital principle is at work; Orphism is the only force in Greek religion
of a clear apostolic purpose, for it broke the barriers of the old
tribal and civic cults, and preached its message to bond and free,
Hellene and barbarian.
The later history of Greek paganism is mainly concerned with its gradual
penetration by Oriental ideas and worships, and the results of this
[Greek: theokrasia] are discerned in an ever increasing mysticism and a
tendency towards monotheism. Obliterated as the old Hellenic religion
appeared to be by Christianity, it nevertheless retained a certain life,
though transformed, under the new creed to which it lent much of its
hieratic organization and religious terminology. The indebtedness of
Christianity to Hellenism is one of the most interesting problems of
comparative religion; and for an adequate estimate a minute knowledge of
the ritual and the mystic cults of Hellas is one of the essential
conditions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Older Authorities: A. Maury, _Histoire des religions de
la Grèce antique_ (3 vols., 1857-1859); Welcker, _Griechische
Götterlehre_ (3 vols., 1857-1863); Preller, _Griechische Mythologie_,
2 vols. (4th edition by C. Robert, 1887), all antiquated in regard to
theory, but still of some value for collection of materials. Recent
Literature--(a) General Treatises: O. Gruppe, "Griechische Mythologie
und Religionsgeschichte" in Iwan von Müller's _Handbuch der
klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_, v. 2. 2 (1902-1906); L. R.
Farnell's _Cults of the Greek States_, 4 vols. (1896-1906, vol. 5,
1908); Miss Jane Harrison's _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek
Religion_ (ed. 1908); Chantepie de la Saussaye's _Lehrbuch der
Religionsgeschichte_ (Greek section, 1904); (b) Special Works or
Dissertations: articles in Roscher's _Ausführliches Lexikon der
griechischen und römischen Mythologie_, and Pauly-Wissowa
_Encyklopädie_ (1894- ); Immerwahr, _Kulte und Mythen Arkadiens_
(1891); Wide, _Lakonische Kulte_ (1893); de Visser, _De Graecorum diis
non referentibus speciem humanam_ (Leiden, 1900). Greek Ritual and
Festivals--A. Mommsen, _Feste der Stadt Athen_ (1898); P. Stengel,
"Die griechischen Sacralaltertümer" in Iwan von Müller's _Handbuch_,
v. 3 (1898); W. H. D. Rouse, _Greek Votive Offerings_ (1902). Greek
Religious Thought and Speculation--L. Campbell's _Religion in Greek
Literature_ (1898); Ducharme, _La Critique des traditions religieuses
chez les Grecs des origines au temps de Plutarque_ (Paris, 1904). See
also articles on individual deities, and cf. ROMAN RELIGION;
MYSTERIES; MITHRAS. (L. R. F.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This has often been explained as a result of _Mutterrecht_, or
reckoning descent through the female: for reasons against this
hypothesis see L. R. Farnell in _Archiv für vergleichende
Religionswissenschaft_ (1904); cf. A. J. Evans, "Mycenaean Tree and
Pillar Cult," in _Journ. of Hellenic Studies_ (1901).
[2] V. Bérard has recently revived the discredited theory of a
prevalent Phoenician influence in his ingenious but uncritical work,
_L'Origine des cultes arcadiens_. M. P. Foucart believes in very
early borrowing from Egypt, as explaining much in the religion of
Demeter and Dionysus; see _Les Grands Mystères d'Éleusis_ and _Le
Culte de Dionysos en Attique_.
[3] This became very powerful from the 7th century onward, and there
are reasons for supposing that it existed in the pre-Homeric, or
Mycenaean, period; _vide_ Rohde's _Psyche_ (new edition), Tsountas
and Manatt, _The Mycenaean Age_.
[4] See L. R. Farnell, _Evolution of Religion_ (Hibbert Lectures,
1905), pp. 139-152.
GREELEY, HORACE (1811-1872), American statesman and man of letters, was
born at Amherst, New Hampshire, on the 3rd of February 1811. His parents
were of Scottish-Irish descent, but the ancestors of both had been in
New England for several generations. He was the third of seven children.
His father, Zaccheus Greeley, owned a farm of 50 acres of stony, sterile
land, from which a bare support was wrung. Horace was a feeble and
precocious lad, taking little interest in the ordinary sports of
childhood, learning to read before he was able to talk plainly, and the
prodigy of the neighbourhood for accurate spelling. Before Horace was
ten years old (1820), his father became bankrupt, his home was sold by
the sheriff, and Zaccheus Greeley himself fled the state to escape
arrest for debt. The family soon removed to West Haven, Vermont, where,
all working together, they made a scanty living as day labourers. Horace
from childhood desired to be a printer, and, when barely eleven years
old, tried to be taken as an apprentice in an office at Whitehall, New
York, but was rejected on account of his youth. After three years more
with the family as a day labourer at West Haven, he succeeded, with his
father's consent, in being apprenticed in the office of _The Northern
Spectator_, at East Poultney, Vermont. Here he soon became a good
workman, developed a passion for politics and especially for political
statistics, came to be depended upon for more or less of the editing of
the paper, and was a figure in the village debating society. He received
only $40 a year, but he sent most of his money to his father. In June
1830 _The Northern Spectator_ was suspended. Meantime his father had
removed to a small tract of wild land in the dense forests of Western
Pennsylvania, 30 m. from Erie. The released apprentice now visited his
parents, and worked for a little time with them on the farm, meanwhile
seeking employment in various printing offices, and, when he got it,
giving nearly all his earnings to his father. At last, with no further
prospect of work nearer home, he started for New York. He travelled on
foot and by canal-boat, entering New York in August 1831, with all his
clothes in a bundle carried over his back with a stick, and with but $10
in his pocket. More than half of this sum was exhausted while he made
vain efforts to find employment. Many refused to employ him, in the
belief that he was a runaway apprentice, and his poor, ill-fitting
apparel and rustic look were everywhere greatly against him. At last he
found work on a 32mo New Testament, set in agate, double columns, with a
middle column of notes in pearl. It was so difficult and so poorly paid
that other printers had all abandoned it. He barely succeeded in making
enough to pay his board bill, but he finished the task, and thus found
subsequent employment easier to get.
In January 1833 Greeley formed a partnership with Francis V. Story, a
fellow-workman. Their combined capital amounted to about $150. Procuring
their type on credit, they opened a small office, and undertook the
printing of the _Morning Post_, the first cheap paper published in New
York. Its projector, Dr Horatio D. Shepard, meant to sell it for one
cent, but under the arguments of Greeley he was persuaded to fix the
price at two cents. The paper failed in less than three weeks, the
printers losing only $50 or $60 by the experiment. They still had a
_Bank Note Reporter_ to print, and soon got the printing of a tri-weekly
paper, the _Constitutionalist_, the organ of some lottery dealers.
Within six months Story was drowned, but his brother-in-law, Jonas
Winchester, took his place in the firm. Greeley was now asked by James
Gordon Bennett to go into partnership with him in starting _The Herald_.
He declined the venture, but recommended the partner whom Bennett
subsequently took. On the 2nd of March 1834, Greeley and Winchester
issued the first number of _The New Yorker_, a weekly literary and news
paper, the firm then supposing itself to be worth about $3000. Of the
first number they sold about 100 copies; of the second, nearly 200.
There was an average increase for the next month of about 100 copies per
week. The second volume began with a circulation of about 4550 copies,
and with a loss on the first year's publication of $3000. The second
year ended with 7000 subscribers and a further loss of $2000. By the end
of the third year _The New Yorker_ had reached a circulation of 9500
copies, and had sustained a total loss of $7000. It was published seven
years (until the 20th of September 1841), and was never profitable, but
it was widely popular, and it gave Greeley, who was its sole editor,
much prominence. On the 5th of July 1836 Greeley married Miss Mary Y.
Cheney, a Connecticut school teacher, whom he had met in a Grahamite
(vegetarian) boarding-house in New York.
During the publication of _The New Yorker_ he added to the scanty income
which the job printing brought him by supplying editorials to the
short-lived _Daily Whig_ and various other publications. In 1838 he had
gained such standing as a writer that he was selected by Thurlow Weed,
William H. Seward, and other leaders of the Whig Party, for the
editorship of a campaign paper entitled _The Jeffersonian_, published at
Albany. He continued _The New Yorker_, and travelled between Albany and
New York each week to edit the two papers. The _Jeffersonian_ was a
quiet and instructive rather than a vehement campaign sheet, and the
Whigs believed that it had a great effect upon the elections of the next
year. When, on the 2nd of May 1840, some time after the nomination by
the Whig party of William Henry Harrison for the Presidency, Greeley
began the publication of a new weekly campaign paper, _The Log Cabin_,
it sprang at once into a great circulation; 40,000 copies of the first
number were sold, and it finally rose to 80,000. It was considered a
brilliant political success, but it was not profitable, and in September
1841 was merged in the _Weekly Tribune_. On the 3rd of April 1841,
Greeley announced that on the following Saturday (April 10th) he would
begin the publication of a daily newspaper of the same general
principles, to be called _The Tribune_. He was now entirely without
money. From a personal friend, James Coggeshall, he borrowed $1000, on
which capital and the editor's reputation _The Tribune_ was founded. It
began with 500 subscribers. The first week's expenses were $525 and the
receipts $92. By the end of the fourth week it had run up a circulation
of 6000, and by the seventh reached 11,000, which was then the full
capacity of its press. It was alert, cheerful and aggressive, was
greatly helped by the attacks of rival papers, and promised success
almost from the start.
From this time Greeley was popularly identified with _The Tribune_, and
its share in the public discussion of the time is his history. It soon
became moderately prosperous, and his assured income should have placed
him beyond pecuniary worry. His income was long above $15,000 per year,
frequently as much as $35,000 or more. But he lacked business thrift,
inherited a disposition to endorse for his friends, and was often unable
to distinguish between deserving applicants for aid and adventurers. He
was thus frequently straitened, and, as his necessities pressed, he sold
successive interests in his newspaper. At the outset he owned the whole
of it. When it was already firmly established (in July 1841), he took in
Thomas McElrath as an equal partner, upon the contribution of $2000 to
the common fund. By the 1st of January 1849 he had reduced his interest
to 31½ shares out of 100; by July 2nd, 1860, to 15 shares; in 1868 he
owned only 9; and in 1872, only 6. In 1867 the stock sold for $6500 per
share, and his last sale was for $9600. He bought wild lands, took stock
in mining companies, desiccated egg companies, patent looms,
photo-lithographic companies, gave away profusely, lent to plausible
rascals, and was the ready prey of every new inventor who chanced to
find him with money or with property that he could readily convert into
money.
In September 1841 Greeley merged his weekly papers, _The Log Cabin_ and
_The New Yorker_, into _The Weekly Tribune_, which soon attained as wide
circulation as its predecessors, and was much more profitable. It rose
in a time of great political excitement to a total circulation of a
quarter of a million, and it sometimes had for successive years 140,000
to 150,000. For several years it was rarely much below 100,000. Its
subscribers were found throughout all quarters of the northern half of
the Union from Maine to Oregon, large packages going to remote districts
beyond the Mississippi or Missouri, whose only connexion with the
outside world was through a weekly or semi-weekly mail. The readers of
this weekly paper acquired a personal affection for its editor, and he
was thus for many years the American writer most widely known and most
popular among the rural classes. The circulation of _The Daily Tribune_
was never proportionately great--its advocacy of a protective tariff,
prohibitory liquor legislation and other peculiarities, repelling a
large support which it might otherwise have commanded in New York. It
rose within a short time after its establishment to a circulation of
20,000, reached 50,000 and 60,000 during the Civil War, and thereafter
ranged at from 30,000 to 45,000. After May 1845 a semi-weekly edition
was also printed, which ultimately reached a steady circulation of from
15,000 to 25,000.
From the outset it was a cardinal principle with Greeley to hear all
sides, and to extend a special hospitality to new ideas. In March 1842
_The Tribune_ began to give one column daily to a discussion of the
doctrines of Charles Fourier, contributed by Albert Brisbane. Gradually
Greeley came to advocate some of these doctrines editorially. In 1846 he
had a sharp discussion upon them with a former subordinate, Henry J.
Raymond, then employed upon a rival journal. It continued through twelve
articles on each side, and was subsequently published in book form.
Greeley became personally interested in one of the Fourierite
associations, the North American Phalanx, at Red Bank, N. J.
(1843-1855), while the influence of his discussions doubtless led to or
gave encouragement to other socialistic experiments, such as that at
Brook Farm. When this was abandoned, its leader George Ripley, with one
or two other members, sought employment from Greeley upon _The Tribune_.
Greeley dissented from many of Fourier's propositions, and in later
years was careful to explain that the principle of association for the
common good of working men and the elevation of labour was the chief
feature which attracted him. Co-operation among working men he continued
to urge throughout his life. In 1850 the Fox Sisters, on his wife's
invitation, spent several weeks in his house. His attitude towards their
"rappings" and "spiritual manifestations" was one of observation and
inquiry; and in his _Recollections_ he wrote concerning these
manifestations: "That some of them are the result of juggle, collusion
or trick I am confident; that others are _not_, I decidedly believe."
From boyhood he had believed in a protective tariff, and throughout his
active life he was its most trenchant advocate and propagandist. Besides
constantly urging it in the columns of _The Tribune_, he appeared as
early as 1843 in a public debate on "The Grounds of Protection," with
Samuel J. Tilden and Parke Godwin as his opponents. A series of popular
essays on the subject were published over his own signature in _The
Tribune_ in 1869, and subsequently republished in book form, with a
title-page describing protection to home industry as a system of
national co-operation for the elevation of labour. He opposed woman
suffrage on the ground that the majority of women did not want it and
never would, and declared that until woman should "emancipate herself
from the thraldom to etiquette," he "could not see how the 'woman's
rights theory' is ever to be anything more than a logically defensible
abstraction." He aided practical efforts, however, for extending the
sphere of woman's employments. He opposed the theatres, and for a time
refused to publish their advertisements. He held the most rigid views on
the sanctity of marriage and against easy divorce, and vehemently
defended them in controversies with Robert Dale Owen and others. He
practised and pertinaciously advocated total abstinence from spirituous
liquors, but did not regard prohibitory laws as always wise. He
denounced the repudiation of state debts or the failure to pay interest
on them. He was zealous for Irish repeal, once held a place in the
"Directory of the Friends of Ireland," and contributed liberally to its
support. He used the occasion of Charles Dickens's first visit to
America to urge international copyright, and was one of the few editors
to avoid alike the flunkeyism with which Dickens was first received, and
the ferocity with which he was assailed after the publication of his
_American Notes_. On the occasion of Dickens's second visit to America,
Greeley presided at the great banquet given him by the press of the
country. He made the first elaborate reports of popular scientific
lectures by Louis Agassiz and other authorities. He gave ample hearing
to the advocates of phonography and of phonographic spelling. He was one
of the most conspicuous advocates of the Pacific railroads, and of many
other internal improvements.
But it is as an anti-slavery leader, and as perhaps the chief agency in
educating the mass of the Northern people to that opposition through
legal forms to the extension of slavery which culminated in the election
of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, that Greeley's main work was done.
Incidents in it were his vehement opposition to the Mexican War as a
scheme for more slavery territory, the assault made upon him in
Washington by Congressman Albert Rust of Arkansas in 1856, an indictment
in Virginia in the same year for circulating incendiary documents,
perpetual denunciation of him in Southern newspapers and speeches, and
the hostility of the Abolitionists, who regarded his course as too
conservative. His anti-slavery work culminated in his appeal to
President Lincoln, entitled "The Prayer of Twenty Millions," in which he
urged "that all attempts to put down the rebellion and at the same time
uphold its inciting cause" were preposterous and futile, and that "every
hour of deference to slavery" was "an hour of added and deepened peril
to the Union." President Lincoln in his reply said: "My paramount object
is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery.... What
I do about slavery and the coloured race, I do because I believe it
helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not
believe it would help to save the Union ... I have here stated my
purpose according to my views of official duty; and I intend no
modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere
could be free." Precisely one month after the date of this reply the
Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Greeley's political activity, first as a Whig, and then as one of the
founders of the Republican party, was incessant; but he held few
offices. In 1848-1849 he served a three months' term in Congress,
filling a vacancy. He introduced the first bill for giving small tracts
of government land free to actual settlers, and published an exposure of
abuses in the allowance of mileage to members, which corrected the evil,
but brought him much personal obloquy. In the National Republican
Convention in 1860, not being sent by the Republicans of his own state
on account of his opposition to William Seward as a candidate, he was
made a delegate for Oregon. His active hostility to Seward did much to
prevent the success of that statesman, and to bring about instead the
nomination of Abraham Lincoln. This was attributed by his opponents to
personal motives, and a letter from Greeley to Seward, the publication
of which he challenged, was produced, to show that in his struggling
days he had been wounded at Seward's failure to offer him office. In
1861 he was a candidate for United States senator, his principal
opponent being William M. Evarts. When it was clear that Evarts could
not be elected, his supporters threw their votes for a third candidate,
Ira Harris, who was thus chosen over Greeley by a small majority. At the
outbreak of the war he favoured allowing the Southern states to secede,
provided a majority of their people at a fair election should so decide,
declaring "that he hoped never to live in a Republic whereof one section
was pinned to the other by bayonets." When the war began he urged the
most vigorous prosecution of it. The "On to Richmond" appeal, which
appeared day after day in _The Tribune_, was incorrectly attributed to
him, and it did not wholly meet his approval; but after the defeat in
the first battle of Bull Run he was widely blamed for it. In 1864 he
urged negotiations for peace with representatives of the Southern
Confederacy in Canada, and was sent by President Lincoln to confer with
them. They were found to have no sufficient authority. In 1864 he was
one of the Lincoln Presidential electors for New York. At the close of
the war, contrary to the general feeling of his party, he urged
universal amnesty and impartial suffrage as the basis of reconstruction.
In 1867 his friends again wished to elect him to the Senate of the
United States, and the indications were all in his favour. But he
refused to be elected under any misapprehension of his attitude, and
with what his friends thought unnecessary candour re-stated his
obnoxious views on universal amnesty at length, just before the time for
the election, with the certainty that this would prevent his success.
Some months later he signed the bail bond of Jefferson Davis, and this
provoked a torrent of public indignation. He had written a popular
history of the late war, the first volume having an immense sale and
bringing him unusually large profits. The second was just issued, and
the subscribers, in their anger, refused by thousands to receive it. An
unsuccessful attempt was also made to expel him from the Union League
Club of New York.
In 1867 he was a delegate-at-large to the convention for the revision of
the state constitution, and in 1869 and 1870 he was the Republican
candidate for controller of the state and member of Congress
respectively, but in each case was defeated.
He was dissatisfied with General Grant's administration, and became its
sharp critic. The discontent which he did much to develop ended in the
organization of the Liberal Republican party, which held its National
Convention at Cincinnati in 1872, and nominated Greeley for the
presidency. For a time the tide of feeling ran strongly in his favour.
It was first checked by the action of his life-long opponents, the
Democrats, who also nominated him at their National Convention. He
expected their support, on account of his attitude toward the South and
hostility to Grant, but he thought it a mistake to give him their formal
nomination. The event proved his wisdom. Many Republicans who had
sympathized with his criticisms of the administration, and with the
declaration of principles adopted at the first convention, were repelled
by the coalition. This feeling grew stronger until the election. His old
party associates regarded him as a renegade, the Democrats gave him a
half-hearted support. The tone of the canvass was one of unusual
bitterness, amounting sometimes to actual ferocity. In August, on
representations of the alarming state of the contest, he took the field
in person, and made a series of campaign speeches, beginning in New
England and extending throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, which
aroused great enthusiasm, and were regarded at the time by both friends
and opponents as the most brilliant continuous exhibition of varied
intellectual power ever made by a candidate in a presidential canvass.
General Grant received in the election 3,597,070 votes, Greeley
2,834,079. The only states Greeley carried were Georgia, Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.
He had resigned his editorship of _The Tribune_ immediately after the
nomination; he now resumed it cheerfully; but it was soon apparent that
his powers had been overstrained. For years he had suffered greatly from
sleeplessness. During the intense excitement of the campaign the
difficulty was increased. Returning from his campaign tour, he went
immediately to the bedside of his dying wife, and for some weeks had
practically no sleep at all. This resulted in an inflammation of the
upper membrane of the brain, delirium and death. He expired on the 29th
of November 1872. His funeral was a simple but impressive public
pageant. The body lay in state in the City Hall, where it was surrounded
by crowds of many thousands. The ceremonies were attended by the
President and Vice-President of the United States, the Chief-Justice of
the Supreme Court, and a large number of eminent public men of both
parties, who followed the hearse in a solemn procession, preceded by the
mayor and other civic authorities, down Broadway. He had been the target
of constant attack during his life, and his personal foibles, careless
dress and mental eccentricities were the theme of endless ridicule. But
his death revealed the high regard in which he was generally held as a
leader of opinion and faithful public servant. "Our later Franklin"
Whittier called him, and it is in some such light his countrymen
remember him.
In 1851 Greeley visited Europe for the first time, serving as a juryman
at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, appearing before a committee of the
House of Commons on newspaper taxes, and urging the repeal of the stamp
duty on advertisements. In 1855 he made a second trip to Europe. In
Paris he was arrested on the suit of a sculptor, whose statue had been
injured in the New York World's Fair (of which he had been a director),
and spent two days in Clichy, of which he gave an amusing account. In
1859 he visited California by the overland route, and had numerous
public receptions. In 1871 he visited Texas, and his trip through the
southern country, where he had once been so hated, was an ovation. About
1852 he purchased a farm at Chappaqua, New York, where he afterwards
habitually spent his Saturdays, and experimented in agriculture. He was
in constant demand as a lecturer from 1843, when he made his first
appearance on the platform, always drew large audiences, and, in spite
of his bad management in money matters, received considerable sums,
sometimes $6000 or $7000 for a single winter's lecturing. He was also
much sought for as a contributor, over his own signature, to the weekly
newspapers, and was sometimes largely paid for these articles. In
religious faith he was from boyhood a Universalist, and for many years
was a conspicuous member of the leading Universalist church in New York.
His published works are: _Hints Toward Reforms_ (1850); _Glances at
Europe_ (1851); _History of the Struggle for Slavery Extension_ (1856);
_Overland Journey to San Francisco_ (1860); _The American Conflict_ (2
vols., 1864-1866); _Recollections of a Busy Life_ (1868; new edition,
with appendix containing an account of his later years, his argument
with Robert Dale Owen on Marriage and Divorce, and Miscellanies, 1873);
_Essays on Political Economy_ (1870); and _What I know of Farming_
(1871). He also assisted his brother-in-law, John F. Cleveland, in
editing _A Political Text-book_ (1860), and supervised for many years
the annual issues of _The Whig Almanac_ and _The Tribune Almanac_,
comprising extensive political statistics.
The best Lives of Greeley are those by James Parton (New York, 1855;
new ed., Boston, 1872) and W. A. Linn (N.Y. 1903). Lives have also
been written by L. U. Reavis (New York, 1872), and L. D. Ingersoll
(Chicago, 1873); and there is a _Memorial of Horace Greeley_ (New
York, 1873). (W. R.)
GREELEY, a city and the county-seat of Weld county, Colorado, U.S.A.,
about 50 m. N. by E. of Denver. Pop. (1890) 2395; (1900) 3023 (286
foreign-born); (1910) 8179. It is served by the Union Pacific and the
Colorado & Southern railways. In 1908 a franchise was granted to the
Denver & Greeley Electric railway. The city is the seat of the State
Normal School of Colorado (1889). There are rich coal-fields near the
city. The county is naturally arid and unproductive, and its
agricultural importance is due to an elaborate system of irrigation. In
1899 Weld county had under irrigation 226,613 acres, representing an
increase of 102.2% since 1889, and a much larger irrigated area than in
any other county of the state. Irrigation ditches are supplied with
water chiefly from the Cache la Poudre, Big Thompson and South Platte
rivers, near the foothills. The principal crops are potatoes, sugar
beets, onions, cabbages and peas; in 1899 Weld county raised 2,821,285
bushels of potatoes on 23,195 acres (53% of the potato acreage for the
entire state). The manufacture of beet sugar is a growing industry, a
large factory having been established at Greeley in 1902. Beets are also
grown as food for live stock, especially sheep. Peas, tomatoes, cabbages
and onions are canned here. Greeley was founded in 1870 by Nathan Cook
Meeker (1817-1879), agricultural editor of the New York _Tribune_. With
the support of Horace Greeley (in whose honour the town was named), he
began in 1869 to advocate in _The Tribune_ the founding of an
agricultural colony in Colorado. Subsequently President Hayes appointed
him Indian agent at White River, Colorado, and he was killed at what is
now Meeker, Colorado, in an uprising of the Ute Indians. Under Meeker's
scheme, which attracted mainly people from New England and New York
state, most of whom were able to contribute at least a little capital,
the Union Colony of Colorado was organized and chartered, and bought
originally 11,000 acres of land, each member being entitled to buy from
it one residence lot, one business lot, and a tract of farm land. The
funds thus acquired were, to a large extent, expended in making public
improvements. A clause inserted in all deeds forbade the sale of
intoxicating liquors on the land concerned, under pain of the reversion
of such property to the colony. The initiation fees ($5) were used for
the expenses of locating the colony, and the membership certificate fees
($150) were expended in the construction of irrigating ditches, as was
the money received from the sale of town lots, except about $13,000
invested in a school building (now the Meeker Building). Greeley was
organized as a town in 1871, and was chartered as a city of the second
class in 1886. The "Union Colony of Colorado" still exists as an
incorporated body and holds reversionary rights in streets, alleys and
public grounds, and in all places "where intoxicating liquors are
manufactured, sold or given away, as a beverage."
See Richard T. Ely, "A Study of a 'Decreed' Town," _Harper's
Magazine_, vol. 106 (1902-1903), p. 390 sqq.
GREEN, ALEXANDER HENRY (1832-1896), English geologist, son of the Rev.
Thomas Sheldon Green, master of the Ashby Grammar School, was born at
Maidstone on the 10th of October 1832. He was educated partly at his
father's school, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and afterwards at Gonville and Caius
College, Cambridge, where he graduated as sixth wrangler in 1855 and was
elected a fellow of his college. In 1861 he joined the Geological Survey
of Great Britain, and surveyed large areas of the midland counties,
Derbyshire and Yorkshire. He wrote (wholly or in part) memoirs on the
Geology of Banbury (1864), of Stockport (1866), of North Derbyshire
(1869, 2nd ed. 1887), and of the Yorkshire Coal-field (1878). In 1874 he
retired from the Geological Survey, having been appointed professor of
geology in the Yorkshire College at Leeds; in 1885 he became also
professor of mathematics, while for many years he held the lectureship
on geology at the school of military engineering at Chatham. He was
elected F.R.S. in 1886, and two years later was chosen professor of
geology in the university of Oxford. His manual of _Physical Geology_
(1876, 3rd ed. 1882) is an excellent book. He died at Boar's Hill,
Oxford, on the 19th of August 1896.
A portrait of him, with brief memoir, was published in _Proc. Yorksh.
Geol. and Polytechnic Soc._ xiii. 232.
GREEN, DUFF (1791-1875), American politician and journalist, was born in
Woodford county, Kentucky, on the 15th of August 1791. He was a school
teacher in his native state, served during the War of 1812 in the
Kentucky militia, and then settled in Missouri, where he worked as a
schoolmaster and practised law. He was a member of the Missouri
Constitutional Convention of 1820, and was elected to the state House of
Representatives in 1820 and to the state Senate in 1822, serving one
term in each house. Becoming interested in journalism, he purchased and
for two years edited the St Louis _Enquirer_. In 1825 he bought and
afterwards edited in Washington, D.C., _The United States Telegraph_,
which soon became the principal organ of the Jackson men in opposition
to the Adams administration. Upon Andrew Jackson's election to the
presidency, the _Telegraph_ became the principal mouthpiece of the
administration, and received printing patronage estimated in value at
$50,000 a year, while Green became one of the coterie of unofficial
advisers of Jackson known as the "Kitchen Cabinet." In the quarrel
between Jackson and John C. Calhoun, Green supported the latter, and
through the columns of the _Telegraph_ violently attacked the
administration. In consequence, his paper was deprived of the government
printing in the spring of 1831. Green, however, continued to edit it in
the Calhoun interest until 1835, and gave vigorous support to that
leader's nullification views. From 1835 to 1838 he edited _The
Reformation_, a radically partisan publication, devoted to free trade
and the extreme states' rights theory. In 1841-1843 he was in Europe on
behalf of the Tyler administration, and he is said to have been
instrumental in causing the appointment of Lord Ashburton to negotiate
in Washington concerning the boundary dispute between Maine and Canada.
In January 1843 Green established in New York City a short-lived
journal, _The Republic_, to combat the spoils system and to advocate
free trade. In September 1844 Calhoun, then secretary of state, sent
Green to Texas ostensibly as consul at Galveston, but actually, it
appears, to report to the administration, then considering the question
of the annexation of Texas, concerning the political situation in Texas
and Mexico. After the close of the war with Mexico Green was sent to
that country in 1849 by President Taylor to negotiate concerning the
moneys which, by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States had
agreed to pay; and he saved his country a considerable sum by arranging
for payment in exchange instead of in specie. Subsequently Green was
engaged in railway building in Georgia and Alabama. On the 10th of June
1875 he died in Dalton, Georgia, a city which in 1848 he had helped to
found.
GREEN, JOHN RICHARD (1837-1883), English historian, was born at Oxford
on 12th December 1837, and educated at Magdalen College School and at
Jesus College, where he obtained an open scholarship. On leaving Oxford
he took orders and became the incumbent of St Philip's, Stepney. His
preaching was eloquent and able; he worked diligently among his poor
parishioners and won their affection by his ready sympathy. Meanwhile he
studied history in a scholarly fashion, and wrote much for the _Saturday
Review_. Partly because his health was weak and partly because he ceased
to agree with the teaching of the Church of England, he abandoned
clerical life and devoted himself to history; in 1868 he took the post
of librarian at Lambeth, but his health was already breaking down and he
was attacked by consumption. His _Short History of the English People_
(1874) at once attained extraordinary popularity, and was afterwards
expanded in a work of four volumes (1877-1880). Green is pre-eminently a
picturesque historian; he had a vivid imagination and a keen eye for
colour. His chief aim was to depict the progressive life of the English
people rather than to write a political history of the English state. In
accomplishing this aim he worked up the results of wide reading into a
series of brilliant pictures. While generally accurate in his statement
of facts, and showing a firm grasp of the main tendency of a period, he
often builds more on his authorities than is warranted by their words,
and is apt to overlook points which would have forced him to modify his
representations and lower the tone of his colours. From his animated
pages thousands have learned to take pleasure in the history of their
own people, but could scarcely learn to appreciate the complexity
inherent in all historical movement. His style is extremely bright, but
it lacks sobriety and presents some affectations. His later histories,
_The Making of England_ (1882) and _The Conquest of England_ (1883), are
more soberly written than his earlier books, and are valuable
contributions to historical knowledge. Green died at Mentone on the 7th
of March 1883. He was a singularly attractive man, of wide intellectual
sympathies and an enthusiastic temperament; his good-humour was
unfailing and he was a brilliant talker; and his work was done with
admirable courage in spite of ill-health. It is said that Mrs Humphry
Ward's _Robert Elsmere_ is largely a portrait of him. In 1877 Green
married Miss Alice Stopford; and Mrs Green, besides writing a memoir of
her husband, prefixed to the 1888 edition of his _Short History_, has
herself done valuable work as an historian, particularly in her _Henry
II._ in the "English Statesmen" series (1888), her _Town Life in the
15th Century_ (1894), and _The Making of Ireland and its Undoing_
(1908).
See the _Letters of J. R. Green_ (1901), edited by Leslie Stephen.
(W. Hu.)
GREEN, MATTHEW (1696-1737), English poet, was born of Nonconformist
parents. He had a post in the custom house, and the few anecdotes that
have been preserved of him show him to have been as witty as his poems
would lead one to expect. He died unmarried at his lodging in Nag's Head
Court, Gracechurch Street, in 1737. His _Grotto_, a poem on Queen
Caroline's grotto at Richmond, was printed in 1732; and his chief poem,
_The Spleen_, in 1737 with a preface by his friend Richard Glover. These
and some other short poems were printed in Dodsley's collection (1748),
and subsequently in various editions of the British poets. They were
edited In 1796 with a preface by Dr Aikin and in 1883 by R. E. A.
Willmott with the poems of Gray and others. _The Spleen_ is an epistle
to Mr Cuthbert Jackson, advocating cheerfulness, exercise and a quiet
content as remedies. It is full of witty sayings. Thomas Gray said of
it: "There is a profusion of wit everywhere; reading would have formed
his judgment, and harmonized his verse, for even his wood-notes often
break out into strains of real poetry and music."
GREEN, THOMAS HILL (1836-1882), English philosopher, the most typical
English representative of the school of thought called _Neo-Kantian_, or
_Neo-Hegelian_, was born on the 7th of April 1836 at Birkin, a village
in the West Riding of Yorkshire, of which his father was rector. On the
paternal side he was descended from Oliver Cromwell, whose honest,
sturdy independence of character he seemed to have inherited. His
education was conducted entirely at home until, at the age of fourteen,
he entered Rugby, where he remained five years. In 1855 he became an
undergraduate member of Balliol College, Oxford, of which society he
was, in 1860, elected fellow. His life henceforth, was devoted to
teaching (mainly philosophical) in the university--first as college
tutor, afterwards, from 1878 until his death (at Oxford on the 26th of
March 1882) as Whyte's Professor of Moral Philosophy. The lectures he
delivered as professor form the substance of his two most important
works, viz. the _Prolegomena to Ethics_ and the _Lectures on the
Principles of Political Obligation_, which contain the whole of his
positive constructive teaching. These works were not published until
after his death, but Green's views were previously known indirectly
through the _Introduction_ to the standard edition of Hume's works by
Green and T. H. Grose (d. 1906), fellow of Queen's College, in which the
doctrine of the "English" or "empirical" philosophy was exhaustively
examined.
Hume's empiricism, combined with a belief in biological evolution
(derived from Herbert Spencer), was the chief feature in English thought
during the third quarter of the 19th century. Green represents primarily
the reaction against doctrines which, when carried out to their logical
conclusion, not only "rendered all philosophy futile," but were fatal to
practical life. By reducing the human mind to a series of unrelated
atomic sensations, this teaching destroyed the possibility of knowledge,
and further, by representing man as a "being who is simply the result of
natural forces," it made conduct, or any theory of conduct, unmeaning;
for life in any human, intelligible sense implies a personal self which
(1) _knows_ what to do, (2) has _power_ to do it. Green was thus driven,
not theoretically, but as a practical necessity, to raise again the
whole question of man in relation to nature. When (he held) we have
discovered what man in himself is, and what his relation to his
environment, we shall then know his function--what he is fitted to do.
In the light of this knowledge we shall be able to formulate the moral
code, which, in turn, will serve as a criterion of actual civic and
social institutions. These form, naturally and necessarily, the
objective expression of moral ideas, and it is in some civic or social
whole that the moral ideal must finally take concrete shape.
To ask "What is man?" is to ask "What is experience?" for experience
means that of which I am conscious. The facts of consciousness are the
only facts which, to begin with, we are justified in asserting to exist.
On the other hand, they are valid evidence for whatever is necessary to
their own explanation, i.e. for whatever is logically involved in them.
Now the most striking characteristic of man, that in fact which marks him
specially, as contrasted with other animals, is _self_-consciousness. The
simplest mental act into which we can analyse the operations of the human
mind--the act of sense-perception--is never merely a _change_, physical
or psychical, but is the _consciousness_ of a change. Human experience
consists, not of processes in an animal organism, but of these processes
recognized as such. That which we perceive is from the outset an
apprehended fact--that is to say, it cannot be analysed into isolated
elements (so-called sensations) which, as such, are not constituents of
consciousness at all, but exists from the first as a synthesis of
relations in a consciousness which keeps distinct the "self" and the
various elements of the "object," though holding all together in the
unity of the act of perception. In other words, the whole mental
structure we call knowledge consists, in its simplest equally with its
most complex constituents, of the "work of the mind." Locke and Hume held
that the work of the mind was _eo ipso_ unreal because it was "made by"
man and not "given to" man. It thus represented a subjective creation,
not an objective fact. But this consequence follows only upon the
assumption that the work of the mind is arbitrary, an assumption shown to
be unjustified by the results of exact science, with the distinction,
universally recognized, which such science draws between truth and
falsehood, between the real and "mere ideas." This (obviously valid)
distinction logically involves the consequence that the object, or
content, of knowledge, viz. reality, is an intelligible ideal reality, a
system of thought relations, a spiritual cosmos. How is the existence of
this ideal whole to be accounted for? Only by the existence of some
"principle which renders all relations possible and is itself determined
by none of them"; an eternal self-consciousness which knows in whole what
we know in part. To God the world _is_, to man the world _becomes_. Human
experience is God gradually made manifest.
Carrying on the same analytical method into the special department of
moral philosophy, Green held that ethics applies to the peculiar
conditions of social life that investigation into man's nature which
metaphysics began. The faculty employed in this further investigation is
no "separate moral faculty," but that same reason which is the source of
all our knowledge--ethical and other. Self-reflection gradually reveals
to us human capacity, human function, with, consequently, human
responsibility. It brings out into clear consciousness certain
potentialities in the realization of which man's true good must consist.
As the result of this analysis, combined with an investigation into the
surroundings man lives in, a "content"--a moral code--becomes gradually
evolved. Personal good is perceived to be realizable only by making
actual the conceptions thus arrived at. So long as these remain
potential or ideal, they form the motive of action; motive consisting
always in the idea of some "end" or "good" which man presents to himself
as an end in the attainment of which he would be satisfied, that is, in
the realization of which he would find his true self. The determination
to realize the self in some definite way constitutes an "act of will,"
which, as thus constituted, is neither arbitrary nor externally
determined. For the motive which may be said to be its cause lies _in_
the man himself, and the identification of the self with such a motive
is a _self_-determination, which is at once both rational and free. The
"freedom of man" is constituted, not by a supposed ability to do
anything he may choose, but in the power to identify himself with that
true good which reason reveals to him as _his_ true good. This good
consists in the realization of personal character; hence the final good,
i.e. the moral ideal, as a whole, can be realized only in some society
of persons who, while remaining ends to themselves in the sense that
their individuality is not lost but rendered more perfect, find this
perfection attainable only when the separate individualities are
integrated as part of a social whole. Society is as necessary to form
persons as persons are to constitute society. Social union is the
indispensable condition of the development of the special capacities of
the individual members. Human self-perfection cannot be gained in
isolation; it is attainable only in inter-relation with fellow-citizens
in the social community.
The law of our being, so revealed, involves in its turn civic or
political duties. Moral goodness cannot be limited to, still less
constituted by, the cultivation of self-regarding virtues, but consists
in the attempt to realize in practice that moral ideal which
self-analysis has revealed to us as _our_ ideal. From this fact arises
the ground of political obligation, for the institutions of political or
civic life are the concrete embodiment of moral ideas in terms of our
day and generation. But, as society exists only for the proper
development of persons, we have a criterion by which to test these
institutions, viz. do they, or do they not, contribute to the
development of moral character in the individual citizens? It is obvious
that the final moral ideal is not realized in any body of civic
institutions actually existing, but the same analysis which demonstrates
this deficiency points out the direction which a true development will
take. Hence arises the conception of rights and duties which _should_
be maintained by law, as opposed to those actually maintained; with the
further consequence that it may become occasionally a moral duty to
rebel against the state in the interest of the state itself, that is, in
order better to subserve that end or function which constitutes the
_raison d'être_ of the state. The state does not consist in any definite
concrete organization formed once for all. It represents a "general
will" which is a desire for a common good. Its basis is not a coercive
authority imposed upon the citizens from without, but consists in the
spiritual recognition, on the part of the citizens, of that which
constitutes their true nature. "Will, not force, is the basis of the
state."
Green's teaching was, directly and indirectly, the most potent
philosophical influence in England during the last quarter of the 19th
century, while his enthusiasm for a common citizenship, and his
personal example in practical municipal life, inspired much of the
effort made, in the years succeeding his death, to bring the
universities more into touch with the people, and to break down the
rigour of class distinctions.
Of his philosophical doctrine proper, the most striking characteristic
is Integration, as opposed to Disintegration, both in thought and in
reality. "That which is" is a _whole_, not an _aggregate_; an organic
complex of parts, not a mechanical mass; a "whole" too not material
but spiritual, a "world of thought-relations." On the critical side
this teaching is now admittedly valid against the older empiricism,
and the cogency of the reasoning by which his constructive theory is
supported is generally recognized. Nevertheless, Green's statement of
his conclusions presents important difficulties. Even apart from the
impossibility of conceiving a whole of relations which are relations
and nothing else (this objection is perhaps largely verbal), no
explanation is given of the fact (obvious in experience) that the
spiritual entities of which the Universe is composed _appear_
material. Certain elements present themselves in feeling which seem
stubbornly to resist any attempt to explain them in terms of thought.
While, again, legitimately insisting upon personality as a fundamental
constituent in any true theory of reality, the relation between human
individualities and the divine Person is left vague and obscure; nor
is it easy to see how the existence of several individualities--human
or divine--in one cosmos is theoretically possible. It is at the
solution of these two questions that philosophy in the immediate
future may be expected to work.
Green's most important treatise--the _Prolegomena to
Ethics_--practically complete in manuscript at his death--was
published in the year following, under the editorship of A. C. Bradley
(4th ed., 1899). Shortly afterwards R. L. Nettleship's standard
edition of his _Works_ (exclusive of the _Prolegomena_) appeared in
three volumes: vol. i. containing reprints of Green's criticism of
Hume, Spencer, Lewes; vol. ii. Lectures on Kant, on Logic, on the
Principles of Political Obligation; vol. iii. Miscellanies, preceded
by a full _Memoir_ by the Editor. The _Principles of Political
Obligation_ was afterwards published in separate form. A criticism of
_Neo-Hegelianism_ will be found in Andrew Seth (Pringle Pattison),
_Hegelianism and Personality_. See also articles in _Mind_ (January
and April 1884) by A. J. Balfour and Henry Sidgwick, in the _Academy_
(xxviii. 242 and xxv. 297) by S. Alexander, and in the _Philosophical
Review_ (vi., 1897) by S. S. Laurie; W. H. Fairbrother, _Philosophy of
T. H. Green_ (London and New York, 1896); D. G. Ritchie, _The
Principles of State Interference_ (London, 1891); H. Sidgwick,
_Lectures on the Philosophy of Kant_ (London, 1905); J. H. Muirhead,
_The Service of the State: Four Lectures on the Political Teaching of
T. H. Green_ (1908); A. W. Benn, _English Rationalism in the XIXth
Century_ (1906), vol. ii., pp. 401 foll. (W. H. F.,* X.)
GREEN, VALENTINE (1739-1813), British engraver, was born at Halesowen.
He was placed by his father in a solicitor's office at Evesham, where he
remained for two years; but ultimately he decided, on his own
responsibility, to abandon the legal profession and became a pupil of a
line engraver at Worcester. In 1765 he migrated to London and began work
as a mezzotint engraver, having taught himself the technicalities of
this art, and quickly rose to a position in absolutely the front rank of
British engravers. He became a member of the Incorporated Society of
Artists in 1767, an associate-engraver of the Royal Academy in 1775, and
for some forty years he followed his profession with the greatest
success. The exclusive right of engraving and publishing plates from the
pictures in the Düsseldorf gallery was granted him by the duke of
Bavaria in 1789, but, after he had issued more than twenty of these
plates, the siege of that city by the French put an end to this
undertaking and caused him serious financial loss. From this cause, and
through the failure of certain other speculations, he was reduced to
poverty; and in consequence he took the post of keeper of the British
Institution in 1805, and continued in this office for the remainder of
his life. During his career as an engraver he produced some four hundred
plates after portraits by Reynolds, Romney, and other British artists,
after the compositions of Benjamin West, and after pictures by Van Dyck,
Rubens, Murillo, and other old masters. It is claimed for him that he
was one of the first engravers to show how admirably mezzotint could be
applied to the translation of pictorial compositions as well as
portraits, but at the present time it is to his portraits that most
attention is given by collectors. His engravings are distinguished by
exceptional richness and subtlety of tone, and by very judicious
management of relations of light and shade; and they have, almost
without exception, notable freshness and grace of handling.
See _Valentine Green_, by Alfred Whitman (London, 1902).
GREEN, WILLIAM HENRY (1825-1900), American Hebrew scholar, was born in
Groveville, near Bordentown, New Jersey, on the 27th of January 1825. He
was descended in the sixth generation from Jonathan Dickinson, first
president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), and
his ancestors had been closely connected with the Presbyterian church.
He graduated in 1840 from Lafayette College, where he was tutor in
mathematics (1840-1842) and adjunct professor (1843-1844). In 1846 he
graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, and was instructor in
Hebrew there in 1846-1849. He was ordained in 1848 and was pastor of the
Central Presbyterian church of Philadelphia in 1849-1851. From August
1851 until his death, in Princeton, New Jersey, on the 10th of February
1900, he was professor of Biblical and Oriental Literature in Princeton
Theological Seminary. From 1859 the title of his chair was Oriental and
Old Testament Literature. In 1868 he refused the presidency of Princeton
College; as senior professor he was long acting head of the Theological
Seminary. He was a great Hebrew teacher: his _Grammar of the Hebrew
Language_ (1861, revised 1888) was a distinct improvement in method on
Gesenius, Roediger, Ewald and Nordheimer. All his knowledge of Semitic
languages he used in a "conservative Higher Criticism," which is
maintained in the following works: _The Pentateuch Vindicated from the
Aspersions of Bishop Colenso_ (1863), _Moses and the Prophets_ (1883),
_The Hebrew Feasts in their Relation to Recent Critical Hypotheses
Concerning the Pentateuch_ (1885), _The Unity of the Book of Genesis_
(1895), _The Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch_ (1895), and _A General
Introduction to the Old Testament_, vol. i. Canon (1898), vol. ii.
_Text_ (1899). He was the scholarly leader of the orthodox wing of the
Presbyterian church in America, and was moderator of the General
Assembly of 1891. Green was chairman of the Old Testament committee of
the Anglo-American Bible revision committee.
See the articles by John D. Davis in _The Biblical World_, new series,
vol. xv., pp. 406-413 (Chicago, 1900), and _The Presbyterian and
Reformed Review_, vol. xi. pp. 377-396 (Philadelphia, 1900).
GREENAWAY, KATE (1846-1901), English artist and book illustrator, was
the daughter of John Greenaway, a well-known draughtsman and engraver on
wood, and was born in London on the 17th of March 1846. After a course
of study at South Kensington, at "Heatherley's" life classes, and at the
Slade School, Kate Greenaway began, in 1868, to exhibit water-colour
drawings at the Dudley Gallery, London. Her more remarkable early work,
however, consisted of Christmas cards, which, by reason of their quaint
beauty of design and charm of draughtsmanship, enjoyed an extraordinary
vogue. Her subjects were, in the main, young girls, children, flowers,
and landscape; and the air of artless simplicity, freshness, humour, and
purity of these little works so appealed to public and artists alike
that the enthusiastic welcome habitually accorded to them is to be
attributed to something more than love of novelty. In the line she had
struck out Kate Greenaway was encouraged by H. Stacy Marks, R.A., and
she refused to listen to those friends who urged her to return to a more
conventional manner. Thenceforward her illustrations for children (such
as for _Little Folks_, 1873, _et seq._) attracted much attention. In
1877 her drawings at the Dudley Gallery were sold for £54, and her Royal
Academy picture for eighteen guineas; and in the same year she began to
draw for the _Illustrated London News_. In the year 1879 she produced
_Under the Window_, of which 150,000 copies are said to have been sold,
and of which French and German editions were also issued. Then followed
_The Birthday Book_, _Mother Goose_, _Little Ann_, and other books for
children which were appreciated not less by adults, and were to be found
on sale in the bookshops of every capital in Europe and in the cities of
America. The extraordinary success achieved by the young girl may be
estimated by the amounts paid to her as her share of the profits: for
_Under the Window_ she received £1130; for _The Birthday Book_, £1250;
for _Mother Goose_, £905; and for _Little Ann_, £567. These four books
alone produced a clear return of £8000. "Toy-books" though they were,
these little works created a revolution in illustration, and so were of
real importance; they were loudly applauded by John Ruskin (_Art of
England_ and _Fors Clavigera_), by Ernest Chesneau and Arsène Alexandre
in France, by Dr Muther in Germany, and by leading art-critics
throughout the world. In 1890 Kate Greenaway was elected a member of the
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and in 1891, 1894 and 1898
she exhibited water-colour drawings, including illustrations for her
books, at the gallery of the Fine Art Society (by which a representative
selection was exhibited in 1902), where they surprised the world by the
infinite delicacy, tenderness, and grace which they displayed. A leading
feature in Miss Greenaway's work was her revival of the delightfully
quaint costume of the beginning of the 19th century; this lent humour to
her fancy, and so captivated the public taste that it has been said,
with poetic exaggeration, that "Kate Greenaway dressed the children of
two continents." Her drawings of children have been compared with
Stothard's for grace and with Reynolds's for naturalness, and those of
flowers with the work of van Huysum and Botticelli. From 1883 to 1897,
with a break only in 1896, she issued a series of _Kate Greenaway's
Almanacs_. Although she illustrated _The Pied Piper of Hamelin_ and
other works, the artist preferred to provide her own text; the numerous
verses which were found among her papers after her death prove that she
might have added to her reputation with her pen. She had great charm of
character, but was extremely shy of public notice, and not less modest
in private life. She died at Hampstead on the 6th of November 1901.
See the _Life_, by M. H. Spielmann and G. S. Layard (1905).
(M. H. S.)
GREENBACKS, a form of paper currency in the United States, so named from
the green colour used on the backs of the notes. They are treasury
notes, and were first issued by the government in 1862, "as a question
of hard necessity," to provide for the expenses of the Civil War. The
government, following the example of the banks, had suspended specie
payment. The new notes were therefore for the time being an
inconvertible paper currency, and, since they were made legal tender,
were really a form of fiat money. The first act, providing for the issue
of notes to the amount of $150,000,000, was that of the 25th February
1862; the acts of 11th July 1862 and 3rd March 1863 each authorized
further issues of $150,000,000. The notes soon depreciated in value, and
at the lowest were worth only 35 cents on the dollar. The act of 12th
April 1866 authorized the retirement of $10,000,000 of notes within six
months and of $4,000,000 per month thereafter; this was discontinued by
act of 4th February 1868. On 1st January 1879 specie payment was
resumed, and the nominal amount of notes then stood at $346,681,000,
which is still outstanding.
The so-called _Greenback party_ (also called the _Independent_, and
the _National_ party) first appeared in a presidential campaign in
1876, when its candidate, Peter Cooper, received 81,740 votes. It
advocated increasing the volume of greenbacks, forbidding bank issues,
and the paying in greenbacks of the principal of all government bonds
not expressly payable in coin. In 1878 the party, by various fusions,
cast over 1,000,000 votes and elected 14 Congressmen; and in 1880
there was fusion with labour reformers and it cast 308,578 votes for
its presidential candidate, J. B. Weaver, and elected 8 Congressmen.
In 1884 their candidate Benjamin F. Butler (also the candidate of the
Anti-Monopoly party) received 175,370 votes. Subsequently the party
went out of existence.
GREEN BAY, a city and the county-seat of Brown county, Wisconsin,
U.S.A., at the S. extremity of Green Bay, at the mouth of the Fox
river, 114 m. N. of Milwaukee. Pop. (1890) 9069; (1900) 18,684, of whom
4022 were foreign-born and 33 were negroes; (1910 census) 25,236. The
city is served by the Chicago & North-Western, the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St Paul, the Kewaunee, Green Bay & Western, and the Green Bay & Western
railways, by an inter-urban electric railway connecting with other Fox
River Valley cities, and by lake and river steamboat lines. Green Bay
lies on high level ground on both sides of the river, which is here
crossed by several bridges. The city has the Kellogg Public Library, the
Brown County Court House, two high schools, a business college, several
academies, two hospitals, an orphan asylum and the State Odd Fellows'
Home. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic cathedral, the bishopric being
the earliest established in the North-west. The so-called "Tank
Cottage," now in Washington Park, is said to be the oldest house in
Wisconsin; it was built on the W. bank of the river near its mouth by
Joseph Roy, a French-Canadian _voyageur_, in 1766, was subsequently
somewhat modified, and in 1908 was bought and removed to its present
site by the Green Bay Historical Society. Midway between Green Bay and
De Pere (5 m. S.W. of Green Bay) is the state reformatory, opened in
1899-1901. Green Bay's fine harbour accommodates a considerable lake
commerce, and the city is the most important railway and wholesale
distributing centre in N.E. Wisconsin. Its manufactures include lumber
and lumber products, furniture, wagons, woodenware, farm implements and
machinery, flour, beer, canned goods, brick and tile and dairy products;
and it has lumber yards, grain elevators, fish warehouses and railway
repair shops. The total value of the factory product in 1905 was
$4,873,027, an increase of 79.9% since 1900. The first recorded visit of
a European to the vicinity of what is now Green Bay is that of Jean
Nicolet, who was sent west by Champlain in 1634, and found, probably at
the Red Banks, some 10 m. below the present city, a village of Winnebago
Indians, who he thought at first were Chinese. Between 1654 and 1658
Radisson and Groseilliers and other _coureurs des bois_ were at Green
Bay. Claude Jean Allouez, the Jesuit missionary, established a mission
on the W. shore of the bay, about 20 m. from the present city. Later he
removed his mission to the Red Banks, and in the winter of 1671-1672
established it permanently 5 m. above the present city, at Rapides des
Pères, on the E. shore of the Fox river. In 1673 Joliet and Marquette
visited the spot. In 1683-1685 Le Sueur and Nicholas Perrot traded with
the Indians here. In 1718-1720 Fort St Francis was erected at the mouth
of the river on the W. bank, and after being several times deserted was
permanently re-established in 1732. About 1745 Augustin de Langlade
established a trading post at La Baye and later brought his family there
from Mackinac. This was the first permanent settlement at Green Bay and
in Wisconsin. The British garrison which occupied the fort from 1761 to
1763, during which time the fort received the name of Fort Edward
Augustus, was removed at the time of Pontiac's rising, and the fort was
never re-garrisoned by the English, except for a short time during the
War of 1812. The inhabitants of La Baye were, however, acknowledged
subjects of Great Britain, the jurisdiction of the United States being
practically a dead letter until the American fort (Fort Howard) was
garrisoned in 1816. As early as 1810 fur traders, employed by John Jacob
Astor, were stationed here; about 1820 Astor erected a warehouse and
other buildings; and for many years Green Bay consisted of two distinct
settlements, Astor and Navarino, which were finally united in 1839 as
Green Bay. The city was chartered in 1854. In 1893 Fort Howard was
consolidated with it. The Green Bay _Intelligencer_, the first newspaper
in Wisconsin, began publication here in 1833.
See Neville and Martin, _Historic Green Bay_ (Green Bay, 1893); and
Martin and Beaumont, _Old Green Bay_ (Green Bay, 1900).
GREENCASTLE, a city and the county-seat of Putnam county, Indiana,
U.S.A., about 38 m. W. by S. of Indianapolis and on the Big Walnut
river. Pop. (1900) 3661; (1910) 3790. It is served by the Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, the Chicago, Indianapolis &
Louisville, the Vandalia, and the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern
(electric) railways. It has manufactures of some importance, including
lumber, pumps, kitchen-cabinets, drag-saws, lightning-rods and
tin-plate, is in the midst of a blue grass region, and is a shipping
point for beef cattle. The city has a Carnegie library and is the seat
of the de Pauw University (co-educational), a Methodist Episcopal
institution, founded as Indiana Asbury University in 1837, and renamed
in 1884 in honour of Washington Charles de Pauw (1822-1887), a
successful capitalist, banker and glass manufacturer. The total gifts of
Mr de Pauw and his family to the institution amount to about $600,000.
Among the presidents of the university have been Bishop Matthew Simpson,
Bishop Thomas Bowman (b. 1817), and Bishop Edwin Holt Hughes (b. 1866),
all of the Methodist Episcopal church. The university comprises the
Asbury College of Liberal Arts, a School of Music, a School of Art and
an Academy, and had in 1909-1910 43 instructors, a library of 37,000
volumes, and 1017 students. Greencastle was first settled about 1820,
and was chartered as a city in 1861.
GREENE, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1811-1883), American historian, was born at
East Greenwich, Rhode Island, on the 8th of April 1811, the grandson of
Major-General Nathanael Greene. He entered Brown University in 1824,
left in his junior year on account of ill-health, was in Europe during
the next twenty years, except in 1833-1834, when he was principal of
Kent Academy at East Greenwich, and was the United States consul at Rome
from 1837 to 1845. He was instructor in modern languages in Brown
University from 1848 to 1852; and in 1871-1875 was non-resident lecturer
in American history in Cornell University. He died at East Greenwich,
Rhode Island, on the 2nd of February 1883. His published works include
French and Italian text-books; _Historical Studies_ (1850);
_Biographical Studies_ (1860); _Historical View of the American
Revolution_ (1865); _Life of Nathanael Greene_ (3 vols., 1867-1871);
_The German Element in the War of American Independence_ (1876); and a
_Short History of Rhode Island_ (1877).
GREENE, MAURICE (1695-1755) English musical composer, was born in
London. He was the son of a clergyman in the city, and soon became a
chorister of St Paul's cathedral, where he studied under Charles King,
and subsequently under Richard Brind, organist of the cathedral from
1707 to 1718, whom, on his death in the last-named year, he succeeded.
Nine years later he became organist and composer to the chapel royal, on
the death of Dr Croft. In 1730 he was elected to the chair of music in
the university of Cambridge, and had the degree of doctor of music
conferred on him. Dr Greene was a voluminous composer of church music,
and his collection of _Forty Select Anthems_ became a standard work of
its kind. He wrote a "Te Deum," several oratorios, a masque, _The
Judgment of Hercules_, and a pastoral opera, _Phoebe_ (1748); also glees
and catches: and a collection of _Catches and Canons for Three and Four
Voices_ is amongst his compositions. In addition he composed many
occasional pieces for the king's birthday, having been appointed master
of the king's band in 1735. But it is as a composer of church music that
Greene is chiefly remembered. It is here that his contrapuntal skill and
his sound musical scholarship are chiefly shown. With Handel, Greene was
originally on intimate terms, but his equal friendship for Buononcini,
Handel's rival, estranged the German master's feelings from him, and all
personal intercourse between them ceased. Greene, in conjunction with
the violinist Michael Christian Festing (1727-1752) and others,
originated the Society of Musicians, for the support of poor artists and
their families. He died on the 1st of December 1755.
GREENE, NATHANAEL (1742-1786), American general, son of a Quaker farmer
and smith, was born at Potowomut, in the township of Warwick, Rhode
Island, on the 7th of August (not, as has been stated, 6th of June)
1742. Though his father's sect discouraged "literary accomplishments,"
he acquired a large amount of general information, and made a special
study of mathematics, history and law. At Coventry, R.I., whither he
removed in 1770 to take charge of a forge built by his father and his
uncles, he was the first to urge the establishment of a public school;
and in the same year he was chosen a member of the legislature of Rhode
Island, to which he was re-elected in 1771, 1772 and 1775. He
sympathized strongly with the Whig, or Patriot, element among the
colonists, and in 1774 joined the local militia. At this time he began
to study the art of war. In December 1774 he was on a committee
appointed by the assembly to revise the militia laws. His zeal in
attending to military duty led to his expulsion from the Society of
Friends.
In 1775, in command of the contingent raised by Rhode Island, he joined
the American forces at Cambridge, and on the 22nd of June was appointed
a brigadier by Congress. To him Washington assigned the command of the
city of Boston after it was evacuated by Howe in March 1776. Greene's
letters of October 1775 and January 1776 to Samuel Ward, then a delegate
from Rhode Island to the Continental Congress, favoured a declaration of
independence. On the 9th of August 1776 he was promoted to be one of the
four new major-generals and was put in command of the Continental troops
on Long Island; he chose the place for fortifications (practically the
same as that picked by General Charles Lee) and built the redoubts and
entrenchments of Fort Greene on Brooklyn Heights. Severe illness
prevented his taking part in the battle of Long Island. He was prominent
among those who advised a retreat from New York and the burning of the
city, so that the British might not use it. Greene was placed in command
of Fort Lee, and on the 25th of October succeeded General Israel Putnam
in command of Fort Washington. He received orders from Washington to
defend Fort Washington to the last extremity, and on the 11th of October
Congress had passed a resolution to the same effect; but later
Washington wrote to him to use his own discretion. Greene ordered
Colonel Magaw, who was in immediate command, to defend the place until
he should hear from him again, and reinforced it to meet General Howe's
attack. Nevertheless, the blame for the losses of Forts Washington and
Lee was put upon Greene, but apparently without his losing the
confidence of Washington, who indeed himself assumed the responsibility.
At Trenton Greene commanded one of the two American columns, his own,
accompanied by Washington, arriving first; and after the victory here he
urged Washington to push on immediately to Princeton, but was over-ruled
by a council of war. At the Brandywine Greene commanded the reserve. At
Germantown Greene's command, having a greater distance to march than the
right wing under Sullivan, failed to arrive in good time--a failure
which Greene himself thought (without cause) would cost him Washington's
regard; on this, with the affair of Fort Washington, Bancroft based his
unfavourable estimate of Greene's ability. But on their arrival, Greene
and his troops distinguished themselves greatly.
At the urgent request of Washington, on the 2nd of March 1778, at Valley
Forge, he accepted the office of quartermaster-general (succeeding
Thomas Mifflin), and of his conduct in this difficult work, which
Washington heartily approved, a modern critic, Colonel H. B. Carrington,
has said that it was "as good as was possible under the circumstances of
that fluctuating uncertain force." He had become quartermaster-general
on the understanding, however, that he should retain the right to
command troops in the field; thus we find him at the head of the right
wing at Monmouth on the 28th of June. In August Greene and Lafayette
commanded the land forces sent to Rhode Island to co-operate with the
French admiral d'Estaing, in an expedition which proved abortive. In
June 1780 Greene commanded in a skirmish at Springfield, New Jersey. In
August he resigned the office of quartermaster-general, after a long and
bitter struggle with Congress over the interference in army
administration by the Treasury Board and by commissions appointed by
Congress. Before his resignation became effective it fell to his lot to
preside over the court which, on the 29th of September, condemned Major
John André to death.
On the 14th of October he succeeded Gates as commander-in-chief of the
Southern army, and took command at Charlotte, N.C., on the 2nd of
December. The army was weak and badly equipped and was opposed by a
superior force under Cornwallis. Greene decided to divide his own
troops, thus forcing the division of the British as well, and creating
the possibility of a strategic interplay of forces. This strategy led to
General Daniel Morgan's victory of Cowpens (just over the South Carolina
line) on the 17th of January 1781, and to the battle at Guilford Court
House, N.C. (March 15), in which after having weakened the British
troops by continual movements, and drawn in reinforcements for his own
army, Greene was defeated indeed, but only at such cost to the victor
that Tarleton called it "the pledge of ultimate defeat." Three days
after this battle Cornwallis withdrew toward Wilmington. Greene's
generalship and judgment were again conspicuously illustrated in the
next few weeks, in which he allowed Cornwallis to march north to
Virginia and himself turned swiftly to the reconquest of the inner
country of South Carolina. This, in spite of a reverse sustained at Lord
Rawdon's hands at Hobkirk's Hill (2 m. N. of Camden) on the 25th of
April, he achieved by the end of June, the British retiring to the
coast. Greene then gave his forces a six weeks' rest on the High Hills
of the Santee, and on the 8th of September, with 2600 men, engaged the
British under Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart (who had succeeded Lord
Rawdon) at Eutaw Springs; the battle, although tactically drawn, so
weakened the British that they withdrew to Charleston, where Greene
penned them during the remaining months of the war. Greene's Southern
campaign showed remarkable strategic features that remind one of those
of Turenne, the commander whom he had taken as his model in his studies
before the war. He excelled in dividing, eluding and tiring his opponent
by long marches, and in actual conflict forcing him to pay for a
temporary advantage a price that he could not afford. He was greatly
assisted by able subordinates, including the Polish engineer, Tadeusz
Kosciusko, the brilliant cavalry captains, Henry ("Light-Horse Harry")
Lee and William Washington, and the partisan leaders, Thomas Sumter and
Francis Marion.
South Carolina and Georgia voted Greene liberal grants of lands and
money. The South Carolina estate, Boone's Barony, S. of Edisto in
Bamberg County, he sold to meet bills for the rations of his Southern
army. On the Georgia estate, Mulberry Grove, 14 m. above Savannah, on
the river, he settled in 1785, after twice refusing (1781 and 1784) the
post of secretary of war, and there he died of sunstroke on the 19th of
June 1786. Greene was a singularly able, and--like other prominent
generals on the American side--a self-trained soldier, and was second
only to Washington among the officers of the American army in military
ability. Like Washington he had the great gift of using small means to
the utmost advantage. His attitude towards the Tories was humane and
even kindly, and he generously defended Gates, who had repeatedly
intrigued against him, when Gates's conduct of the campaign in the South
was criticized. There is a monument to Greene in Savannah (1829). His
statue, with that of Roger Williams, represents the state of Rhode
Island in the National Hall of Statuary in the Capitol at Washington; in
the same city there is a bronze equestrian statue of him by H. K. Brown.
See the _Life of Nathanael Greene_ (3 vols., 1867-1871), by his
grandson, George W. Greene, and the biography (New York, 1893), by
Brig.-Gen. F. V. Greene, in the "Great Commanders Series."
GREENE, ROBERT (c. 1560-1592), English dramatist and miscellaneous
writer, was born at Norwich about 1560. The identity of his father has
been disputed, but there is every reason to believe that he belonged to
the tradesmen's class and had small means. It is doubtful whether Robert
Greene attended Norwich grammar school; but, as an eastern counties man
(to one of whose plays, _Friar Bacon_, the Norfolk and Suffolk
borderland owes a lasting poetic commemoration) he naturally found his
way to Cambridge, where he entered St John's College as a sizar in 1575
and took his B.A. thence in 1579, proceeding M.A. in 1583 from Clare
Hall. His life at the university was, according to his own account,
spent "among wags as lewd as himself, with whom he consumed the flower
of his youth." In 1588 he was incorporated at Oxford, so that on some
of his title-pages he styles himself "utriusque Academiae in Artibus
Magister"; and Nashe humorously refers to him as "utriusque Academiae
Robertus Greene." Between the years 1578 and 1583 he had travelled
abroad, according to his own account very extensively, visiting France,
Germany, Poland and Denmark, besides learning at first-hand to "hate the
pride of Italie" and to know the taste of that poet's fruit, "Spanish
mirabolones." The grounds upon which it has been suggested that he took
holy orders are quite insufficient; according to the title-page of a
pamphlet published by him in 1585 he was then a "student in phisicke."
Already, however, after taking his M.A. degree, he had according to his
own account begun his London life, and his earliest extant literary
production was in hand as early as 1580. He now became "an author of
playes and a penner of love-pamphlets, so that I soone grew famous in
that qualitie, that who for that trade growne so ordinary about London
as Robin Greene?" "Glad was that printer," says Nashe, "that might bee
so blest to pay him deare for the very dregs of his wit." By his own
account he rapidly sank into the worst debaucheries of the town, though
Nashe declares that he never knew him guilty of notorious crime. He was
not without passing impulses towards a more righteous and sober life,
and was derided in consequence by his associates as a "Puritane and
Presizian." It is possible that he, as well as his bitter enemy, Gabriel
Harvey, exaggerated the looseness of his conduct. His marriage, which
took place in 1585 or 1586, failed to steady him; if Francesco, in
Greene's pamphlet _Never too late to mend_ (1590), is intended for the
author himself, it had been a runaway match; but the fiction and the
autobiographical sketch in the _Repentance_ agree in their account of
the unfaithfulness which followed on the part of the husband. He lived
with his wife, whose name seems to have been Dorothy ("Doll"; and cf.
Dorothea in _James IV._), for a while; "but forasmuch as she would
perswade me from my wilful wickednes, after I had a child by her, I cast
her off, having spent up the marriage-money which I obtained by her.
Then left I her at six or seven, who went into Lincolnshire, and I to
London," where his reputation as a playwright and writer of pamphlets of
"love and vaine fantasyes" continued to increase, and where his life was
a feverish alternation of labour and debauchery. In his last years he
took it upon himself to make war on the cutpurses and "conny-catchers"
with whom he came into contact in the slums, and whose doings he
fearlessly exposed in his writings. He tells us how at last he was
friendless "except it were in a fewe alehouses," where he was respected
on account of the score he had run up. When the end came he was a
dependant on the charity of the poor and the pitying love of the
unfortunate. Henri Murger has drawn no picture more sickening and more
pitiful than the story of Greene's death, as told by his Puritan
adversary, Gabriel Harvey--a veracious though a far from unprejudiced
narrator. Greene had taken up the cudgels provided by the Harvey
brothers on their intervention in the Marprelate controversy, and made
an attack (immediately suppressed) upon Gabriel's father and family in
the prose-tract _A Quip for an Upstart Courtier, or a Quaint Dispute
between Velvet Breeches and Cloth Breeches_ (1592). After a banquet
where the chief guest had been Thomas Nashe--an old associate and
perhaps a college friend of Greene's, any great intimacy with whom,
however, he seems to have been anxious to disclaim--Greene had fallen
sick "of a surfeit of pickle herringe and Rennish wine." At the house of
a poor shoemaker near Dowgate, deserted by all except his compassionate
hostess (Mrs Isam) and two women--one of them the sister of a notorious
thief named "Cutting Ball," and the mother of his illegitimate son,
Fortunatus Greene--he died on the 3rd of September 1592. Shortly before
his death he wrote under a bond for £10 which he had given to the good
shoemaker, the following words addressed to his long-forsaken wife:
"Doll, I charge thee, by the loue of our youth and by my soules rest,
that thou wilte see this man paide; for if hee and his wife had not
succoured me, I had died in the streetes.--Robert Greene."
_Four Letters and Certain Sonnets_, Harvey's attack on Greene, appeared
almost immediately after his death, as to the circumstances of which his
relentless adversary had taken care to inform himself personally. Nashe
took up the defence of his dead friend and ridiculed Harvey in _Strange
News_ (1593); and the dispute continued for some years. But, before this,
the dramatist Henry Chettle published a pamphlet from the hand of the
unhappy man, entitled _Greene's Groat's-worth of Wit bought with a
Million of Repentance_ (1592), containing the story of Roberto, who may
be regarded, for practical purposes, as representing Greene himself. This
ill-starred production may almost be said to have done more to excite the
resentment of posterity against Greene's name than all the errors for
which he professed his repentance. For in it he exhorted to repentance
three of his _quondam_ acquaintance. Of these three Marlowe was one--to
whom and to whose creation of "that Atheist Tamberlaine" he had
repeatedly alluded. The second was Peele, the third probably Nashe. But
the passage addressed to Peele contained a transparent allusion to a
fourth dramatist, who was an actor likewise, as "an vpstart crow
beautified with our feathers, that with his _Tygres heart wrapt in a
player's hyde_ supposes hee is as well able to bombast out a blanke-verse
as the best of you; and being an absolute Iohannes-fac-totum, is in his
owne conceyt the onely shake-scene in a countrey." The phrase italicized
parodies a passage occurring in _The True Tragedie of Richard, Duke of
York_, &c., and retained in Part III. of Henry VI. If Greene (as many
eminent critics have thought) had a hand in _The True Tragedie_, he must
here have intended a charge of plagiarism against Shakespeare. But while
it seems more probable that (as the late R. Simpson suggested) the
upstart crow beautified with the feathers of the three dramatists is a
sneering description of the actor who declaimed their verse, the _animus_
of the whole attack (as explained by Dr Ingleby) is revealed in its
concluding phrases. This "shake-scene," i.e. this _actor_ had ventured to
intrude upon the domain of the regular staff of playwrights--their
monopoly was in danger!
Two other prose pamphlets of an autobiographical nature were issued
posthumously. Of these, _The Repentance of Robert Greene, Master of
Arts_ (1592), must originally have been written by him on his death-bed,
under the influence, as he says, of Father Parsons's _Booke of
Resolution_ (_The Christian Directorie, appertayning to Resolution_,
1582, republished in an enlarged form, which became very popular, in
1585); but it bears traces of having been improved from the original;
while _Greene's Vision_ was certainly not, as the title-page avers,
written during his last illness.
Altogether not less than thirty-five prose-tracts are ascribed to
Greene's prolific pen. Nearly all of them are interspersed with verses;
in their themes they range from the "misticall" wonders of the heavens
to the familiar but "pernitious sleights" of the sharpers of London. But
the most widely attractive of his prose publications were his
"love-pamphlets," which brought upon him the outcry of Puritan censors.
The earliest of his novels, as they may be called, _Mamillia_, was
licensed in 1583. This interesting story may be said to have accompanied
Greene through life; for even part ii., of which, though probably
completed several years earlier, the earliest extant edition bears the
date 1593, had a sequel, _The Anatomie of Love's Flatteries_, which
contains a review of suitors recalling Portia's in _The Merchant of
Venice_. _The Myrrour of Modestie_ (the story of Susanna) (1584); _The
Historie of Arhasto, King of Denmarke_ (1584); _Morando, the Tritameron
of Love_ (a rather tedious imitation of the _Decameron_ (1584);
_Planetomachia_ (1585) (a contention in story-telling between Venus and
Saturn); _Penelope's Web_ (1587) (another string of stories); _Alcida_,
_Greene's Metamorphosis_ (1588), and others, followed. In these popular
productions he appears very distinctly as a follower of John Lyly;
indeed, the first part of _Mamillia_ was entered in the Stationers'
Registers in the year of the appearance of _Euphues_, and two of
Greene's novels are by their titles announced as a kind of sequel to the
parent romance: _Euphues his Censure to Philautus_ (1587), _Menaphon.
Camilla's Alarum to Slumbering Euphues_ (1589), named in some later
editions _Greene's Arcadia_. This pastoral romance, written in direct
emulation of Sidney's, with a heroine called Samila, contains St
Sephestia's charming lullaby, with its refrain "Father's sorowe,
father's joy." But, though Greene's style copies the balanced
oscillation, and his diction the ornateness (including the proverbial
philosophy) of Lyly, he contrives to interest by the matter as well as
to attract attention by the manner of his narratives. Of his highly
moral intentions he leaves the reader in no doubt, since they are
exposed on the title-pages. The full title of the _Myrrour of Modestie_
for instance continues: "wherein appeareth as in a perfect glasse how
the Lord delivereth the innocent from all imminent perils, and plagueth
the blood-thirsty hypocrites with deserved punishments," &c. On his
_Pandosto, The Triumph of Time_ (1588) Shakespeare founded _A Winter's
Tale_; in fact, the novel contains the entire plot of the comedy, except
the device of the living statue; though some of the subordinate
characters in the play, including Autolycus, were added by Shakespeare,
together with the pastoral fragrance of one of its episodes.
In Greene's _Never too Late_ (1590), announced as a "Powder of
Experience: sent to all youthfull gentlemen" for their benefit, the
hero, Francesco, is in all probability intended for Greene himself, the
sequel or second part is, however, pure fiction. This episodical
narrative has a vivacity and truthfulness of manner which savour of an
18th century novel rather than of an Elizabethan tale concerning the
days of "Palmerin, King of Great Britain." Philador, the prodigal of
_The Mourning Garment_ (1590), is obviously also in some respects a
portrait of the writer. The experiences of the Roberto of _Greene's
Groat's-worth of Wit_ (1592) are even more palpably the experiences of
the author himself, though they are possibly overdrawn--for a born
rhetorician exaggerates everything, even his own sins. Besides these and
the posthumous pamphlets on his repentance, Greene left realistic
pictures of the very disreputable society to which he finally descended,
in his pamphlets on "conny-catching": _A Notable Discovery of Coosnage_
(1591), _The Blacke Bookes Messenger, Laying open the Life and Death of
Ned Browne, one of the most Notable Cutpurses, Crossbiters, and
Conny-catchers that ever lived in England_ (1592). Much in Greene's
manner, both in his romances and in his pictures of low life,
anticipated what proved the slow course of the actual development of the
English novel; and it is probable that his true _métier_, and that which
best suited the bright fancy, ingenuity and wit of which his genius was
compounded, was pamphlet-spinning and story-telling rather than dramatic
composition. It should be added that, euphuist as Greene was, few of his
contemporaries in their lyrics warbled wood-notes which like his
resemble Shakespeare's in their native freshness.
Curiously enough, as Mr Churton Collins has pointed out, Greene, except
in the two pamphlets written just before his death, never refers to his
having written plays; and before 1592 his contemporaries are equally
silent as to his labours as a playwright. Only four plays remain to us
of which he was indisputably the sole author. The earliest of these
seems to have been the _Comicall History of Alphonsus, King of Arragon_,
of which Henslowe's _Diary_ contains no trace. But it can hardly have
been first acted long after the production of Marlowe's _Tamburlaine_,
which had, in all probability, been brought on the stage in 1587. For
this play, "comical" only in the negative sense of having a happy
ending, was manifestly written in emulation as well as in direct
imitation of Marlowe's tragedy. While Greene cannot have thought himself
capable of surpassing Marlowe as a tragic poet, he very probably wished
to outdo him in "business," and to equal him in the rant which was sure
to bring down at least part of the house. _Alphonsus_ is a _history_
proper--a dramatized chronicle or narrative of warlike events. Its fame
could never equal that of Marlowe's tragedy; but its composition showed
that Greene could seek to rival the most popular drama of the day,
without falling very far short of his model.
In the _Honourable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_ (not known
to have been acted before February, 1592, but probably written in 1589)
Greene once more attempted to emulate Marlowe; and he succeeded in
producing a masterpiece of his own. Marlowe's _Doctor Faustus_, which
doubtless suggested the composition of Greene's comedy, reveals the
mighty tragic genius of its author; but Greene resolved on an altogether
distinct treatment of a cognate theme. Interweaving with the popular
tale of Friar Bacon and his wondrous doings a charming idyl (so far as
we know, of his own invention), the story of Prince Edward's love for
the Fair Maid of Fressingfield, he produced a comedy brimful of amusing
action and genial fun. _Friar Bacon_ remains a dramatic picture of
English Elizabethan life with which _The Merry Wives_ alone can vie; and
not even the ultra-classicism in the similes of its diction can destroy
the naturalness which constitutes its perennial charm. _The History of
Orlando Furioso, one of the Twelve Peeres of France_ has on
unsatisfactory evidence been dated as before 1586, and is known to have
been acted on the 21st of February 1592. It is a free dramatic
adaptation of Ariosto, Harington's translation of whom appeared in 1591,
and who in one passage is textually quoted; and it contains a large
variety of characters and a superabundance oí action. Fairly lucid in
arrangement and fluent in style, the treatment of the madness oí Orlando
lacks tragic power. Very few dramatists from Sophocles to Shakespeare
have succeeded in subordinating the grotesque effect of madness to the
tragic; and Greene is not to be included in the list.
In _The Scottish Historie of James IV._ (acted 1592, licensed for
publication 1594) Greene seems to have reached the climax of his
dramatic powers. The "historical" character of this play is pure
pretence. The story is taken from one of Giraldi Cinthio's tales. Its
theme is the illicit passion of King James for the chaste lady Ida, to
obtain whose hand he endeavours, at the suggestion of a villain called
Ateukin, to make away with his own wife. She escapes in doublet and
hose, attended by her faithful dwarf; but, on her father's making war
upon her husband to avenge her wrongs, she brings about a reconciliation
between them. Not only is this well-constructed story effectively worked
out, but the characters are vigorously drawn, and in Ateukin there is a
touch of Iago. The fooling by Slipper, the clown of the piece, is
unexceptionable; and, lest even so the play should hang heavy on the
audience, its action is carried off by a "pleasant comédie"--i.e. a
prelude and some dances between the acts--"presented by Oboram, King of
Fayeries," who is, however, a very different person from the Oberon of
_A Midsummer Night's Dream_.
_George-a-Greene the Pinner of Wakefield_ (acted 1593, printed 1599), a
delightful picture of English life fully worthy of the author of _Friar
Bungay_, has been attributed to him; but the external evidence is very
slight, and the internal unconvincing. Of the comedy of _Fair Em_, which
resembles _Friar Bacon_ in more than one point, Greene cannot have been
the author; the question as to the priority between the two plays is not
so easily solved. The conjecture as to his supposed share in the plays
on which the second and third parts of _Henry VI._ are founded has been
already referred to. He was certainly joint author with Thomas Lodge of
the curious drama called _A Looking Glasse for London and England_
(acted in 1592 and printed in 1594)--a dramatic apologue conveying to
the living generation of Englishmen the warning of Nineveh's corruption
and prophesied doom. The lesson was frequently repeated in the streets
of London by the "Ninevitical motions" of the puppets; but there are
both fire and wealth of language in Greene and Lodge's oratory. The
comic element is not absent, being supplied in abundance by Adam, the
clown of the piece, who belongs to the family of Slipper, and of Friar
Bacon's servant, Miles.
Greene's dramatic genius has nothing in it of the intensity of Marlowe's
tragic muse; nor perhaps does he ever equal Peele at his best. On the
other hand, his dramatic poetry is occasionally animated with the breezy
freshness which no artifice can simulate. He had considerable
constructive skill, but he has created no character of commanding
power--unless Ateukin be excepted; but his personages are living men and
women, and marked out from one another with a vigorous but far from rude
hand. His comic humour is undeniable, and he had the gift of light and
graceful dialogue. His diction is overloaded with classical ornament,
but his versification is easy and fluent, and its cadence is at times
singularly sweet. He creates his best effects by the simplest means; and
he is indisputably one of the most attractive of early English dramatic
authors.
Greene's dramatic works and poems were edited by Alexander Dyce in
1831 with a life of the author. This edition was reissued in one
volume in 1858. His complete works were edited for the Huth Library by
A. B. Grosart. This issue (1881-1886) contains a translation of
Nicholas Storojhenko's monograph on Greene (Moscow, 1878). Greene's
plays and poems were edited with introductions and notes by J. Churton
Collins in 2 vols. (Oxford, 1905); the general introduction to this
edition has superseded previous accounts of Greene and his dramatic
and lyrical writings. An account of his pamphlets is to be found in J.
J. Jusserand's _English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare_ (Eng.
trans., 1890). See also W. Bernhardi, _Robert Greenes Leben und
Schriften_ (1874); F. M. Bodenstedt, in _Shakespeare's Zeitgenossen
und ihre Werke_ (1858); and an introduction by A. W. Ward to _Friar
Bacon and Friar Bungay_ (Oxford, 1886, 4th ed., 1901). (A. W. W.)
GREENFIELD, a township and the county-seat of Franklin county, in N.E.
Massachusetts, U.S.A., including an area of 20 sq. m. of meadow and hill
country, watered by the Green and Deerfield rivers and various small
tributaries. Pop. (1890) 5252, (1900) 7927, of whom 1431 were
foreign-born; (1910 census) 10,427. The principal village, of the same
name as the township, is situated on the N. bank of the Deerfield river,
and on the Boston & Maine railway and the Connecticut Valley street
railway (electric). Among Greenfield's manufactures are cutlery,
machinery, and taps and dies. Greenfield, originally part of Deerfield,
was settled about 1682, was established as a "district" in 1753, and on
the 23rd of August 1775 was, by a general Act, separated from Deerfield
and incorporated as a separate township, although it had assumed full
township rights in 1774 by sending delegates to the Provincial Congress.
In 1793 part of it was taken to form the township of Gill; in 1838 part
of it was annexed to Bernardston; and in 1896 it annexed a part of
Deerfield. It was much disaffected at the time of Shays's Rebellion.
See F. M. Thompson, _History of Greenfield_ (2 vols., Greenfield,
1904).
GREENFINCH (Ger. _Grünfink_), or GREEN LINNET, as it is very often
called, a common European bird, the _Fringilla chloris_ of Linnaeus,
ranked by many systematists with one section of hawfinches,
_Coccothraustes_, but apparently more nearly allied to the other section
_Hesperiphona_, and perhaps justifiably deemed the type of a distinct
genus, to which the name _Chloris_ or _Ligurinus_ has been applied. The
cock, in his plumage of yellowish-green and yellow is one of the most
finely coloured of common English birds, but he is rather heavily built,
and his song is hardly commended. The hen is much less brightly tinted.
Throughout Britain, as a rule, this species is one of the most plentiful
birds, and is found at all seasons of the year. It pervades almost the
whole of Europe, and in Asia reaches the river Ob. It visits Palestine,
but is unknown in Egypt. It is, however, abundant in Mauritania, whence
specimens are so brightly coloured that they have been deemed to form a
distinct species, the _Ligurinus aurantiiventris_ of Dr Cabanis, but
that view is now generally abandoned. In the north-east of Asia and its
adjacent islands occur two allied species--the _Fringilla sinica_ of
Linnaeus and the _F. kawarahiba_ of Temminck. (A. N.)
GREENHEART, one of the most valuable of timbers, the produce of
_Nectandra Rodiaei_, natural order Lauraceae, a large tree, native of
tropical South America and the West Indies. The Indian name of the tree
is _sipiri_ or _bibiru_, and from its bark and fruits is obtained the
febrifuge principle bibirine. Greenheart wood is of a dark-green colour,
sap wood and heart wood being so much alike that they can with difficulty
be distinguished from each other. The heart wood is one of the most
durable of all timbers, and its value is greatly enhanced by the fact
that it is proof against the ravages of many marine borers which rapidly
destroy piles and other submarine structures of most other kinds of wood
available for such purposes. In the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, there
are two pieces of planking from a wreck submerged during eighteen years
on the west coast of Scotland. The one specimen--greenheart--is merely
slightly pitted on the surface, the body of the wood being perfectly
sound and untouched, while the other--teak--is almost entirely eaten
away. Greenheart, tested either by transverse or by tensile strain, is
one of the strongest of all woods, and it is also exceedingly dense, its
specific gravity being about 1150. It is included in the second line of
Lloyd's Register for shipbuilding purposes, and it is extensively used
for keelsons, beams, engine-bearers and planking, &c., as well as in the
general engineering arts, but its excessive weight unfits it for many
purposes for which its other properties would render it eminently
suitable.
GREENLAND (Danish, &c., _Grönland_), a large continental island, the
greater portion of which lies within the Arctic Circle, while the whole
is arctic in character. It is not connected with any portion of Europe
or America except by suboceanic ridges; but in the extreme north it is
separated only by a narrow strait from Ellesmere Land in the archipelago
of the American continent. It is bounded on the east by the North
Atlantic, the Norwegian and Greenland Seas--Jan Mayen, Iceland, the
Faeroe Islands and the Shetlands being the only lands between it and
Norway. Denmark Strait is the sea between it and Iceland, and the
northern Norwegian Sea or Greenland Sea separates it from Spitsbergen.
On the west Davis Strait and Baffin Bay separate it from Baffin Land.
The so-called bay narrows northward into the strait successively known
as Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel and Robeson Channel. A
submarine ridge, about 300 fathoms deep at its deepest, unites Greenland
with Iceland (across Denmark Strait), the Faeroes and Scotland. A
similar submarine ridge unites it with the Cumberland Peninsula of
Baffin Land, across Davis Strait. Two large islands (with others
smaller) lie probably off the north coast, being apparently divided from
it by very narrow channels which are not yet explored. If they be
reckoned as integral parts of Greenland, then the north coast, fronting
the polar sea, culminates about 83° 40' N. Cape Farewell, the most
southerly point (also on a small island), is in 59° 45' N. The extreme
length of Greenland may therefore be set down at about 1650 m., while
its extreme breadth, which occurs about 77° 30' N., is approximately 800
m. The area is estimated at 827,275 sq. m. Greenland is a Danish colony,
inasmuch as the west coast and also the southern east coast belong to
the Danish crown. The scattered settlements of Europeans on the southern
parts of the coasts are Danish, and the trade is a monopoly of the
Danish government.
The southern and south-western coasts have been known, as will be
mentioned later, since the 10th century, when Norse settlers appeared
there, and the names of many famous arctic explorers have been
associated with the exploration of Greenland. The communication between
the Norse settlements in Greenland and the motherland Norway was broken
off at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century, and
the Norsemen's knowledge about their distant colony was gradually more
or less forgotten. The south and west coast of Greenland was then
re-discovered by John Davis in July 1585, though previous explorers, as
Cortereal, Frobisher and others, had seen it, and at the end of the 16th
and the beginning of the 17th century the work of Davis (1586-1588).
Hudson (1610) and Baffin (1616) in the western seas afforded some
knowledge of the west coast. This was added to by later explorers and by
whalers and sealers. Among explorers who in the 19th century were
specially connected with the north-west coast may be mentioned E. A.
Inglefield (1852) who sailed into Smith's Sound,[1] Elisha Kent Kane
(1853-1855)[2] who worked northward through Smith Sound into Kane Basin,
and Charles Francis Hall (1871) who explored the strait (Kennedy Channel
and Robeson Channel) to the north of this.[3]
The northern east coast was sighted by Hudson (1607) in about 73° 30' N.
(C. Hold with Hope), and during the 17th century and later this
northern coast was probably visited by many Dutch whalers. The first who
gave more accurate information was the Scottish whaler, Captain William
Scoresby, jun. (1822), who, with his father, explored the coast between
69° and 75° N., and gave the first fairly trustworthy map of it.[4]
Captains Edward Sabine and Clavering (1823) visited the coast between
72° 5' and 75° 12' N. and met the only Eskimo ever seen in this part of
Greenland. The second German polar expedition in 1870, under Carl
Christian Koldewey[5] (1837-1908), reached 77° N. (Cape Bismarck); and
the duke of Orleans, in 1905, ascertained that this point was on an
island (the Dove Bay of the German expedition being in reality a strait)
and penetrated farther north, to about 78° 16'. From this point the
north-east coast remained unexplored, though a sight was reported in
1670 by a whaler named Lambert, and again in 1775 as far north as 79° by
Daines Barrington, until a Danish expedition under Mylius Erichsen in
1906-1908 explored it, discovering North-East Foreland, the easternmost
point (see Polar Regions and map). The southern part of the east coast
was first explored by the Dane Wilhelm August Graah (1829-1830) between
Cape Farewell and 65° 16' N.[6] In 1883-1885 the Danes G. Holm and T. V.
Garde carefully explored and mapped the coast from Cape Farewell to
Angmagssalik, in 66° N.[7] F. Nansen and his companions also travelled
along a part of this coast in 1888.[8] A. E. Nordenskiöld, in the
"Sophia," landed near Angmagssalik, in 65° 36' N., in 1883.[9] Captain
C. Ryder, in 1891-1892, explored and mapped the large Scoresby Sound,
or, more correctly, Scoresby Fjord.[10] Lieutenant G. Amdrup, in 1899,
explored the coast from Angmagssalik north to 67° 22' N.[11] A part of
this coast, about 67° N., had also been seen by Nansen in 1882.[12] In
1899 Professor A. G. Nathorst explored the land between Franz Josef
Fjord and Scoresby Fjord, where the large King Oscar Fjord, connecting
Davy's Sound with Franz Joseph Fjord, was discovered.[13] In 1900
Lieutenant Amdrup explored the still unknown east coast from 690 10' N.
south to 67° N.[14]
From the work of explorers in the north-west it had been possible to
infer the approximate latitude of the northward termination of Greenland
long before it was definitely known. Towards the close of the 19th
century several explorers gave attention to this question. Lieutenant
(afterwards Admiral) L. A. Beaumont (1876), of the Nares Expedition,
explored the coast north-east of Robeson Channel to 82° 20' N.[15] In
1882 Lieut. J. B. Lockwood and Sergeant (afterwards Captain) D. L.
Brainard, of the U.S. expedition to Lady Franklin Bay,[16] explored the
north-west coast beyond Beaumont's farthest to a promontory in 83° 24'
N. and 40° 46' E. and they saw to the north-east Cape Washington, in
about 83° 38' N. and 39° 30' E., the most northerly point of land till
then observed. In July 1892 R. E. Peary and E. Astrup, crossing by land
from Inglefield Gulf, Smith Sound, discovered Independence Bay on the
north-east coast in 81° 37' N. and 34° 5' W.[17] In May 1895 it was
revisited by Peary, who supposed this bay to be a sound communicating
with Victoria Inlet on the north-west coast. To the north Heilprin Land
and Melville Land were seen stretching northwards, but the probability
seemed to be that the coast soon trended north-west. In 1901 Peary
rounded the north point, and penetrated as far north as 83° 50' N. The
scanty exploration of the great ice-cap, or inland ice, which may be
asserted to cover the whole of the interior of Greenland, has been
prosecuted chiefly from the west coast. In 1751 Lars Dalager, a Danish
trader, took some steps in this direction from Frederikshaab. In 1870
Nordenskiöld and Berggren walked 35 m. inland from the head of
Aulatsivik Fjord (near Disco Bay) to an elevation of 2200 ft. The Danish
captain Jens Arnold Dietrich Jensen reached, in 1878, the Jensen
Nunataks (5400 ft. above the sea), about 45 m. from the western margin,
in 62° 50' N.[18] Nordenskiöld penetrated in 1883 about 70 m. inland in
68° 20' N., and two Lapps of his expedition went still farther on skis,
to a point nearly under 45° W. at an elevation of 6600 ft. Peary and
Maigaard reached in 1886 about 100 m. inland, a height of 7500 ft. in
69° 30' N. Nansen with five companions in 1888 made the first complete
crossing of the inland ice, working from the east coast to the west,
about 64° 25' N., and reached a height of 8922 ft. Peary and Astrup, as
already indicated, crossed in 1892 the northern part of the inland ice
between 78° and 82° N., reaching a height of about 8000 ft., and
determined the northern termination of the ice-covering. Peary made very
nearly the same journey again in 1895. Captain T. V. Garde explored in
1893 the interior of the inland ice between 61° and 62° N. near its
southern termination, and he reached a height of 7080 ft. about 60 m.
from the margin.[19]
[Illustration: Map of Greenland.]
_Coasts._--The coasts of Greenland are for the most part deeply
indented with fjords, being intensely glaciated. The coast-line of
Melville Bay (the northern part of the west coast) is to some degree
an exception, though the fjords may here be somewhat filled with
glaciers, and, for another example, it may be noted that Peary
observed a marked contrast on the north coast. Eastward as far as Cape
Morris Jesup there are precipitous headlands and islands, as
elsewhere, with deep water close inshore. East of the same cape there
is an abrupt change; the coast is unbroken, the mountains recede
inland, and there is shoal-water for a considerable distance from the
coast. Numerous islands lie off the coasts where they are indented;
but these are in no case large, excepting those off the north coast,
and that of Disco off the west, which is crossed by the parallel of
70° N. This island, which is separated by Waigat Strait from the
Nugsuak peninsula, is lofty, and has an area of 3005 sq. m. Steenstrup
in 1898 discovered in it the warmest spring known in Greenland, having
a temperature of 66° F.
The unusual glaciation of the east coast is evidently owing to the
north polar current carrying the ice masses from the north polar basin
south-westward along the land, and giving it an entirely arctic
climate down to Cape Farewell. In some parts the interior ice-covering
extends down to the outer coast, while in other parts its margin is
situated more inland, and the ice-bare coast-land is deeply
intersected by fjords extending far into the interior, where they are
blocked by enormous glaciers or "ice-currents" from the interior
ice-covering which discharge masses of icebergs into them. The east
coast of Greenland is in this respect highly interesting. All coasts
in the world which are much intersected by deep fjords have, with very
few exceptions, a western exposure, e.g. Norway, Scotland, British
Columbia and Alaska, Patagonia and Chile, and even Spitsbergen and
Novaya Zemlya, whose west coasts are far more indented than their east
ones. Greenland forms the most prominent exception, its eastern coast
being quite as much indented as its western. The reason is to be found
in its geographical position, a cold ice-covered polar current running
south along the land, while not far outside there is an open warmer
sea, a circumstance which, while producing a cold climate, must also
give rise to much precipitation, the land being thus exposed to the
alternate erosion of a rough atmosphere and large glaciers. On the
east coast of Baffin Land and Labrador there are similar conditions.
The result is that the east coast of Greenland has the largest system
of typical fjords known on the earth's surface. Scoresby Fjord has a
length of about 180 m. from the outer coast to the point where it is
blocked by the glaciers, and with its numerous branches covers an
enormous area. Franz Josef Fjord, with its branch King Oscar Fjord,
communicating with Davy's Sound, forms a system of fjords on a similar
scale. These fjords are very deep; the greatest depth found by Ryder
in Scoresby Sound was 300 fathoms, but there are certainly still
greater depths; like the Norwegian fjords they have, however, probably
all of them, a threshold or sill, with shallow water, near their
mouths. A few soundings made outside this coast seem to indicate that
the fjords continue as deep submarine valleys far out into the sea. On
the west coast there are also many great fjords. One of the best known
from earlier days is the great Godthaab Fjord (or Baals Revier) north
of 64° N. Along the east coast there are many high mountains,
exceeding 6000 and 7000 ft. in height. One of the highest peaks
hitherto measured is at Tiningnertok, on the Lindenov Fjord, in 60°
35' N., which is 7340 ft. high. At the bottom of Mogens Heinesen
Fjord, 62° 30' N., the peaks are 6300 ft., and in the region of
Umanak, 63° N., they even exceed 6600 ft. At Umivik, where Nansen
began his journey across the inland ice, the highest peak projecting
through the ice-covering was Gamel's Nunatak, 6440 ft., in 64° 34' N.
In the region of Angmagssalik, which is very mountainous, the
mountains rise to 6500 ft., the most prominent peak being Ingolf's
Fjeld, in 66° 20' N., about 6000 ft., which is seen from far out at
sea, and forms an excellent landmark. This is probably the Blaaserk
(i.e. Blue Sark or blue shirt) of the old Norsemen, their first
landmark on their way from Iceland to the Öster Bygd, the present
Julianehaab district, on the south-west coast of Greenland. A little
farther north the coast is much lower, rising only to heights of 2000
ft., and just north of 67° 10' N. only to 500 ft. or less.[20] The
highest mountains near the inner branches of Scoresby Fjord are about
7000 ft. The Petermann Spitze, near the shore of Franz Josef Fjord,
measured by Payer and found to be 11,000 ft., has hitherto been
considered to be the highest mountain in Greenland, but according to
Nathorst it "is probably only two-thirds as high as Payer supposed,"
perhaps between 8000 and 9000 ft.
Along the west coast of Greenland the mountains are generally not
quite so high, but even here peaks of 5000 and 6000 ft. are not
uncommon. As a whole the coasts are unusually mountainous, and
Greenland forms in this respect an interesting exception, as there is
no other known land of such a size so filled along its coasts on all
sides with high mountains and deep fjords and valleys.
_The Inland Ice._--The whole interior of Greenland is completely
covered by the so-called inland ice, an enormous glacier forming a
regular shield-shaped expanse of snow and glacier ice, and burying all
valleys and mountains far below its surface. Its area is about 715,400
sq. m., and it is by far the greatest glacier of the northern
hemisphere. Only occasionally there emerge lofty rocks, isolated but
not completely covered by the ice-cap; such rocks are known as
_nunataks_ (an Eskimo word). The inland ice rises in the interior to a
level of 9000, and in places perhaps 10,000 ft. or more, and descends
gradually by extremely gentle slopes towards the coasts or the bottom
of the fjords on all sides, discharging a great part of its yearly
drainage or surplus of precipitation in the form of icebergs in the
fjords, the so-called ice-fjords, which are numerous both on the west
and on the east coast. These icebergs float away, and are gradually
melted in the sea, the temperature of which is thus lowered by cold
stored up in the interior of Greenland. The last remains of these
icebergs are met with in the Atlantic south of Newfoundland. The
surface of the inland ice forms in a transverse section from the west
to the east coast an extremely regular curve, almost approaching an
arc of a wide circle, which along Nansen's route has its highest ridge
somewhat nearer the east than the west coast. The same also seems to
be the case farther south. The curve shows, however, slight
irregularities in the shape of undulations. The angle of the slope
decreases gradually from the margin of the inland ice, where it may be
1° or more, towards the interior, where it is 0°. In the interior the
surface of the inland ice is composed of dry snow which never melts,
and is constantly packed and worked smooth by the winds. It extends as
a completely even plain of snow, with long, almost imperceptible,
undulations or waves, at a height of 7000 to 10,000 ft., obliterating
the features of the underlying land, the mountains and valleys of
which are completely interred. Over the deepest valleys of the land in
the interior this ice-cap must be at least 6000 or 7000 ft. thick or
more. Approaching the coasts from the interior, the snow of the
surface gradually changes its structure. At first it becomes more
coarse-grained, like the _Firn Schnee_ of the Alps, and is moist by
melting during the summer. Nearer the coast, where the melting on the
surface is more considerable, the wet snow freezes hard during the
winter and is more or less transformed into ice, on the surface of
which rivers and lakes are formed, the water of which, however, soon
finds its way through crevasses and holes in the ice down to its under
surface, and reaches the sea as a sub-glacial river. Near its margin
the surface of the inland ice is broken up by numerous large
crevasses, formed by the outward motion of the glacier covering the
underlying land. The steep ice-walls at the margin of the inland ice
show, especially where the motion of the ice is slow, a distinct
striation, which indicates the strata of annual precipitation with the
intervening thin seams of dust (Nordenskiöld's kryokonite). This is
partly dust blown on to the surface of the ice from the ice-bare
coast-land and partly the dust of the atmosphere brought down by the
falling snow and accumulated on the surface of the glacier's covering
by the melting during the summer. In the rapidly moving glaciers of
the ice-fjords this striation is not distinctly visible, being
evidently obliterated by the strong motion of the ice masses.
The ice-cap of Greenland must to some extent be considered as a
viscous mass, which, by the vertical pressure in its interior, is
pressed outwards and slowly flows towards the coasts, just as a mass
of pitch placed on a table and left to itself will in the course of
time flow outwards towards all sides. The motion of the
outwards-creeping inland ice will naturally be more independent of the
configurations of the underlying land in the interior, where its
thickness is so enormous, than near the margin where it is thinner.
Here the ice converges into the valleys and moves with increasing
velocity in the form of glaciers into the fjords, where they break off
as icebergs. The drainage of the interior of Greenland is thus partly
given off in the solid form of icebergs, partly by the melting of the
snow and ice on the surface of the ice-cap, especially near its
western margin, and to some slight extent also by the melting produced
on its under side by the interior heat of the earth. After Professor
Amund Helland had, in July 1875, discovered the amazingly great
velocity, up to 64¾ ft. in twenty-four hours, with which the glaciers
of Greenland move into the sea, the margin of the inland ice and its
glaciers was studied by several expeditions. K. J. V. Steenstrup
during several years, Captain Hammer in 1879-1880, Captain Ryder in
1886-1887, Dr Drygalski in 1891-1893,[21] and several American
expeditions in later years, all examined the question closely. The
highest known velocities of glaciers were measured by Ryder in the
Upernivik glacier (in 73° N.), where, between the 13th and 14th of
August of 1886, he found a velocity of 125 ft. in twenty-four hours,
and an average velocity during several days of 101 ft. (Danish).[22]
It was, however, ascertained that there is a great difference between
the velocities of the glaciers in winter and in summer. For instance,
Ryder found that the Upernivik glacier had an average velocity of only
33 ft. in April 1887. There seem to be periodical oscillations in the
extension of the glaciers and the inland ice similar to those that
have been observed on the glaciers of the Alps and elsewhere. But
these interesting phenomena have not hitherto been subject to
systematic observation, and our knowledge of them is therefore
uncertain. Numerous glacial marks, however, such as polished striated
rocks, moraines, erratic blocks, &c., prove that the whole of
Greenland, even the small islands and skerries outside the coast, has
once been covered by the inland ice.
Numerous raised beaches and terraces, containing shells of marine
mollusca, &c., occur along the whole coast of Greenland, and indicate
that the whole of this large island has been raised, or the sea has
sunk, in post-glacial times, after the inland ice covered its now
ice-bare outskirts. In the north along the shores of Smith Sound these
traces of the gradual upheaval of the land, or sinking of the sea, are
very marked; but they are also very distinct in the south, although
not found so high above sea-level, which seems to show that the
upheaval has been greater in the north. In Uvkusigsat Fjord (72° 20'
N.) the highest terrace is 480 ft. above the sea.[23] On Manitsok (65°
30' N.) the highest raised beach was 360 ft. above the sea.[24] In the
Isortok Fjord (67° 11' N.) the highest raised beach is 380 ft. above
sea-level.[25] In the Ameralik Fjord (64° 14' N.) the highest marine
terrace is about 340 ft. above sea-level, and at Ilivertalik (63° 14'
N.), north of Fiskernaes, the highest terrace is about 325 ft. above
the sea. At Kakarsuak, near the Björnesund (62° 50' N.), a terrace is
found at 615 ft. above the sea, but it is doubtful whether this is of
marine origin.[26] In the Julianehaab district, between 60° and 61°
N., the highest marine terraces are found at about 160 ft. above the
sea.[27] The highest marine terrace observed in Scoresby Fjord, on the
east coast, was 240 ft. above sea-level.[28] There is a common belief
that during quite recent times the west and south-west coast, within
the Danish possessions, has been sinking. Although there are many
indications which may make this probable, none of them can be said to
be quite decisive.[29]
[_Geology._--So far as made out, the structure of explored Greenland
is as follows:
1. _Laurentian gneiss_ forms the greatest mass of the exposed rocks of
the country bare of ice. They are found on both sides of Smith Sound,
rising to heights of 2000 ft., and underlie the Miocene and Cretaceous
rocks of Disco Island, Noursoak Peninsula and the Oolites of Pendulum
Island in East Greenland. Ancient schists occur on the east coast
south of Angmagssalik, and basalts and schists are found in Scoresby
Fjord. It is possible that some of these rocks are also of Huronian
age, but it is doubtful whether the rocks so designated by the
geologists of the "Alert" and "Discovery" expedition are really the
rocks so known in Canada, or are a continuous portion of the
fundamental or oldest gneiss of the north-west of Scotland and the
western isles.
2. _Silurian._--Upper Silurian, having a strong relation to the
Wenlock group of Britain, but with an American facies, and Lower
Silurian, with a succession much the same as in British North America,
are found on the shores of Smith Sound, and Nathorst has discovered
them in King Oscar Fjord, but not as yet so far south as the Danish
possessions.
3. _Devonian_ rocks are believed to occur in Igaliko and Tunnudiorbik
Fjords, in S.W. Greenland, but as they are unfossiliferous sandstone,
rapidly disintegrating, this cannot be known. It is, however, likely
that this formation occurs in Greenland, for in Dana Bay, Captain
Feilden found a species of _Spirifera_ and _Productus mesolobus_ or
_costatus_, though it is possible that these fossils represent the
"Ursa stage" (Heer) of the Lower Carboniferous. A few Devonian forms
have also been recorded from the Parry Archipelago, and Nathorst has
shown the existence of Old Red Sandstone facies of Devonian in Traill
Island, Geographical Society Island, Ymer Island and Gauss Peninsula.
4. _Carboniferous._--In erratic blocks of sandstone, found on the
Disco shore of the Waigat have been detected a _Sigillaria_ and a
species of either _Pecopteris_ or _Gleichenia_, perhaps of this age;
and probably much of the extreme northern coast of Ellesmere Land, and
therefore, in all likelihood, the opposite Greenland shore, contains a
clearly developed Carboniferous Limestone fauna, identical with that
so widely distributed over the North American continent, and referable
also to British and Spitsbergen species. Of the Coal Measures above
these, if they occur, we know nothing at present. Capt. Feilden notes
as suggestive that, though the explorers have not met with this
formation on the northern shores of Greenland, yet it was observed
that a continuation of the direction of the known strike of the
limestones of Feilden peninsula, carried over the polar area, passes
through the neighbourhood of Spitsbergen, where the formation occurs,
and contains certain species identical with those of the Grinnell Land
rocks of this horizon. The facies of the fossils is, according to Mr
Etheridge, North American and Canadian, though many of the species are
British. The corals are few in number, but the _Molluscoida_
(_Polyzoa_) are more numerous in species and individuals. No Secondary
rocks have been discovered in the extreme northern parts of West
Greenland, but they are present on the east and west coasts in more
southerly latitudes than Smith Sound.
5. _Jurassic._--These do not occur on the west coast, but on the east
coast the German expedition discovered marls and sandstones on Kuhn
Island, resembling those of the Russian Jurassic, characterized by the
presence of the genus _Aucella_, _Olcostephanus Payeri_, _O.
striolaris_, _Belemnites Panderianus_, _B. volgensis_, _B. absolutus_,
and a _Cyprina_ near to _C. syssolae_. On the south coast of the same
island are coarse-grained, brownish micaceous and light-coloured
calcareous sandstone and marls, containing fossils, which render it
probable that they are of the same age as the coal-bearing Jurassic
rocks of Brora (Scotland) and the Middle Dogger of Yorkshire. There is
also coal on Kuhn Island.
The Danish expeditions of 1899-1900 have added considerably to our
knowledge of the Jurassic rocks of East Greenland. Rhaetic-Lias plants
have been described by Dr Hartz from Cape Stewart and Vardeklöft. Dr
Madsen has recognized fossils that correspond with those from the
Inferior oolite, Cornbrash and Callovian of England. Upper Kimmeridge
and Portlandian beds also occur.
6. _Cretaceous._--Beds of this age, consisting of sandstones and coal,
are found on the northern coast of Disco Island and the southern side
of the Noursoak Peninsula, the beds in the former locality, "the Kome
strata" of Nordenskiöld, being the oldest. They reach 1000 ft. in
thickness, occupying undulating hollows in the underlying gneiss, and
dip towards the Noursoak Peninsula at 20°, when the overlying
Atanakerdluk strata come in. Both these series contain numerous plant
remains, evergreen oaks, magnolias, aralias, &c., and seams of lignite
(coal), which is burnt; but in neither occur the marine beds of the
United States. Still, the presence of dicotyledonous leaves, such as
_Magnolia alternans_, in the Atanakerdluk strata, proves their close
alliance with the Dakota series of the United States. The underlying
Kome beds are not present in the American series. They are
characterized by fine cycads (_Zamites arcticus_ and _Glossozamites
Hoheneggeri_), which also occur in the Urgonian strata of Wernsdorff.
7. _Miocene._--This formation, one of the most widely spread in polar
lands, though the most local in Greenland, is also the best known
feature in its geology. It is limited to Disco Island, and perhaps to
a small part of the Noursoak Peninsula, and the neighbouring country,
and consists of numerous thin beds of sandstone, shale and coal--the
sideritic shale containing immense quantities of leaves, stems, fruit,
&c., as well as some insects, and the coal pieces of retinite. The
study of these plant and insect remains shows that forests containing
a vegetation very similar to that of California and the southern
United States, in some instances even the species of trees being all
but identical, flourished in 70° N. during geological periods
comparatively recent. These beds, as well as the Cretaceous series,
from which they are as yet only imperfectly distinguished, are
associated with sheets of basalt, which penetrate them in great dikes,
and in some places, owing to the wearing away of the softer
sedimentary rocks, stand out in long walls running across the beds.
These Miocene strata have not been found farther north on the
Greenland shore than the region mentioned; but in Lady Franklin Bay,
on the Grinnell Land side of Smith Sound, they again appear, so that
the chances are they will be found on the opposite coast, though
doubtless the great disintegration Greenland has undergone and is
undergoing has destroyed many of the softer beds of fossiliferous
rocks. On the east coast, more particularly in Hochstetter Foreland,
the Miocene beds again appear, and we may add that there are traces of
them even on the west coast, between Sonntag Bay and Foulke Fjord, at
the entrance to Smith Sound. It thus appears that since early Tertiary
times there has been a great change in the climate of Greenland.
Nathorst has suggested that the whole of Greenland is a "horst," in
the subordinate folds of which, as well as in the deeper "graben," the
younger rocks are preserved, often with a covering of Tertiary or
later lava flows.[30]--J. A. H.]
_Minerals._--Native iron was found by Nordenskiöld at Ovifak, on Disco
Island, in 1870, and brought to Sweden (1871) as meteorites. The
heaviest nodule weighed over 20 tons. Similar native iron has later
been found by K. J. V. Steenstrup in several places on the west coast
enclosed as smaller or larger nodules in the basalt. This iron has
very often beautiful Widmannstätten figures like those of iron
meteorites, but it is obviously of telluric origin.[31] In 1895 Peary
found native iron at Cape York; since John Ross's voyage in 1818 it
has been known to exist there, and from it the Eskimo got iron for
their weapons. In 1897 Peary brought the largest nodule to New York;
it was estimated to weigh nearly 100 tons. This iron is considered by
several of the first authorities on the subject to be of meteoric
origin,[32] but no evidence hitherto given seems to prove decisively
that it cannot be telluric. That the nodules found were lying on
gneissic rock, with no basaltic rocks in the neighbourhood, does not
prove that the iron may not originate from basalt, for the nodules may
have been transported by the glaciers, like other erratic blocks, and
will stand erosion much longer than the basalt, which may long ago
have disappeared. This iron seems, however, in several respects to be
unlike the celebrated large nodules of iron found by Nordenskiöld at
Ovifak, but appears to resemble much more closely the softer kind of
iron nodules found by Steenstrup in the basalt;[33] it stands exposure
to the air equally well, and has similar Widmannstätten figures very
sharp, as is to be expected in such a large mass. It contains,
however, more nickel and also phosphorus. A few other minerals may be
noticed, and some have been worked to a small extent--graphite is
abundant, particularly near Upernivik; cryolite is found almost
exclusively at Ivigtut; copper has been observed at several places,
but only in nodules and laminae of limited extent; and coal of poor
quality is found in the districts about Disco Bay and Umanak Fjord.
Steatite or soapstone has long been used by the natives for the
manufacture of lamps and vessels.
_Climate._--The climate is very uncertain, the weather changing
suddenly from bright sunshine (when mosquitoes often swarm) to dense
fog or heavy falls of snow and icy winds. At Julianehaab in the
extreme south-west the winter is not much colder than that of Norway
and Sweden in the same locality; but its mean temperature for the
whole year probably approximates to that on the Norwegian coast 600 m.
farther north. The climate of the interior has been found to be of a
continental character, with large ranges of temperature, and with an
almost permanent anti-cyclonic region over the interior of the inland
ice, from which the prevailing winds radiate towards the coasts. On
the 64th parallel the mean annual temperature at an elevation of 6560
ft. is supposed to be -13° F., or reduced to sea-level 5° F. The mean
annual temperature in the interior farther north is supposed to be
-10° F. reduced to sea-level. The mean temperature of the warmest
month, July, in the interior should be, reduced to sea-level, on the
64th parallel 32° F., and that of the coldest month, January, about
-22° F., while in North Greenland it is probably -40° reduced to
sea-level. Here we may probably find the lowest temperatures of the
northern hemisphere. The interior of Greenland contains both summer
and winter a pole of cold, situated in the opposite longitude to that
of Siberia, with which it is well able to compete in extreme severity.
On Nansen's expedition temperatures of about -49° F. were experienced
during the nights in the beginning of September, and the minimum
during the winter may probably sink to -90° F. in the interior of the
inland ice. These low temperatures are evidently caused by the
radiation of heat from the snow-surface in the rarefied air in the
interior. The daily range of temperature is therefore very
considerable, sometimes amounting to 40°. Such a range is elsewhere
found only in deserts, but the surface of the inland ice may be
considered to be an elevated desert of snow.[34] The climate of the
east coast is on the whole considerably more arctic than that of the
west coast on corresponding latitudes; the land is much more
completely snow-covered, and the snow-line goes considerably lower.
The probability also is that there is more precipitation, and that the
mean temperatures are lower.[35] The well-known strangely warm and dry
_föhn_-winds of Greenland occur both on the west and the east coast;
they are more local than was formerly believed, and are formed by
cyclonic winds passing either over mountains or down the outer slope
of the inland ice.[36] Mirage and similar phenomena and the aurora are
common.
_Fauna and Flora._--It was long a common belief that the fauna and
flora of Greenland were essentially European, a circumstance which
would make it probable that Greenland has been separated by sea from
America during a longer period of time than from Europe. The
correctness of this hypothesis may, however, be doubted. The land
mammals of Greenland are decidedly more American than European; the
musk-ox, the banded lemming (_Cuniculus torquatus_), the white polar
wolf, of which there seems to have been a new invasion recently round
the northern part of the country to the east coast, the Eskimo and the
dog--probably also the reindeer--have all come from America, while the
other land mammals, the polar bear, the polar fox, the Arctic hare,
the stoat (_Mustela erminea_), are perfectly circumpolar forms. The
species of seals and whales are, if anything, more American than
European, and so to some extent are the fishes. The bladder-nose seal
(_Cystophora cristata_), for instance, may be said to be a
Greenland-American species, while a Scandinavian species, such as the
grey seal (_Halichoerus grypus_), appears to be very rare both in
Greenland and America. Of the sixty-one species of birds breeding in
Greenland, eight are European-Asiatic, four are American, and the rest
circumpolar or North Atlantic and North Pacific in their
distribution.[37] About 310 species of vascular plants are found, of
which about forty species are American, forty-four European-Asiatic,
fifteen endemic, and the rest common both to America and Europe or
Asia. We thus see that the American and the European-Asiatic elements
of the flora are nearly equivalent; and if the flora of Arctic North
America were better known, the number of plants common to America
might be still more enlarged.[38]
In the south, a few goats, sheep, oxen and pigs have been introduced.
The whaling industry was formerly prolific off the west coast but
decayed when the right whale nearly disappeared. The white whale
fishery of the Eskimo, however, continued, and sealing is important;
walruses are also caught and sometimes narwhal. There are also
important fisheries for cod, caplin, halibut, red fish (_Sebastes_)
and _nepisak_ (_Cyclopterus lumpus_); a shark (_Somniosus
microcephalus_) is taken for the oil from its liver; and sea-trout are
found in the streams and small lakes of the south. On land reindeer
were formerly hunted, to their practical extinction in the south, but
in the districts of Godthaab, Sukkertoppen and Holstensborg there are
still many reindeer. The eider-duck, guillemot and other sea-birds are
in some parts valuable for food in winter, and so is the ptarmigan.
Eggs of sea-birds are collected and eider-down. Valuable fur is
obtained from the white and blue fox, the skin of the eider-duck and
the polar bear.
At Tasiusak (73° 22' N.), the most northern civilized settlement in
the world, gardening has been attempted without success, but several
plants do well in forcing frames. At Umanak (70° 40' N.) is the most
northern garden in the world. Broccoli and radishes grow well, turnips
(but not every year), lettuce and chervil succeed sometimes, but
parsley cannot be reared. At Jacobshavn (69° 12' N.), only some 15 m.
from the inland ice, gardening succeeds very well; broccoli and
lettuce grow willingly; the spinach produces large leaves; chervil,
pepper-grass, leeks, parsley and turnips grow very well; the radishes
are sown and gathered twice during the summer (June to August). In the
south, in the Julianehaab district, even flowering plants, such as
aster, nemophilia and mignonette, are cultivated, and broccoli,
spinach, sorrel, chervil, parsley, rhubarb, turnips, lettuce, radishes
grow well. Potatoes give fair results when they are taken good care
of, carrots grow to a thickness of 1½ in., while cabbage does poorly.
Strawberries and cucumbers have been ripened in a forcing frame. In
the "Kongespeil" (King's mirror) of the 13th century it is stated that
the old Norsemen tried in vain to raise barley.
The wild vegetation in the height of summer is, in favourable
situations, profuse in individual plants, though scanty in species.
The plants are of the usual arctic type, and identical with or allied
to those found in Lapland or on the summits of the highest British
hills. Forest there is none in all the country. In the north, where
the lichen-covered or ice-shaven rocks do not protrude, the ground is
covered with a carpet of mosses, creeping dwarf willows, crow-berries
and similar plants, while the flowers most common are the andromeda,
the yellow poppy, pedicularis, pyrola, &c. besides the flowering
mosses; but in South Greenland there is something in the shape of
bush, the dwarf birches even rising a few feet in very sheltered
places, the willows may grow higher than a man, and the vegetation is
less arctic and more abundant.
_Government and Trade._--The trade of Greenland is a monopoly of the
Danish crown, dating from 1774, and is administered in Copenhagen by a
government board (_Kongelige Grönlandske Handel_) and in the country by
various government officials. In order to meet the double purposes of
government and trade the west coast, up to nearly 74° N., is divided
into two inspectorates, the southern extending to 67° 40' N., the
northern comprising the rest of the country; the respective seats of
government being at Godthaab and Godhavn. These inspectorates are ruled
by two superior officials or governors responsible to the director of
the board in Copenhagen. Each of the inspectorates is divided into
districts, each district having, in addition to the chief settlement or
_coloni_, several outlying posts and Eskimo hunting stations, each
presided over by an _udligger_, who is responsible to the
_coloni-bestyrer_, or superintendent of the district. These trading
settlements, which dot the coast for a distance of 1000 m., are about
sixty in number. From the Eskimo hunting and fishing stations blubber is
the chief article received, and is forwarded in casks to the _coloni_,
where it is boiled into oil, and prepared for being despatched to
Copenhagen by means of the government ships which arrive and leave
between May and November. For the rest of the year navigation is
stopped, though the winter months form the busy seal-killing season. The
principle upon which the government acts is to give the natives low
prices for their produce, but to sell them European articles of
necessity at prime cost, and other stores, such as bread, at prices
which will scarcely pay for the purchase and freight, while no
merchandise is charged, on an average, more than 20% over the cost price
in Denmark. In addition the Greenlanders are allowed to order goods from
private dealers on paying freight for them at the rate of 2½d. per 10
lb., or 1s. 6d. per cub. ft. The prices to be paid for European and
native articles are fixed every year, the prices current in Danish and
Eskimo being printed and distributed by the government. Out of the
payment five-sixths are given to the sellers, and one-sixth devoted to
the Greenlanders' public fund, spent in "public works," in charity, and
on other unforeseen contingencies. The object of the monopoly is solely
for the good of the Greenlanders--to prevent spirits being sold to them,
and the vice, disease and misery which usually attend the collision
between natives and civilization of the trader's type being introduced
into the primitive arctic community. The inspectors, in addition to
being trade superintendents, are magistrates, but serious crime is very
rare. Though the officials are all-powerful, local councils or
_parsissaet_ were organized in 1857 in every district. To these parish
parliaments delegates are sent from every station. These _parsissoks_,
elected at the rate of about one representative to 120 voters, wear a
cap with a badge (a bear rampant), and aid the European members of the
council in distributing the surplus profit apportioned to each district,
and generally in advising as to the welfare of that part of Greenland
under their partial control. The municipal council has the disposal of
20% of the annual profits made on produce purchased within the confines
of each district. It holds two sessions every year, and the discussions
are entirely in the Eskimo language. In addition to their functions as
guardians of the poor, the parish members have to investigate crimes and
punish misdemeanours, settle litigations and divide inheritances. They
can impose fines for small offences not worth sending before the
inspector, and, in cases of high misdemeanour, have the power of
inflicting corporal punishment.
A Danish _coloni_ in Greenland might seem to many not to be a cheerful
place at best; though in the long summer days they would certainly find
some of those on the southern fjords comparatively pleasant. The fact
is, however, that most people who ever lived some time in Greenland
always long to go back. There are generally in a _coloni_ three or four
Danish houses, built of wood and pitched over, in addition to
storehouses and a blubber-boiling establishment. The Danish residents
may include, besides a _coloni-bestyrer_ and his assistant, a
_missionair_ or clergyman, at a few places also a doctor, and perhaps a
carpenter and a schoolmaster. In addition there are generally from
twenty to several hundred Eskimo, who live in huts built of stone and
turf, each entered by a short tunnel. Lately their houses in the
_colonis_ have also to some extent been built of imported wood.
Following the west coast northward, the trading centres are these: in
the south inspectorate, Julianehaab, near which are remains of the early
Norse settlements of Eric the Red and his companions (the _Öster-Bygd_);
Frederikshaab, in which district are the cryolite mines of Ivigtut;
Godthaab, the principal settlement of all, in the neighbourhood of which
are also early Norse remains (the _Vester-Bygd_); Sukkertoppen, a most
picturesque locality; and Holstenborg. In the north inspectorate the
centres are: Egedesminde, on an islet at the mouth of Disco Bay;
Christianshaab, one of the pleasantest settlements in the north, and
Jacobshavn, on the inner shores of the same bay; Godhavn (or Lievely) on
the south coast of Disco Island, formerly an important seat of the
whaling industry; Ritenbenk, Umanak, and, most northerly of all,
Upernivik. On the east coast there is but one coloni, Angmagssalik, in
65º 30' N., only established in 1894. For ecclesiastical purposes Danish
Greenland is reckoned in the province of the bishop of Zeeland. The
Danish mission in Greenland has a yearly grant of £2000 from the trading
revenue of the colony, besides a contribution of £880 from the state.
The Moravian mission, which had worked in Greenland for a century and a
half, retired from the country in 1900. The trade of Greenland has on
the whole much decreased in modern times, and trading and missions cost
the Danish state a comparatively large sum (about £11,000 every year),
although this is partly covered by the income from the royalty of the
cryolite mines at Ivigtut. There is, however, a yearly deficiency of
more than £6000. The decline in the value of the trade, which was
formerly very profitable, has to a great extent been brought about by
the fall in the price of seal-oil. It might be expected that there
should be a decrease in the Greenland seal fisheries, caused by the
European and American sealers catching larger quantities every year,
especially along the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and so
actually diminishing the number of the animals in the Greenland seas.
The statistics of South Greenland, however, do not seem to demonstrate
any such decrease. The average number of seals killed annually is about
33,000.[39] The annual value of imports, consisting of manufactured
goods, foodstuffs, &c., may be taken somewhat to exceed £40,000. The
chief articles of export (together with those that have lapsed) have
been already indicated; but they may be summarized as including
seal-oil, seal, fox, bird and bear skins, fish products and eiderdown,
with some quantity of worked skins. Walrus tusks and walrus hides, which
in the days of the old Norse settlements were the chief articles of
export, are now of little importance.
_Population._--The area of the entire Danish colony is estimated at
45,000 sq. m., and its population in 1901 was 11,893. The Europeans
number about 300. The Eskimo population of Danish Greenland (west coast)
seems to have decreased since the middle of the 18th century. Hans Egede
estimated the population then at 30,000, but this is probably a large
over-estimate. The decrease may chiefly have been due to infectious
diseases, especially a very severe epidemic of smallpox. During the last
half of the 19th century there was on the whole a slight increase of the
native population. The population fluctuates a good deal, owing, to some
extent, to an immigration of natives from the east to the west coast.
The population of the east coast seems on the whole to be decreasing in
number, several hundreds chiefly living at Angmagssalik. In the north
part of the east coast, in the region of Scoresby Fjord and Franz Josef
Fjord, numerous ruins of Eskimo settlements are found, and in 1823
Clavering met Eskimo there, but now they have either completely died out
or have wandered south. A little tribe of Eskimo living in the region of
Cape York near Smith Sound--the so-called "Arctic Highlanders" or Smith
Sound Eskimo--number about 240.
_History._--In the beginning of the 10th century the Norwegian
Gunnbjörn, son of Ulf Kráka, is reported to have found some islands to
the west of Iceland, and he may have seen, without landing upon it, the
southern part of the east coast of Greenland. In 982 the Norwegian Eric
the Red sailed from Iceland to find the land which Gunnbjörn had seen,
and he spent three years on its south-western coasts exploring the
country. On his return to Iceland in 985 he called the land Greenland in
order to make people more willing to go there, and reported so
favourably on its possibilities that he had no difficulty in obtaining
followers. In 986 he started again from Iceland with 25 ships, but only
14 of them reached Greenland, where a colony was founded on the
south-west coast, in the present Julianehaab district. Eric built his
house at Brattalid, near the inner end oí the fjord Tunugdliarfik, just
north of the present Julianehaab. Other settlers followed and in a few
years two colonies had been formed, one called Österbygd in the present
district of Julianehaab comprising later about 190 farms, and another
called Vesterbygd farther north on the west coast in the present
district of Godthaab, comprising later about 90 farms. Numerous ruins in
the various fjords of these two districts indicate now where these
colonies were. Wooden coffins, with skeletons wrapped in coarse hairy
cloth, and both pagan and Christian tombstones with runic inscriptions
have been found. On a voyage from Norway to Greenland Leif Ericsson (son
of Eric the Red) discovered America in the year 1000, and a few years
later Torfinn Karlsefne sailed with three ships and about 150 men, from
Greenland to Nova Scotia to form a colony, but returned three years
later (see VINLAND).
When the Norsemen came to Greenland they found various remains
indicating, as the old sagas say, that there had been people of a
similar kind as those they met with in Vinland, in America, whom they
called _Skraeling_ (the meaning of the word is uncertain, it means
possibly weak people); but the sagas do not report that they actually
met the natives then. But somewhat later they have probably met with the
Eskimo farther north on the west coast in the neighbourhood of Disco
Bay, where the Norsemen went to catch seals, walrus, &c. The Norse
colonists penetrated on these fishing expeditions at least to 73º N.,
where a small runic stone from the 14th century has been found. On a
voyage in 1267 they penetrated even still farther north into the
Melville Bay.
Christianity was introduced by Leif Ericsson at the instance of Olaf
Trygvasson, king of Norway, in 1000 and following years. In the
beginning of the 12th century Greenland got its own bishop, who resided
at Garolar, near the present Eskimo station Igoliko, on an isthmus
between two fjords, Igaliksfjord (the old Einarsfjord) and Tunugdliarfik
(the old Eriksfjord), inside the present colony Julianehaab. The Norse
colonies had twelve churches, one monastery and one nunnery in the
Österbygd, and four churches in the Vesterbygd. Greenland, like Iceland,
had a republican organization up to the years 1247 to 1261, when the
Greenlanders were induced to swear allegiance to the king of Norway.
Greenland belonged to the Norwegian crown till 1814, when, at the
dissolution of the union between Denmark and Norway, neither it nor
Iceland and the Faeroes were mentioned, and they, therefore, were kept
by the Danish king and thus came to Denmark. The settlements were called
respectively _Öster Bygd_ (or eastern settlement) and _Vester_ (western)
_Bygd_, both being now known to be on the south and west coast (in the
districts of Julianehaab and Godthaab respectively), though for long the
view was persistently held that the first was on the east coast, and
numerous expeditions have been sent in search of these "lost colonies"
and their imaginary survivors. These settlements at the height of their
prosperity are estimated to have had 10,000 inhabitants, which, however,
is an over-estimate, the number having probably been nearer one-half or
one-third of that number. The last bishop appointed to Greenland died in
1540, but long before that date those appointed had never reached their
sees; the last bishop who resided in Greenland died there in 1377. After
the middle of the 14th century very little is heard of the settlements,
and their communication with the motherland, Norway, evidently gradually
ceased. This may have been due in great part to the fact that the
shipping and trade of Greenland became a monopoly of the king of Norway,
who kept only one ship sailing at long intervals (of years) to
Greenland; at the same time the shipping and trade of Norway came more
and more in the hands of the Hanseatic League, which took no interest in
Greenland. The last ship that is known to have visited the Norse colony
in Greenland returned to Norway in 1410. With no support from home the
settlements seem to have decayed rapidly. It has been supposed that they
were destroyed by attacks of the Eskimo, who about this period seem to
have become more numerous and to have extended southwards along the
coast from the north. This seems a less feasible explanation; it is more
probable that the Norse settlers intermarried with the Eskimo and were
gradually absorbed. About the end of the 15th or the beginning of the
16th century it would appear that all Norse colonization had practically
disappeared. When in 1585 John Davis visited it there was no sign of any
people save the Eskimo, among whose traditions are a few directly
relating to the old Norsemen, and several traces of Norse influence.[40]
For more than two hundred years Greenland seems to have been neglected,
almost forgotten. It was visited by whalers, chiefly Dutch, but nothing
in the form of permanent European settlements was established until the
year 1721, when the first missionary, the Norwegian clergyman Hans
Egede, landed, and established a settlement near Godthaab. Amid many
hardships and discouragements he persevered; and at the present day the
native race is civilized and Christianized. Many of the colonists of the
18th century were convicts and other offenders; and in 1750 the trade
became a monopoly in the hands of a private company. In 1733-1734 there
was a dreadful epidemic of smallpox, which destroyed a great number of
the people. In 1774 the trade ceased to be profitable as a private
monopoly, and to prevent it being abandoned the government took it over.
Julianehaab was founded in the following year. In 1807-1814, owing to
the war, communication was cut off with Norway and Denmark; but
subsequently the colony prospered in a languid fashion.
_Authorities._--As to the discovery of Greenland by the Norsemen and
its early history see Konrad Maurer's excellent paper, "Geschichte der
Entdeckung Ostgrönlands" in the report of _Die zweite deutsche
Nordpolarfahrt 1869-1870_ (Leipzig, 1874), vol. i.; G. Storm, _Studies
on the "Vineland" Voyages_ (Copenhagen, 1889); _Extraits des Mémoires
de la Société Royale des Antiquaires du Nord_ (1888); K. J. V.
Steenstrup, "Om Österbygden," _Meddelelser om Grönland_, part ix.
(1882), pp. 1-51; Finnur Jônsson, "Grönlands gamle Topografi efter
Kilderne" in _Meddelelser om Grönland_, part xx. (1899), pp. 265-329;
Joseph Fischer, _The Discoveries of the Norsemen in America_,
translated from German by B. H. Soulsby (London, 1903). As to the
general literature on Greenland, a number of the more important modern
works have been noticed in footnotes. The often-quoted _Meddelelser om
Grönland_ is of especial value; it is published in parts (Copenhagen)
since 1879, and is chiefly written in Danish, but each part has a
summary in French. In part xiii. there is a most valuable list of
literature about Greenland up to 1880. See also _Geographical
Journal_, passim.
Amongst other important books on Greenland may be mentioned: Hans
Egede, _Description of Greenland_ (London, 1745); Crantz, _History of
Greenland_ (2 vols., London, 1820); _Grönlands historiske
Mindesmerker_ (3 vols., Copenhagen, 1838-1845); H. Rink, _Danish
Greenland_ (London, 1877); H. Rink, _Tales of the Eskimo_ (London,
1875); (see also same, "Eskimo Tribes" in _Meddelelser om Grönland_,
part xi.); Johnstrup, _Giesecke's Mineralogiske Reise i Grönland_
(Copenhagen, 1878). (F. N.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Inglefield, _Summer Search for Franklin_ (London, 1853).
[2] _Second Grinnell Expedition_ (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1856).
[3] Davis, Polaris (_Hall's_) _North Polar Expedition_ (Washington,
1876). See also Bessels, _Die amerikanische Nordpol-Expedition_
(Leipzig, 1879).
[4] _Journal of a Voyage to the Northern Whale Fishery_ (1823).
[5] _Die zweite deutsche Nordpolarfahrt_ (1873-1875).
[6] _Reise til Östkysten af Grönland_ (1832; trans. by G. Gordon
Macdougall, 1837).
[7] _Meddelelser om Grönland_, parts ix. and x. (Copenhagen, 1888).
[8] _The First Crossing of Greenland_, vol. i. (London, 1890), H.
Mohn and F. Nansen; "Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse von Dr F. Nansen
Durchquerung von Grönland" (1888). Ergänzungsheft No. 105 zu
_Petermanns Mitteilungen_ (Gotha, 1892).
[9] A. F. Nordenskiöld, _Den andra Dicksonska Expeditionen til
Grönland_ (Stockholm, 1885).
[10] _Meddelelser om Grönland_, pts. xvii.-xix. (Copenhagen,
1895-1896).
[11] _Geografisk Tidskrift_, xv. 53-71 (Copenhagen, 1899).
[12] _Ibid._ vii. 76-79 (Copenhagen, 1884).
[13] _The Geographical Journal_, xiv. 534 (1899); xvii. 48 (1901);
_Två Somrar i Norra Ishafvet_ (Stockholm, 1901).
[14] _Meddelelser om Grönland_, parts xxvi.-xxvii.
[15] Nares, _Voyage to the Polar Sea_ (2 vols. London, 1877). See
also Blue Book, journals, &c., (Nares) Expedition, 1875-1876 (London,
1877).
[16] A. W. Greely, _Report on the Proceedings of the United States
Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, Grinnell Land_, vols. i. and ii.
(Washington, 1885); _Three Years of Arctic Service_ (2 vols. London,
1886).
[17] R. E. Peary, _Northward over the "Great Ice"_ (2 vols. New York,
1898); E. Astrup, _Blandt Nordpolen's Naboer_ (Christiania, 1895).
[18] _Meddelelser om Grönland_, part i. (Copenhagen, 1879).
[19] _Ibid._ part xvi. (Copenhagen, 1896).
[20] See C. Kruuse in _Geografisk Tidskrift_, xv. 64 (Copenhagen,
1899). See also F. Nansen, "Die Ostküste Grönlands," Ergänzungsheft
No. 105 zu _Petermanns Mitteilungen_ (Gotha, 1892), p. 55 and pl.
iv., sketch No. 11.
[21] E. v. Drygalski, _Grönland-Expedition der Gesellschaft für
Erdkunde zu Berlin, 1891-1893_ (2 vols., Berlin, 1897).
[22] _Meddelelser om Grönland_, part viii. pp. 203-270 (Copenhagen,
1889).
[23] _Ibid._ part iv. p. 230 (Copenhagen, 1883); see also part xiv.
pp. 317 et seq., 323.
[24] _Ibid._ part xiv. p. 323 (Copenhagen, 1898).
[25] _Ibid._ part ii. pp. 181-188 (Copenhagen, 1881).
[26] _Ibid._ part i. pp. 99-101 (Copenhagen, 1879).
[27] _Ibid._ part ii. p. 39 (Copenhagen, 1881); part xvi. pp. 150-154
(1896).
[28] _Ibid._, part xix. p. 175 (1896).
[29] _Ibid._ part i. p. 34; part ii. p. 40; part xiv. pp. 343-347;
part iv. p. 237; part viii. p. 26.
[30] See A. G. Nathorst, "Bidrag till nordöstra Grönlands geologi,"
with map _Geologiska Foreningens i Stockholm Förhandlingar_, No. 257,
Bd. 23, Heft 4, 1901; O. Heer, _Flora fossilis Arctica_ (7 vols.,
1868-1883), and especially _Meddelelser om Grönland_ for numerous
papers on the geology and palaeontology.
[31] _Medd. om Grönl._, part iv. pp. 115-131 (Copenhagen, 1883).
[32] See Peary, _Northward over the "Great Ice,"_ ii. 604 et seq.
(New York, 1898).
[33] See _loc. cit._ pp. 127-128.
[34] H. Mohn, "The Climate of the Interior of Greenland," _The Scott.
Geogr. Magazine_, vol. ix. (Edinburgh, 1893), pp. 142-145, 199; H.
Mohn and F. Nansen, "Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse," &c.
Ergänzungsheft No. 105 _zu Petermanns Mitteilungen_ (1892), p. 51.
[35] On the climate of the east coast of Greenland see V.
Willaume-Jantzen, _Meddelelser om Grönland_, part ix. (1889), pp.
285-310, part xvii. (1895), pp. 171-180.
[36] See A. Paulsen, _Meteorolog. Zeitschrift_ (1889), p. 241; F.
Nansen, _The First Crossing of Greenland_ (London, 1890), vol. ii.
pp. 496-497; H. Mohn and F. Nansen, "Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse,"
&c. Ergänzungsheft No. 105 _zu Petermanns Mitteilungen_ (1892), p.
51.
[37] H. Winge, "Grönlands Fugle," _Meddelelser om Grönland_, part
xxi. pp. 62-63 (Copenhagen, 1899).
[38] See J. Lange, "Conspectus florae Groenlandicae," _Meddelelser om
Grönland_, part iii. (Copenhagen, 1880 and 1887); E. Warming, "Om
Grönlands Vegetation," _Meddelelser om Grönland_, part xii.
(Copenhagen, 1888); and in _Botanische Jahrbücher_, vol. x.
(1888-1889). See also A. Blytt, _Englers Jahrbücher_, ii. (1882), pp.
1-50; A. G. Nathorst, _Ötversigt af K. Vetenskap. Akad. Forhandl._
(Stockholm, 1884); "Kritische Bemerkungen über die Geschichte der
Vegetation Grönlands," _Botanische Jahrbücher_, vol. xiv. (1891).
[39] Owing to representations of the Swedish government in 1874 as to
the killing of seals at breeding time on the east coast of Greenland,
and the consequent loss of young seals left to die of starvation, the
Seal Fisheries Act 1875 was passed in England to provide for the
establishment of a close time for seal fishery in the seas in
question. This act empowered the crown, by order in council, to put
its provisions in force, when any foreign state, whose ships or
subjects were engaged in the seal fishery in the area mentioned in
the schedule thereto, had made, or was about to make, similar
provisions with respect to its ships and subjects. An order in
council under the act, declaring the season to begin on the 3rd of
April in each year, was issued February 8, 1876. Rescinded February
15, 1876, it was re-enacted on November 28, 1876, and is still
operative.
[40] Cf. F. Nansen, _Eskimo Life_ (London, 1893).
GREENLAW (a "grassy hill"), a town of Berwickshire, Scotland. Pop.
(1901) 611. It is situated on the Blackadder, 62¼ m. S.E. of Edinburgh
by the North British railway company's branch line from Reston Junction
to St Boswells. The town was built towards the end of the 17th century,
to take the place of an older one, which stood about a mile to the S.E.
It was the county town from 1696 to 1853, when for several years it
shared this dignity with Duns, which, however, is now the sole capital.
The chief manufactures are woollens and agricultural implements. About 3
m. to the S. the ruin of Hume Castle, founded in the 13th century,
occupies a commanding site. Captured by the English in 1547, in spite of
Lady Home's gallant defence, it was retaken two years afterwards, only
to fall again in 1569. After its surrender to Cromwell in 1650 it
gradually decayed. Towards the close of the 18th century the 3rd earl of
Marchmont had the walls rebuilt out of the old stones, and the castle,
though a mere shell of the original structure, is now a picturesque
ruin.
GREENLEAF, SIMON (1783-1853), American jurist, was born at Newburyport,
Massachusetts, on the 5th of December 1783. When a child he was taken by
his father to Maine, where he studied law, and in 1806 began to practise
at Standish. He soon removed to Gray, where he practised for twelve
years, and in 1818 removed to Portland. He was reporter of the supreme
court of Maine from 1820 to 1832, and published nine volumes of _Reports
of Cases in the Supreme Court of Maine_ (1822-1835). In 1833 he became
Royall professor, and in 1846 succeeded Judge Joseph Story as Dane
professor of law in Harvard University; in 1848 he retired from his
active duties, and became professor emeritus. After being for many years
president of the Massachusetts Bible Society, he died at Cambridge,
Mass., on the 6th of October 1853. Greenleaf's principal work is a
_Treatise on the Law of Evidence_ (3 vols., 1842-1853). He also
published _A Full Collection of Cases Overruled, Denied, Doubted, or
Limited in their Application, taken from American and English Reports_
(1821), and _Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the
Rules of Evidence administered in the Courts of Justice, with an account
of the Trial of Jesus_ (1846; London, 1847). He revised for the American
courts William Cruise's _Digest of Laws respecting Real Property_ (3
vols., 1849-1850).
GREEN MONKEY, a west African representative of the typical group of the
guenon monkeys technically known as _Cercopithecus callitrichus_, taking
its name from the olive-greenish hue of the fur of the back, which forms
a marked contrast to the white whiskers and belly.
GREENOCK, a municipal and police burgh and seaport of Renfrewshire,
Scotland, on the southern shore of the Firth of Clyde, 23 m. W. by N. of
Glasgow by the Caledonian and the Glasgow & South-Western railways, 21
m. by the river and firth. Pop. (1901) 68,142. The town has a water
frontage of nearly 4 m. and rises gradually to the hills behind the town
in which are situated, about 3 m. distant, Loch Thom and Loch Gryfe,
from both of which is derived the water supply for domestic use, and for
driving several mills and factories. The streets are laid out on the
comparatively level tract behind the firth, the older thoroughfares and
buildings lying in the centre. The west end contains numerous handsome
villas and a fine esplanade, 1½ m. long, running from Prince's Pier to
Fort Matilda, which is supplied with submarine mines for the defence of
the river. The capacious bay, formerly known as the Bay of St Lawrence
from a religious house long since demolished, is protected by a sandbank
that ends here, and is hence known as the Tail of the Bank. The fairway
between this bank, which begins to the west of Dumbarton, and the
southern shore constitutes the safest anchorage in the upper firth.
There is a continuous line of electric tramways, connecting with Port
Glasgow on the east and Gourock on the west, a total distance of 7½ m.
The annual rainfall amounts to 64 in. and Greenock thus has the
reputation of being the wettest town in Scotland.
Many of the public buildings are fine structures. The municipal
buildings, an ornate example of Italian Renaissance, with a tower 244
ft. high, were opened in 1887. The custom house on the old steamboat
quay, in classic style with a Doric portico, dates from 1818. The county
buildings (1867) have a tower and spire 112 ft. high. The Watt
Institution, founded in 1837 by a son of the famous engineer, James
Watt, contains the public library (established in 1783), the Watt
scientific library (presented in 1816 by Watt himself), and the marble
statue of James Watt by Sir Francis Chantrey. Adjoining it are the
museum and lecture hall, the gift of James McLean, opened in 1876. Other
buildings are the sheriff court house, and the Spence Library, founded
by the widow of William Spence the mathematician. In addition to
numerous board schools there are the Greenock academy for secondary
education, the technical college (1900), the school of art, and a school
of navigation and engineering. The charitable institutions include the
infirmary; the cholera hospital; the eye infirmary; the fever reception
house; Sir Gabriel Wood's mariners' asylum, an Elizabethan building
erected in 1851 for the accommodation of aged merchant seamen; and the
Smithson poorhouse and lunatic asylum, built beyond the southern
boundary in 1879. Near Albert Harbour stands the old west now the north
parish church (a Gothic edifice dating from 1591) containing some
stained-glass windows by William Morris; in its kirkyard Burns's
"Highland Mary" was buried (1786). The west parish church in Nicholson
Street (1839) is in the Italian Renaissance style and has a campanile.
The middle parish church (1759) in Cathcart Square is in the Classic
style with a fine spire. Besides burial grounds near the infirmary and
attached to a few of the older churches, a beautiful cemetery, 90 acres
in extent, has been laid out in the south-western district. The parks
and open spaces include Wellington Park, Well Park in the heart of the
town (these were the gift of Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart), Whin Hill, Lyle
Road--a broad drive winding over the heights towards Gourock,
constructed as a "relief work" in the severe winter of 1879-1880.
Greenock is under the jurisdiction of a town council with provost and
bailies. It is a parliamentary burgh, represented by one member. The
corporation owns the supplies of water (the equipment of works and
reservoirs is remarkably complete), gas, electric light and power, and
the tramways (leased to a company). The staple industries are
shipbuilding (established in 1760) and sugar refining (1765).
Greenock-built vessels have always been esteemed, and many Cunard, P. &
O. and Allan liners have been constructed in the yards. The town has
been one of the chief centres of the sugar industry. Other important
industries include the making of boilers, steam-engines, locomotives,
anchors, chain-cables, sailcloth, ropes, paper, woollen and worsted
goods, besides general engineering, an aluminium factory, a
flax-spinning mill, distilleries and an oil-refinery. The seal and whale
fisheries, once vigorously prosecuted, are extinct, but the
fishing-fleets for the home waters and the Newfoundland grounds are
considerable. Till 1772 the town leased the first harbour (finished in
1710) from Sir John Shaw, the superior, but acquired it in that and the
following year, and a graving dock was opened in 1786. Since then
additions and improvements have been periodically in progress, and there
are now several tidal harbours--among them Victoria harbour, Albert
harbour, the west harbour, the east harbour, the northern tidal harbour,
the western tidal harbour, the great harbour and James Watt dock
(completed in 1886 at a cost of £650,000 with an area of 2000 ft. by 400
ft. with a depth at low water of 32 ft.), Garvel graving dock and other
dry docks. The quayage exceeds 100 acres in area and the quay walls are
over 3 m. in length. Both the Caledonian and the Glasgow & South-Western
railways (in Prince's Pier the latter company possesses a landing-stage
nearly 1400 ft. long) have access to the quays. From first to last the
outlay on the harbour has exceeded £1,500,000.
In the earlier part of the 17th century Greenock was a fishing village,
consisting of one row of thatched cottages. A century later there were
only six slated houses in the place. In 1635 it was erected by Charles
I. into a burgh of barony under a charter granted to John Shaw, the
government being administered by a baron-bailie, or magistrate,
appointed by the superior. Its commercial prosperity received an
enormous impetus from the Treaty of Union (1707), under which trade with
America and the West Indies rapidly developed. The American War of
Independence suspended progress for a brief interval, but revival set in
in 1783, and within the following seven years shipping trebled in
amount. Meanwhile Sir John Shaw--to whom and to whose descendants, the
Shaw-Stewarts, the town has always been indebted--by charter (dated 1741
and 1751) had empowered the householders to elect a council of nine
members, which proved to be the most liberal constitution of any Scots
burgh prior to the Reform Act of 1832, when Greenock was raised to the
status of a parliamentary burgh with the right to return one member to
parliament. Greenock was the birthplace of James Watt, William Spence
(1777-1815) and Dr John Caird (1820-1898), principal of Glasgow
University, who died in the town and was buried in Greenock cemetery.
John Galt, the novelist, was educated in Greenock, where he also served
some time in the custom house as a clerk. Rob Roy is said to have raided
the town in 1715.
GREENOCKITE, a rare mineral composed of cadmium sulphide, CdS, occurring
as small, brilliant, honey-yellow crystals or as a canary-yellow powder.
Crystals are hexagonal with hemimorphic development, being differently
terminated at the two ends. The faces of the hexagonal prism and of the
numerous hexagonal pyramids are deeply striated horizontally. The
crystals are translucent to transparent, and have an adamantine to
resinous lustre; hardness 3-3½; specific gravity 4.9. Crystals have been
found only in Scotland, at one or two places in the neighbourhood of
Glasgow, where they occur singly on prehnite in the amygdaloidal
cavities of basaltic igneous rocks--a rather unusual mode of occurrence
for a metallic sulphide. The first, and largest crystal (about ½ in.
across) was found, about the year 1810, in the dolerite quarry at
Bowling in Dumbartonshire, but this was thought to be blende. A larger
number of crystals, but of smaller size, were found in 1840 during the
cutting of the Bishopton tunnel on the Glasgow & Greenock railway; they
were detected by Lord Greenock, afterwards the 2nd earl of Cathcart,
after whom the mineral was named. A third locality is the Boyleston
quarry near Barrhead. At all other localities--Przibram in Bohemia,
Laurion in Greece, Joplin in Missouri, &c.--the mineral is represented
only as a powder dusted over the surface of zinc minerals, especially
blende and calamine, which contain a small amount of cadmium replacing
zinc.
Isomorphous with greenockite is the hexagonal zinc sulphide (ZnS) known
as wurtzite. Both minerals have been prepared artificially, and are not
uncommon as furnace products. Previous to the recent discovery in
Sardinia of cadmium oxide as small octahedral crystals, greenockite was
the only known mineral containing cadmium as an essential constituent.
(L. J. S.)
GREENORE, a seaport and watering-place of county Louth, Ireland,
beautifully situated at the north of Carlingford Lough on its western
shore. It was brought to importance by the action of the London &
North-Western railway company of England, which owns the pier and
railways joining the Great Northern system at Dundalk (12½ m.) and Newry
(14 m.). A regular service of passenger steamers controlled by the
company runs to Holyhead, Wales, 80 m. S.E. A steam ferry crosses the
Lough to Greencastle, for Kilkeel, and the southern watering-places of
county Down. The company also owns the hotel, and laid out the golf
links. In the vicinity a good example of raised beach, some 10 ft. above
present sea-level, is to be seen.
GREENOUGH, GEORGE BELLAS (1778-1855), English geologist, was born in
London on the 18th of January 1778. He was educated at Eton, and
afterwards (1795) entered Pembroke College, Oxford, but never graduated.
In 1798 he proceeded to Göttingen to prosecute legal studies, but having
attended the lectures of Blumenbach he was attracted to the study of
natural history, and, coming into the possession of a fortune, he
abandoned law and devoted his attention to science. He studied
mineralogy at Freiburg under Werner, travelled in various parts of
Europe and the British Isles, and worked at chemistry at the Royal
Institution. A visit to Ireland aroused deep interest in political
questions, and he was in 1807 elected member of parliament for the
borough of Gatton, continuing to hold his seat until 1812. Meanwhile his
interest in geology increased, he was elected F.R.S. in 1807, and he was
the chief founder with others of the Geological Society of London in
1807. He was the first chairman of that Society, and in 1811, when it
was more regularly constituted, he was the first president: and in this
capacity he served on two subsequent occasions, and did much to promote
the advancement of geology. In 1819 he published _A Critical Examination
of the First Principles of Geology_, a work which was useful mainly in
refuting erroneous theories. In the same year was published his famous
_Geological Map of England and Wales_, in six sheets; of which a second
edition was issued in 1839. This map was to a large extent based on the
original map of William Smith; but much new information was embodied. In
1843 he commenced to prepare a geological map of India, which was
published in 1854. He died at Naples on the 2nd of April 1855.
GREENOUGH, HORATIO (1805-1852), American sculptor, son of a merchant,
was born at Boston, on the 6th of September 1805. At the age of sixteen
he entered Harvard, but he devoted his principal attention to art, and
in the autumn of 1825 he went to Rome, where he studied under
Thorwaldsen. After a short visit in 1826 to Boston, where he executed
busts of John Quincy Adams and other people of distinction, he returned
to Italy and took up his residence at Florence. Here one of his first
commissions was from James Fenimore Cooper for a group of Chanting
Cherubs; and he was chosen by the American government to execute the
colossal statue of Washington for the national capital. It was unveiled
in 1843, and was really a fine piece of work for its day; but in modern
times it has been sharply criticized as unworthy and incongruous.
Shortly afterwards he received a second government commission for a
colossal group, the "Rescue," intended to represent the conflict between
the Anglo-Saxon and Indian races. In 1851 he returned to Washington to
superintend its erection, and in the autumn of 1852 he was attacked by
brain fever, of which he died in Somerville near Boston on the 18th of
December. Among other works of Greenough may be mentioned a bust of
Lafayette, the Medora and the Venus Victrix in the gallery of the Boston
Athenaeum. Greenough was a man of wide culture, and wrote well both in
prose and verse.
See H. T. Tuckerman, _Memoir of Horatio Greenough_ (New York, 1853).
GREENOUGH, JAMES BRADSTREET (1833-1901), American classical scholar, was
born in Portland, Maine, on the 4th of May 1833. He graduated at Harvard
in 1856, studied one year at the Harvard Law School, was admitted to the
Michigan bar, and practised in Marshall, Michigan, until 1865, when he
was appointed tutor in Latin at Harvard. In 1873 he became assistant
professor, and in 1883 professor of Latin, a post which he resigned
hardly six weeks before his death at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the
11th of October 1901. Following the lead of Goodwin's _Moods and Tenses_
(1860), he set himself to study Latin historical syntax, and in 1870
published _Analysis of the Latin Subjunctive_, a brief treatise,
privately printed, of much originality and value, and in many ways
coinciding with Berthold Delbrück's _Gebrauch des Conjunctivs und
Optativs in Sanskrit und Griechischen_ (1871), which, however, quite
overshadowed the Analysis. In 1872 appeared _A Latin Grammar for Schools
and Colleges, founded on Comparative Grammar_, by Joseph A. Allen and
James B. Greenough, a work of great critical carefulness. His theory of
_cum_-constructions is that adopted and developed by William Gardner
Hale. In 1872-1880 Greenough offered the first courses in Sanskrit and
comparative philology given at Harvard. His fine abilities for advanced
scholarship were used outside the classroom in editing the Allen and
Greenough Latin Series of text-books, although he occasionally
contributed to _Harvard Studies in Classical Philology_ (founded in 1889
and endowed at his instance by his own class) papers on Latin syntax,
prosody and etymology--a subject on which he planned a long work--on
Roman archaeology and on Greek religion at the time of the New Comedy.
He assisted largely in the founding of Radcliffe College. An able
English scholar and an excellent etymologist, he collaborated with
Professor George L. Kittredge on _Words and their Ways in English
Speech_ (1901), one of the best books on the subject in the language. He
wrote clever light verse, including _The Blackbirds_, a comedietta,
first published in _The Atlantic Monthly_ (vol. xxxix. 1877); _The Rose
and the Ring_ (1880), a pantomime adapted from Thackeray; _The Queen of
Hearts_ (1885), a dramatic fantasia; and _Old King Cole_ (1889), an
operetta.
See the sketch by George L. Kittredge in _Harvard Studies in Classical
Philology_, vol. xiv. (1903). pp. 1-17 (also printed in _Harvard
Graduates' Magazine_, vol. x., Dec. 1901, pp. 196-201).
GREEN RIBBON CLUB, one of the earliest of the loosely combined
associations which met from time to time in London taverns or
coffee-houses for political purposes in the 17th century. It had its
meeting-place at the King's Head tavern at Chancery Lane End, and was
therefore known as the "King's Head Club." It seems to have been founded
about the year 1675 as a resort for members of the political party
hostile to the court, and as these associates were in the habit of
wearing in their hats a bow, or "bob," of green ribbon, as a
distinguishing badge useful for the purpose of mutual recognition in
street brawls, the name of the club became changed, about 1679, to the
Green Ribbon Club. The frequenters of the club were the extreme faction
of the country party, the men who supported Titus Oates, and who were
concerned in the Rye House Plot and Monmouth's rebellion. Roger North
tells us that "they admitted all strangers that were confidingly
introduced, for it was a main end of their institutions to make
proselytes, especially of the raw estated youth newly come to town."
According to Dryden (_Absalom and Achitophel_) drinking was the chief
attraction, and the members talked and organized sedition over their
cups. Thomas Dangerfield supplied the court with a list of forty-eight
members of the Green Ribbon Club in 1679; and although Dangerfield's
numerous perjuries make his unsupported evidence worthless, it receives
confirmation as regards several names from a list given to James II. by
Nathan Wade in 1885 (_Harleian MSS._ 6845), while a number of more
eminent personages are mentioned in _The Cabal_, a satire published in
1680, as also frequenting the club. From these sources it would appear
that the duke of Monmouth himself, and statesmen like Halifax,
Shaftesbury, Buckingham, Macclesfield, Cavendish, Bedford, Grey of
Warke, Herbert of Cherbury, were among those who fraternized at the
King's Head Tavern with third-rate writers such as Scroop, Mulgrave and
Shadwell, with remnants of the Cromwellian régime like Falconbridge,
Henry Ireton and Claypole, with such profligates as Lord Howard of
Escrik and Sir Henry Blount, and with scoundrels of the type of
Dangerfield and Oates. An allusion to Dangerfield, notorious among his
other crimes and treacheries for a seditious paper found in a meal-tub,
is found in connexion with the club in _The Loyal Subjects' Litany_, one
of the innumerable satires of the period, in which occur the lines:
"From the dark-lanthorn Plot, and the Green Ribbon Club
From brewing sedition in a sanctified Tub,
_Libera nos, Domine_."
The club was the headquarters of the Whig opposition to the court, and
its members were active promoters of conspiracy and sedition. The
president was either Lord Shaftesbury or Sir Robert Peyton, M.P. for
Middlesex, who afterwards turned informer. The Green Ribbon Club served
both as a debating society and an intelligence department for the Whig
faction. Questions under discussion in parliament were here threshed out
by the members over their tobacco and ale; the latest news from
Westminster or the city was retailed in the tavern, "for some or others
were continually coming and going," says Roger North, "to import or
export news and stories." Slander of the court or the Tories was
invented in the club and sedulously spread over the town, and measures
were there concerted for pushing on the Exclusion Bill, or for promoting
the pretensions of the duke of Monmouth. The popular credulity as to
Catholic outrages in the days of the Popish Plot was stimulated by the
scandalmongers of the club, whose members went about in silk armour,
supposed to be bullet proof, "in which any man dressed up was as safe as
a house," says North, "for it was impossible to strike him for
laughing"; while in their pockets, "for street and crowd-work," they
carried the weapon of offence invented by Stephen College and known as
the "Protestant Flail."
The genius of Shaftesbury found in the Green Ribbon Club the means of
constructing the first systematized political organization in England.
North relates that "every post conveyed the news and tales legitimated
there, as also the malign constructions of all the good actions of the
government, especially to places where elections were depending, to
shape men's characters into fit qualifications to be chosen or
rejected." In the general election of January and February 1679 the Whig
interest throughout the country was managed and controlled by a
committee sitting at the club in Chancery Lane. The club's organizing
activity was also notably effective in the agitation of the Petitioners
in 1679. This celebrated movement was engineered from the Green Ribbon
Club with all the skill and energy of a modern caucus. The petitions
were prepared in London and sent down to every part of the country,
where paid canvassers took them from house to house collecting
signatures with an air of authority that made refusal difficult. The
great "pope-burning" processions in 1680 and 1681, on the anniversary of
Queen Elizabeth's accession, were also organized by the club. They ended
by the lighting of a huge bon-fire in front of the club windows; and as
they proved an effective means of inflaming the religious passions of
the populace, it was at the Green Ribbon Club that the _mobile vulgus_
first received the nickname of "the mob." The activity of the club was,
however, short-lived. The failure to carry the Exclusion Bill, one of
the favourite projects of the faction, was a blow to its influence,
which declined rapidly after the flight of Shaftesbury, the confiscation
of the city of London's charter, and the discovery of the Rye House
Plot, in which many of its members were implicated. In 1685 John
Ayloffe, who was found to have been "a clubber at the King's Head Tavern
and a green-ribon man," was executed in front of the premises on the
spot where the "pope-burning" bon-fires had been kindled; and although
the tavern was still in existence in the time of Queen Anne, the Green
Ribbon Club which made it famous did not survive the accession of James
II. The precise situation of the King's Head Tavern, described by North
as "over against the Inner Temple Gate," was at the corner of Fleet
Street and Chancery Lane, on the east side of the latter thoroughfare.
See Sir George Sitwell, _The First Whig_ (Scarborough, 1894),
containing an illustration of the Green Ribbon Club and a pope-burning
procession; Roger North, _Examen_ (London, 1740); Anchitell Grey,
_Debates of the House of Commons_, 1667-1684, vol. viii. (10 vols.,
London, 1769); Sir John Bramston, _Autobiography_ (Camden Soc.,
London, 1845). (R. J. M.)
GREENSAND, in geology, the name that has been applied to no fewer than
three distinct members of the Cretaceous System, viz. the Upper
Greensand (see GAULT), the Lower Greensand and the so-called Cambridge
Greensand, a local phase of the base of the Chalk (q.v.). The term was
introduced by the early English geologists for certain sandy rocks which
frequently exhibited a greenish colour on account of the presence of
minute grains of the green mineral glauconite. Until the fossils of
these rocks came to be carefully studied there was much confusion
between what is now known as the Upper Greensand (Selbornian) and the
Lower Greensand. Here we shall confine our attention to the latter.
The Lower Greensand was first examined in detail by W. H. Fitton
(_Q.J.G.S._ iii., 1847), who, in 1845, had proposed the name "Vectine"
for the formation. The name was revived under the form "Vectian" in 1885
by A. J. Jukes-Browne, because, although sands and sandstones prevail,
the green colour has often changed by oxidation of the iron to various
shades of red and brown, and other lithological types, clays and
limestones represent this horizon in certain areas. The Lower Greensand
is typically developed in the Wealden district, in the Isle of Wight, in
Dorsetshire about Swanage, and it appears again beneath the northern
outcrop of the Chalk in Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire, and
thence it is traceable through Norfolk and Lincolnshire into east
Yorkshire. It rests conformably upon the Wealden formation in the south
of England, but it is clearly separable from the beds beneath by the
occurrence of marine fossils, and by the fact that there is a marked
overlap of the Lower Greensand on the Weald in Wiltshire, and derived
pebbles are found in the basal beds. The whole series is 800 ft. thick
at Atherfield in the Isle of Wight, but it thins rapidly westward. It is
usually clearly marked off from the overlying Gault.
In the Wealden area the Lower Greensand has been subdivided as follows,
although the several members are not everywhere recognizable:--
Isle of Wight.
Folkestone Beds (70-100 ft.) Carstone and Sand rock series.
Sandgate Beds (75-100 ft.) Ferruginous Sands (Shanklin sands).
Hythe Beds (80-300 ft.) Ferruginous Sands (Walpen sands).
Atherfield Clay (20-90 ft.) Atherfield Clay.
The Atherfield Clay is usually a sandy clay, fossiliferous. The basal
portion, 5-6 ft., is known as the "Perna bed" from the abundance of
_Perna Mulleti_; other fossils are _Hoplites Deshayesii_, _Exogyra
sinuata_, _Ancyloceras Mathesonianum_. The Hythe beds are
interstratified thin limestones and sandstones; the former are
bluish-grey in colour, compact and hard, with a certain amount of quartz
and glauconite. The limestone is known locally as "rag"; the Kentish Rag
has been largely employed as a building stone and roadstone; it
frequently contains layers of chert (known as Sevenoaks stone near that
town). The sandy portions are very variable; the stone is often clayey
and calcareous and rarely hard enough to make a good building stone;
locally it is called "hassock" (or Calkstone). The two stones are well
exposed in the Iguanodon Quarry near Maidstone (so called from the
discovery of the bones of that reptile). Southwest of Dorking sandstone
and grit become more prevalent, and it is known there as "Bargate
stone," much used around Godalming. Pulborough stone is another local
sandstone of the Hythe beds. Fuller's earth occurs in parts of this
formation in Surrey. The Sandgate beds, mainly dark, argillaceous sand
and clay, are well developed in east Kent, and about Midhurst,
Pulborough and Petworth. At Nutfield the celebrated fuller's earth
deposits occur on this horizon; it is also found near Maidstone, at
Bletchingley and Red Hill. The Folkestone beds are light-coloured,
rather coarse sands, enclosing layers of siliceous limestone (Folkestone
stone) and chert; a phosphatic bed is found near the top. These beds are
well seen in the cliffs at Folkestone and near Reigate. At Ightham there
is a fine, hard, white sandstone along with a green, quartzitic variety
(Ightham stone). In Sussex the limestone and chert are usually lacking,
but a ferruginous grit, "carstone," occurs in lenticular masses and
layers, which is used for road metal at Pulborough, Fittleworth, &c.
The Lower Greensand usually forms picturesque, healthy country, as about
Leith Hill, Hindhead, Midhurst, Petworth, at Woburn, or at Shanklin and
Sandown in the Isle of Wight. Outside the southern area the Lower
Greensand is represented by the Faringdon sponge-bearing beds in
Berkshire, the Sandy and Potton beds in Bedfordshire, the Shotover iron
sands of Oxfordshire, the sands and fuller's earth of Woburn, the
Leighton Buzzard sands, the brick clays of Snettisham, and perhaps the
Sandringham sands of Norfolk, and the carstone of that county and
Lincolnshire. The upper ironstone, limestone and clay of the
Lincolnshire Tealby beds appear to belong to this horizon along with the
upper part of the Speeton beds of Yorkshire. The sands of the Lower
Greensand are largely employed for the manufacture of glass, for which
purpose they are dug at Aylesford, Godstone, near Reigate, Hartshill,
near Aylesbury and other places; the ferruginous sand is worked as an
iron ore at Seend.
This formation is continuous across the channel into France, where it is
well developed in Boulonnais. According to the continental
classification the Atherfield Clay is equivalent to the Urgonian or
Barremian; the Sandgate and Hythe beds belong to the Aptian (q.v.);
while the upper part of the Folkestone beds would fall within the lower
Albian (q.v.).
See the _Memoirs of the Geological Survey_, "Geology of the Weald"
(1875), "Geology of the Isle of Wight" (2nd ed., 1889), "Geology of
the Isle of Purbeck" (1898); and the _Record of Excursions_,
Geologists' Association (London, 1891). (J. A. H.)
GREENSBORO, a city and the county-seat of Guilford county, North
Carolina, U.S.A., about 80 m. N.W. of Raleigh. Pop. (1890) 3317, (1900)
10,035, of whom 4086 were negroes; (1910 census), 15,895. Greensboro is
served by several lines of the Southern railway. It is situated in the
Piedmont region of the state and has an excellent climate. The city is
the seat of the State Normal and Industrial College (1892) for girls; of
the Greensboro Female College (Methodist Episcopal, South; chartered in
1838 and opened in 1846), of which the Rev. Charles F. Deems was
president in 1850-1854, and which, owing to the burning of its
buildings, was suspended from 1863 to 1874; and of two institutions for
negroes--a State Agricultural and Mechanical College, and Bennett
College (Methodist Episcopal, co-educational, 1873). Another school for
negroes, Immanuel Lutheran College (Evangelical Lutheran,
co-educational), was opened at Concord, N.C., in 1903, was removed to
Greensboro in 1905, and in 1907 was established at Lutherville, E. of
Greensboro. About 6 m. W. of Greensboro is Guilford College
(co-educational; Friends), founded as "New Garden Boarding School" in
1837 and rechartered under its present name in 1888. Greensboro has a
Carnegie library, St Leo hospital and a large auditorium. It is the
shipping-point for an agricultural, lumbering and trucking region, among
whose products Indian corn, tobacco and cotton are especially important;
is an important insurance centre; has a large wholesale trade; and has
various manufactures, including cotton goods[1] (especially blue denim),
tobacco and cigars, lumber, furniture, sash, doors and blinds,
machinery, foundry products and terra-cotta. The value of the factory
products increased from $925,411 in 1900 to $1,828,837 in 1905, or
97.6%. The municipality owns and operates the water-works. Greensboro
was named in honour of General Nathanael Greene, who on the 15th of
March 1781 fought with Cornwallis the battle of Guilford Court House,
about 6 m. N.W. of the city, where there is now a Battle-Ground Park of
100 acres (including Lake Wilfong); this park contains a Revolutionary
museum, and twenty-nine monuments, including a Colonial Column, an arch
(1906) in memory of Brig.-General Francis Nash (1720-1777), of North
Carolina, who died in October 1777 of wounds received at Germantown, and
Davidson Arch (1905), in honour of William Lee Davidson (1746-1781), a
brigadier-general of North Carolina troops, who was killed at Catawba
and in whose honour Davidson College, at Davidson, N.C., was named.
Greensboro was founded and became the county-seat in 1808, was organized
as a town in 1829, and was first chartered as a city in 1870.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] One of the first cotton mills in the South and probably the first
in this state was established at Greensboro in 1832. It closed about
20 years afterwards, and in 1889 new mills were built. Three very
large mills were built in the decade after 1895, and three mill
villages, Proximity, Revolution and White Oak, named from these three
mills, lie immediately N. of the city; in 1908 their population was
estimated at 8000. The owners of these mills maintain schools for the
children of operatives and carry on "welfare work" in these villages.
GREENSBURG, a borough and the county-seat of Westmoreland county,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 31 m. E.S.E. of Pittsburg. Pop. (1890) 4202;
(1900) 6508 (484 foreign-born); (1910) 5420. It is served by two lines
of the Pennsylvania railway. It is an important coal centre, and
manufactures engines, iron and brass goods, flour, lumber and bricks. In
addition to its public school system, it has several private schools,
including St Mary's Academy and St Joseph's Academy, both Roman
Catholic. About 3 m. N.E. of what is now Greensburg stood the village of
Hanna's Town, settled about 1770 and almost completely destroyed by the
Indians on the 13th of July 1782; here what is said to have been the
first court held west of the Alleghanies opened on the 6th of April
1773, and the county courts continued to be held here until 1787.
Greensburg was settled in 1784-1785, immediately after the opening of
the state road, not far from the trail followed by General John Forbes
on his march to Fort Duquesne in 1758; it was made the county-seat in
1787, and was incorporated in 1799. In 1905 the boroughs of Ludwick
(pop. in 1900, 901), East Greensburg (1050), and South-east Greensburg
(620) were merged with Greensburg.
See John N. Boucher's _History of Westmoreland County, Pa._ (3 vols.,
New York, 1906).
GREENSHANK, one of the largest of the birds commonly known as
sandpipers, the _Totanus glottis_ of most ornithological writers. Some
exercise of the imagination is however needed to see in the dingy
olive-coloured legs of this species a justification of the English name
by which it goes, and the application of that name, which seems to be
due to Pennant, was probably by way of distinguishing it from two allied
but perfectly distinct species of _Totanus_ (_T. calidris_ and _T.
fuscus_) having red legs and usually called redshanks. The greenshank is
a native of the northern parts of the Old World, but in winter it
wanders far to the south, and occurs regularly at the Cape of Good Hope,
in India and thence throughout the Indo-Malay Archipelago to Australia.
It has also been recorded from North America, but its appearance there
must be considered accidental. Almost as bulky as a woodcock, it is of a
much more slender build, and its long legs and neck give it a graceful
appearance, which is enhanced by the activity of its actions. Disturbed
from the moor or marsh, where it has its nest, it rises swiftly into the
air, conspicuous by its white back and rump, and uttering shrill cries
flies round the intruder. It will perch on the topmost bough of a tree,
if a tree be near, to watch his proceedings, and the cock exhibits all
the astounding gesticulations in which the males of so many other
_Limicolae_ indulge during the breeding-season--with certain variations,
however, that are peculiarly its own. It breeds in no small numbers in
the Hebrides, and parts of the Scottish Highlands from Argyllshire to
Sutherland, as well as in the more elevated or more northern districts
of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and probably also thence to Kamchatka. In
North America it is represented by two species, _Totanus semipalmatus_
and _T. melanoleucus_, there called willets, telltales or tattlers,
which in general habits resemble the greenshank of the Old World.
(A. N.)
GREENVILLE, a city and the county-seat of Washington county,
Mississippi, U.S.A., on the E. bank of the Mississippi river, about 75
m. N. of Vicksburg. Pop. (1890) 6658; (1900) 7642 (4987 negroes); (1910)
9610. Greenville is served by the Southern and the Yazoo & Mississippi
Valley railways, and by various passenger and freight steamboat lines on
the Mississippi river. It is situated in the centre of the Yazoo Delta,
a rich cotton-producing region, and its industries are almost
exclusively connected with that staple. There are large warehouses,
compresses and gins, extensive cotton-seed oil works and sawmills. Old
Greenville, about 1 m. S. of the present site, was the county seat of
Jefferson county until 1825 (when Fayette succeeded it), and later
became the county-seat of Washington county. Much of the old town caved
into the river, and during the Civil War it was burned by the Federal
forces soon after the capture of Memphis. The present site was then
adopted. The town of Greenville was incorporated in 1870; in 1886 it was
chartered as a city.
GREENVILLE, a city and the county-seat of Darke county, Ohio, U.S.A., on
Greenville Creek, 36 m. N.W. of Dayton. Pop. (1900) 5501; (1910) 6237.
It is served by the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis and the
Cincinnati Northern railways, and by interurban electric railways. It is
situated about 1050 ft. above sea-level and is the trade centre of a
large and fertile agricultural district, producing cereals and tobacco.
It manufactures lumber, foundry products, canned goods and creamery
products and has grain elevators and tobacco warehouses. In the city is
a Carnegie library, and 3 m. distant there is a county Children's Home
and Infirmary. The municipality owns and operates its water-works.
Greenville occupies the site of an Indian village and of Fort Greenville
(built by General Anthony Wayne in 1793 and burned in 1796). Here, on
the 3rd of August 1795, General Wayne, the year after his victory over
the Indians at Fallen Timbers, concluded with them the treaty of
Greenville, the Indians agreeing to a cessation of hostilities and
ceding to the United States a considerable portion of Ohio and a number
of small tracts in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan (including the sites
of Sandusky, Toledo, Defiance, Fort Wayne, Detroit, Mackinac, Peoria and
Chicago), and the United States agreeing to pay to the Indians $20,000
worth of goods immediately and an annuity of goods, valued at $9500, for
ever. The tribes concerned were the Wyandots, the Delawares, the
Shawnees, the Ottawas, the Chippewas, the Pottawatomies, the Miamis, the
Weeas, the Kickapoos, the Piankashas, the Kaskaskias and the Eel-river
tribe. Tecumseh lived at Greenville from 1805 to 1809, and a second
Indian treaty was negotiated there in July 1814 by General W. H.
Harrison and Lewis Cass, by which the Wyandots, the Delawares, the
Shawnees, the (Ohio) Senecas and the Miamis agreed to aid the United
States in the war with Great Britain. The first permanent white
settlement of Greenville was established in 1808 and the town was laid
out in the same year. It was made the county-seat of the newly erected
county in 1809, was incorporated as a town in 1838 and chartered as a
city in 1887.
GREENVILLE, a city and the county-seat of Greenville county, South
Carolina, U.S.A., on the Reedy river, about 140 m. N.W. of Columbia, in
the N.W. part of the state. Pop. (1890) 8607; (1900) 11,860, of whom
5414 were negroes; (1910, census) 15,741. It is served by the Southern,
the Greenville & Knoxville and the Charleston & Western Carolina
railways. It lies 976 ft. above sea-level, near the foot of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, its climate and scenery attracting summer visitors. It
is in an extensive cotton-growing and cotton-manufacturing district.
Greenville's chief interest is in cotton, but it has various other
manufactures, including carriages, wagons, iron and fertilizers. The
total value of the factory products of the city in 1905 was $1,676,774,
an increase of 73.5% since 1900. The city is the seat of Furman
University, Chicora College for girls (1893; Presbyterian), and
Greenville Female College (1854; Baptist), which in 1907-1908 had 379
students, and which, besides the usual departments, has a conservatory
of music, a school of art, a school of expression and physical culture
and a kindergarten normal training school. Furman University (Baptist;
opened in 1852) grew out of the "Furman Academy and Theological
Institution," opened at Edgefield, S.C., in 1827, and named in honour of
Richard Furman (1755-1825), a well-known Baptist clergyman of South
Carolina, whose son, James C. Furman (1809-1891), was long president of
the University. In 1907-1908 the university had a faculty of 15 and 250
students, of whom 101 were in the Furman Fitting School. Greenville was
laid out in 1797, was originally known as Pleasantburg and was first
chartered as a city in 1868.
GREENVILLE, a city and the county-seat of Hunt county, Texas, U.S.A.,
near the headwaters of the Sabine river, 48 m. N.E. of Dallas. Pop.
(1900) 6860, of whom 114 were foreign-born and 1751 were negroes; (1910)
8850. It is served by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, the St Louis
South-Western and the Texas Midland railways. It is an important cotton
market, has gins and compresses, a large cotton seed oil refinery, and
other manufactories, and is a trade centre for a rich agricultural
district. The city owns and operates its electric-lighting plant. It is
the seat of Burleson College (Baptist), founded in 1893, and 1 m. from
the city limits, in the village of Peniel (pop. 1908, about 500), a
community of "Holiness" people, are the Texas Holiness University
(1898), a Holiness orphan asylum and a Holiness press. Greenville was
settled in 1844, and was chartered as a city in 1875. In 1907 the Texas
legislature granted to the city a new charter establishing a commission
government similar to that of Galveston.
GREENWICH, a township of Fairfield county, Connecticut, U.S.A., on Long
Island Sound, in the extreme S.W. part of the state, about 28 m. N.E. of
New York City. It contains a borough of the same name and the villages
of Cos Cob, Riverside and Sound Beach, all served by the New York, New
Haven & Hartford Railway; the township has steamboat and electric
railway connexions with New York City. Pop. of the township (1900)
12,172, of whom 3271 were foreign-born; (1910) 16,463; of the borough
(1910) 3886. Greenwich is a summer resort, principally for New Yorkers.
Among the residents have been Edwin Thomas Booth, John Henry Twachtman,
the landscape painter, and Henry Osborne Havemeyer (1847-1907), founder
of the American Sugar Company. There are several fine churches in the
township; of one in Sound Beach the Rev. William H. H. Murray
(1840-1904), called "Adirondack Murray," from his _Camp Life in the
Adirondack Mountains_ (1868), was once pastor. In the borough are a
public library, Greenwich Academy (1827; co-educational), the Brunswick
School for boys (1901), with which Betts Academy of Stamford was united
in 1908, and a hospital. The principal manufactures are belting,
woollens, tinners' hardware, iron and gasolene motors. Oysters are
shipped from Greenwich. The first settlers came from the New Haven
Colony in 1640; but the Dutch, on account of the exploration of Long
Island Sound by Adrian Blok in 1614, laid claim to Greenwich, and as New
Haven did nothing to assist the settlers, they consented to union with
New Netherland in 1642. Greenwich then became a Dutch manor. By a treaty
of 1650, which fixed the boundary between New Netherland and the New
Haven Colony, the Dutch relinquished their claim to Greenwich, but the
inhabitants of the town refused to submit to the New Haven Colony until
October 1656. Six years later Greenwich was one of the first towns of
the New Haven Colony to submit to Connecticut. The township suffered
severely during the War of Independence on account of the frequent
quartering of American troops within its borders, the depredations of
bands of lawless men after the occupation of New York by the British in
1778 and its invasion by the British in 1779 (February 25) and 1781
(December 5). There was also a strong loyalist sentiment. On the old
post-road in Greenwich is the inn, built about 1729, at which Israel
Putnam was surprised in February 1779 by a force under General Tryon;
according to tradition he escaped by riding down a flight of steep stone
steps. The inn was purchased in 1901 by the Daughters of the American
Revolution, who restored it and made it a Putnam Memorial. The township
government of Greenwich was instituted in the colonial period. The
borough of Greenwich was incorporated in 1858.
See D. M. Mead, _History of the Town of Greenwich_ (New York, 1857).
GREENWICH, a south-eastern metropolitan borough of London, England,
bounded N. by the river Thames, E. by Woolwich, S. by Lewisham and W. by
Deptford. Pop. (1901) 95,770. Area, 3851.7 acres. It has a
river-frontage of 4½ m., the Thames making two deep bends, enclosing the
Isle of Dogs on the north and a similar peninsula on the Greenwich side.
Greenwich is connected with Poplar on the north shore by the Greenwich
tunnel (1902), for foot-passengers, to the Isle of Dogs (Cubitt Town),
and by the Blackwall Tunnel (1897) for street traffic, crossing to a
point between the East and West India Docks (see POPLAR). The main
thoroughfares from W. to E. are Woolwich and Shooter's Hill Roads, the
second representing the old high road through Kent, the Roman Watling
Street. Greenwich is first noticed in the reign of Ethelred, when it was
a station of the Danish fleet (1011-1014).
The most noteworthy buildings are the hospital and the observatory.
Greenwich Hospital, as it is still called, became in 1873 a Royal Naval
College. Upon it or its site centre nearly all the historical
associations of the place. The noble buildings, contrasting strangely
with the wharves adjacent and opposite to it, make a striking picture,
standing on the low river-bank with a background formed by the wooded
elevation of Greenwich Park. They occupy the site of an ancient royal
palace called Greenwich House, which was a favourite royal residence as
early as 1300, but was granted by Henry V. to Thomas Beaufort, duke of
Exeter, from whom it passed to Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, who largely
improved the property and named it _Placentia_. It did not revert to the
crown till his death in 1447. It was the birthplace of Henry VIII.,
Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, and here Edward VI. died. The building
was enlarged by Edward IV., by Henry VIII., who made it one of his chief
residences, by James I. and by Charles I., who erected the "Queen's
House" for Henrietta Maria. The tenure of land from the crown "as of the
manor of East Greenwich" became at this time a recognized formula, and
occurs in a succession of American colonial charters from those of
Virginia in 1606, 1609 and 1612 to that of New Jersey in 1674. Along
with other royal palaces Greenwich was at the Revolution appropriated by
the Protector, but it reverted to the crown on the restoration of
Charles II., by whom it was pulled down, and the west wing of the
present hospital was erected as part of an extensive design which was
not further carried out. In its unfinished state it was assigned by the
patent of William and Mary to certain of the great officers of state, as
commissioners for its conversion into a hospital for seamen; and it was
opened as such in 1705. The building consists of four blocks. Behind a
terrace 860 ft. in length, stretching along the river side, are the
buildings erected in the time of Charles II. from Inigo Jones's designs,
and in that of Queen Anne from designs by Sir Christopher Wren; and
behind these buildings are on the west those of King William and on the
east those of Queen Mary, both from Wren's designs. In the King William
range is the painted hall. Here in 1806 the remains of Nelson lay in
state before their burial in St Paul's Cathedral. Its walls and ceiling
were painted by Sir James Thornhill with various emblematic devices, and
it is hung with portraits of the most distinguished admirals and
paintings of the chief naval battles of England. In the Queen Anne range
is the Royal Naval Museum, containing models, relics of Nelson and of
Franklin, and other objects. In the centre of the principal quadrangle
of the hospital there is a statue of George II. by Rysbrack, sculptured
out of a single block of marble taken from the French by Admiral Sir
George Rooke. In the upper quadrangle is a bust of Nelson by Chantrey,
and there are various other memorials and relics. The oldest part of the
building was in some measure rebuilt in 1811, and the present chapel was
erected to replace one destroyed by fire in 1779. The endowments of the
hospital were increased at various periods from bequests and forfeited
estates. Formerly 2700 retired seamen were boarded within it, and 5000
or 6000 others, called out-pensioners, received stipends at various
rates out of its funds; but in 1865 an act was passed empowering the
Admiralty to grant liberal pensions in lieu of food and lodging to such
of the inmates as were willing to quit the hospital, and in 1869 another
act was passed making their leaving on these conditions compulsory. It
was then devoted to the accommodation of the students of the Royal Naval
College, the Infirmary being granted to the Seamen's Hospital Society.
Behind the College is the Royal Hospital School, where 1000 boys, sons
of petty officers and seamen, are boarded.
To the south of the hospital is Greenwich Park (185 acres), lying high,
and commanding extensive views over London, the Thames and the plain of
Essex. It was enclosed by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and laid out by
Charles II., and contains a fine avenue of Spanish chestnuts planted in
his time. In it is situated the Royal Observatory, built in 1675 for the
advancement of navigation and nautical astronomy. From it the exact time
is conveyed each day at one o'clock by electric signal to the chief
towns throughout the country; British and the majority of foreign
geographers reckon longitude from its meridian. A standard clock and
measures are seen at the entrance. A new building was completed in 1899,
the magnetic pavilion lying some 400 yds. to the east, so placed to
avoid the disturbance of instruments which would be occasioned by the
iron used in the principal building. South of the park lies the open
common of Blackheath, mainly within the borough of Lewisham, and in the
east the borough includes the greater part of Woolwich Common.
At Greenwich an annual banquet of cabinet ministers, known as the
whitebait dinner, formerly took place. This ceremony arose out of a
dinner held annually at Dagenham, on the Essex shore of the Thames, by
the commissioners for engineering works carried out there in
1705-1720--a remarkable achievement for this period--to save the
lowlands from flooding. To one of these dinners Pitt was invited, and
was subsequently accompanied by some of his colleagues. Early in the
19th century the venue of the dinner, which had now become a ministerial
function, was transferred to Greenwich, and though at first not always
held here, was later celebrated regularly at the "Ship," an hotel of
ancient foundation, closed in 1908. The banquet continued till 1868, was
revived in 1874-1880, and was held for the last time in 1894.
The parish church of Greenwich, in Church Street, is dedicated to St
Alphege, archbishop, who was martyred here by the Danes in 1012. In the
church Wolfe, who died at Quebec (1759), and Tallis, the musician, are
buried. A modern stained-glass window commemorates Wolfe.
The parliamentary borough of Greenwich returns one member. Two burgesses
were returned in 1577, but it was not again represented till the same
privilege was conferred on it in 1832. The borough council consists of a
mayor, five aldermen and thirty councillors.
GREENWOOD, FREDERICK (1830-1909), English journalist and man of letters,
was born in April 1830. He was one of three brothers--the others being
James and Charles--who all gained reputation as journalists. Frederick
started life in a printing house, but at an early age began to write in
periodicals. In 1853 he contributed a sketch of Napoleon III. to a
volume called _The Napoleon Dynasty_ (2nd ed., 1855). He also wrote
several novels: _The Loves of an Apothecary_ (1854), _The Path of Roses_
(1859) and (with his brother James) _Under a Cloud_ (1860). To the
second number of the _Cornhill Magazine_ he contributed "An Essay
without End," and this led to an introduction to Thackeray. In 1862,
when Thackeray resigned the editorship of the _Cornhill_, Greenwood
became joint editor with G. H. Lewes. In 1864 he was appointed sole
editor, a post which he held until 1868. While at the _Cornhill_ he
wrote an article in which he suggested, to some extent, how Thackeray
might have intended to conclude his unfinished work _Denis Duval_, and
in its pages appeared _Margaret Denzil's History_, Greenwood's most
ambitious work of fiction, published in volume form in 1864. At that
time Greenwood had conceived the idea of an evening newspaper, which,
while containing "all the news proper to an evening journal," should,
for the most part, be made up "of original articles upon the many things
which engage the thoughts, or employ the energies, or amuse the leisure
of mankind." Public affairs, literature and art, "and all the influences
which strengthen or dissipate society" were to be discussed by men whose
independence and authority were equally unquestionable. Canning's
_Anti-Jacobin_ and the _Saturday Review_ of 1864 were the joint models
Greenwood had before him. The idea was taken up by Mr George Smith, and
the _Pall Mall Gazette_ (so named after Thackeray's imaginary paper in
_Pendennis_) was launched in February 1865, with Greenwood as editor.
Within a few years he had come to exercise a great influence on public
affairs. His views somewhat rapidly ripened from what was described as
philosophic Liberalism into Conservatism. No minister in Great Britain,
Mr Gladstone declared, ever had a more able, a more zealous, a more
effective supporter for his policy than Lord Beaconsfield had in
Greenwood. It was on the suggestion of Greenwood that Beaconsfield
purchased in 1875 the Suez Canal shares of the Khedive Ismail; the
British government being ignorant, until informed by Greenwood, that the
shares were for sale and likely to be bought by France. It was
characteristic of Greenwood that he declined to publish the news of the
purchase of the shares in the _Pall Mall_ before the official
announcement was made.
Early in 1880 the _Pall Mall_ changed owners, and the new proprietor
required it to support Liberal policy. Greenwood at once resigned his
editorship, but in May a new paper, the _St James's Gazette_, was
started for him by Mr Henry Hucks Gibbs (afterwards Lord Aldenham), and
Greenwood proceeded to carry on in it the tradition which he had
established in the _Pall Mall_. At the _St James's_ Greenwood remained
for over eight years, continuing to exercise a marked influence upon
political affairs, notably as a pungent critic of the Gladstone
administration (1880-1885) and an independent supporter of Lord
Salisbury. His connexion with the paper ceased in August 1888, owing to
disagreements with the new proprietor, Mr E. Steinkopff, who had bought
the _St James's_ at Greenwood's own suggestion. In January 1891
Greenwood brought out a weekly review which he named the _Anti-Jacobin_.
It failed, however, to gain public support, the last number appearing in
January 1892. In 1893 he published _The Lover's Lexicon_ and in 1894
_Imagination in Dreams_. He continued to express his views on political
and social questions in contributions to newspapers and magazines,
writing frequently in the _Westminster Gazette_, the _Pall Mall_,
_Blackwood_, the _Cornhill_, &c. Towards the end of his life his
political views reverted in some respects to the Liberalism of his early
days.
In the words of George Meredith "Greenwood was not only a great
journalist, he had a statesman's head. The national interests were
always urgent at his heart." He was remarkable for securing for his
papers the services of the ablest writers of the day, and for the gift
of recognizing merit in new writers, such, for instance, as Richard
Jeffries and J. M. Barrie. His instinct for capacity in others was as
sure as was his journalistic judgment. In 1905, on the occasion of his
75th birthday, a dinner was given in his honour by leading statesmen,
journalists, and men of letters (with John Morley--who had succeeded him
as editor of the _Pall Mall_--in the chair). In May 1907 he contributed
to _Blackwood_ an article on "The New Journalism," in which he drew a
sharp contrast between the old and the new conditions under which the
work of a newspaper writer is conducted. He died at Sydenham on the 14th
of December 1909.
See _Honouring Frederick Greenwood_, being a report of the speeches at
the dinner on the 8th of April 1905 (London, privately printed, 1905);
"Birth and Infancy of the _Pall Mall Gazette_," an article contributed
by Greenwood to the _Pall Mall_ of the 14th of April 1897; "The
Blowing of the Trumpet" in the introduction to the _St James's_ (May
31, 1880); obituary notices in the _Athenaeum_ (Dec. 25, 1909) and
_The Times_ (Dec. 17, 1909).
GREENWOOD, JOHN (d. 1593), English Puritan and Separatist (the date and
place of his birth are unknown), entered as a sizar at Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, on the 18th of March 1577-1578, and commenced B.A.
1581. Whether he was directly influenced by the teaching of Robert
Browne (q.v.), a graduate of the same college, is uncertain; in any case
he held strong Puritan opinions, which ultimately led him to Separatism
of the most rigid type. In 1581 he was chaplain to Lord Rich, at
Rochford, Essex. At some unspecified time he had been made deacon by
John Aylmer, bishop of London, and priest by Thomas Cooper, bishop of
Lincoln; but ere long he renounced this ordination as "wholly unlawful."
Details of the next few years are lacking; but by 1586 he was the
recognized leader of the London Separatists, of whom a considerable
number had been imprisoned at various times since 1567. Greenwood was
arrested early in October 1586, and the following May was committed to
the Fleet prison for an indefinite time, in default of bail for
conformity. During his imprisonment he wrote some controversial tracts
in conjunction with his fellow-prisoner Henry Barrowe (q.v.). He is
understood to have been at liberty in the autumn of 1588; but this may
have been merely "the liberty of the prison." However, he was certainly
at large in September 1592, when he was elected "teacher" of the
Separatist church. Meanwhile he had written (1590) "An Answer to George
Gifford's pretended Defence of Read Prayers." On the 5th of December he
was again arrested; and the following March was tried, together with
Barrowe, and condemned to death on a charge of "devising and circulating
seditious books." After two respites, one at the foot of the gallows, he
was hanged on the 6th of April 1593.
AUTHORITIES.--H. M. Dexter, _Congregationalism during the last three
hundred years_; _The England and Holland of the Pilgrims_; F. J.
Powicke, _Henry Barrowe and the Exiled Church of Amsterdam_; B. Brook,
_Lives of the Puritans_; C. H. Cooper, _Athenae Cantabrigienses_, vol.
ii.
GREG, WILLIAM RATHBONE (1809-1881), English essayist, the son of a
merchant, was born at Manchester in 1809. He was educated at the
university of Edinburgh and for a time managed a mill of his father's at
Bury, and in 1832 began business on his own account. He entered with
ardour into the struggle for free trade, and obtained in 1842 the prize
offered by the Anti-Corn Law League for the best essay on "Agriculture
and the Corn Laws." He was too much occupied with political, economical
and theological speculations to give undivided attention to his
business, which he gave up in 1850 to devote himself to writing. His
_Creed of Christendom_ was published in 1851, and in 1852 he contributed
no less than twelve articles to four leading quarterlies. Disraeli
praised him; Sir George Cornewall Lewis bestowed a Commissionership of
Customs upon him in 1856; and in 1864 he was made Comptroller of the
Stationery Office. Besides contributions to periodicals he produced
several volumes of essays on political and social philosophy. The
general spirit of these is indicated by the titles of two of the best
known, _The Enigmas of Life_ (1872) and _Rocks Ahead_ (1874). They
represent a reaction from the high hopes of the author's youth, when
wise legislation was assumed to be a remedy for every public ill. Greg
was a man of deep moral earnestness of character and was interested in
many philanthropic works. He died at Wimbledon on the 15th of November
1881. His brother, ROBERT HYDE GREG (1795-1875), was an economist and
antiquary of some distinction. Another brother, SAMUEL GREG (1804-1876),
became well known in Lancashire by his philanthropic efforts on behalf
of the working-people. PERCY GREG (1836-1889), son of William Rathbone
Greg, also wrote, like his father, on politics, but his views were
violently reactionary. His _History of the United States to the
Reconstruction of the Union_ (1887) is a polemic rather than a history.
GREGARINES (mod. Lat. _Gregarina_, from _gregarius_, collecting in a
flock or herd, _grex_) a large and abundant order of Sporozoa Ectospora,
in which a very high degree of morphological specialization and
cytological differentiation of the cell-body is frequently found. On the
other hand, the life-cycle is, in general, fairly simple. Other
principal characters which distinguish Gregarines from allied Sporozoan
parasites are as follows:--The fully-grown adult (trophozoite) is always
"free" in some internal cavity, i.e. it is extracellular; in nearly all
cases prior to sporulation two Gregarines (associates) become attached
to one another, forming a couple (syzygy), and are surrounded by a
common cyst; inside the cyst the body of each associate becomes
segmented up into a number of sexual elements (gametes, primary
sporoblasts), which then conjugate in pairs; the resulting copula
(zygote, definitive sporoblast) becomes usually a spore by the secretion
of spore-membranes (sporocyst), its protoplasm (sporoplasm) dividing up
to form the germs (sporozoites).
Historical.
F. Redi (1684) is said to have been the first to observe a Gregarine
parasite, but his claim to this honour is by no means certain. Much
later (1787) Cavolini described and figured an indubitable Gregarine
(probably the form now known as _Aggregata conformis_) from a Crustacean
(_Pachygrapsus_), which, however, he regarded as a tapeworm. Leon
Dufour, who in his researches on insect anatomy came across several
species of these parasites, also considered them as allied to the worms
and proposed the generic name of _Gregarina_. The unicellular nature of
Gregarines was first realized by A. von Kölliker, who from 1845-1848
added considerably to our knowledge of the frequent occurrence and wide
distribution of these organisms. Further progress was due to F. Stein
who demonstrated about this time the relation of the "pseudo-navicellae"
(spores) to the reproduction of the parasites.
[Illustration: From Wasielewswi's _Sporozoenkunde_, after Pfeiffer.
FIG. 1.--a, Transverse Section of Intestine of Mealworm, infected with
_Gregarina_ (_Clepsydrina_) _polymorpha_;[1] b, Part of a highly
magnified.]
Apart from the continually increasing number of known species, matters
remained at about this stage for many years. It is, in fact, only since
the closing years of the 19th century that the complete life-history has
been fully worked out; this has now been done in many cases, thanks to
the researches of M. Siedlecki, L. Cuénot, L. Léger, O. Duboscq, A.
Laveran, M. Caullery, F. Mesnil and others, to whom also we owe most of
our knowledge regarding the relations of the parasites to the cells of
their host during their early development.
Occurrence; mode of infection.
Gregarines are essentially parasites of Invertebrates; they are not
known to occur in any true Vertebrate although met with in Ascidians. By
far the greatest number of hosts is furnished by the Arthropods. Many
members of the various groups of worms (especially the Annelids) also
harbour the parasites, and certain very interesting forms are found in
Echinoderms; in the other classes, they either occur only sporadically
or else are absent. Infection is invariably of the accidental (casual)
type, by way of the alimentary canal, the spores being usually swallowed
by the host when feeding; a novel variation of this method has been
described by Woodcock (31) in the case of a Gregarine parasitic in
Cucumaria, where the spores are sucked up through the cloaca into the
respiratory trees, by the inhalant current.
[Illustration: From Wasielewski, after Léger.
FIG. 2.--Cysts of a Coelomic Gregarine, in the body-cavity of a larva of
_Tipula_.]
Habitat and effects on host.
The favourite habitat is either the intestine (fig. 1) or its
diverticula (e.g. the Malpighian tubules), or the body-cavity. In the
latter case, after infection has occurred, the liberated germs at once
traverse the intestinal epithelium. They may come to rest in the
connective tissue of the sub-mucosa (remaining, however,
extracellular), grow considerably in that situation, and ultimately fall
into the body-cavity (e.g. _Diplocystis_); or they may pass straightway
into the body-cavity and there come into relation with some organ or
tissue (e.g. _Monocystis_) of the earthworm, which is for a time
intracellular in the spermatoblasts (fig. 4, c). In the case of
intestinal Gregarines, the behaviour of the young trophozoite with
respect to the epithelial cells of its host varies greatly. The parasite
may remain only attached to the host-cell, never becoming actually
intracellular (e.g. _Pterocephalus_); more usually it penetrates
partially into it, the extracellular portion of the Gregarine, however,
giving rise subsequently to most of the adult (e.g. _Gregarina_); or
lastly, in a few forms, the early development is entirely intracellular
(e.g. _Lankesteria_, _Stenophora_).
[Illustration: From Lankester.
FIG. 3.--_Porospora gigantea f_, (E. van Ben.), from the intestine of
the lobster. a, Nucleus.]
[Illustration: From Lankester, after various authors.
FIG. 4.
a-c, Trophozoites of _Monocystis agilis_.
a and b, Young individuals showing changes of body-form.
c, Older individual, still enveloped in a coat of spermatozoa.
d, e, Trophozoites of _M. magna_ attached to seminal funnel of
_Lumbricus_.
Goblet-shaped epithelial cells, in which the extremity of the parasite
is inserted.]
The effects on the host are confined to the parasitized cells. These
generally undergo at first marked hypertrophy and alteration in
character; this condition is succeeded by one of atrophy, when the
substance of the cell becomes in one way or another practically absorbed
by the growing parasite (cf. also COCCIDIA). Since, however, the
Gregarines never overrun their hosts in the way that many other Sporozoa
do (because of their lack, in general, of the power of endogenous
multiplication), the number of cells of any tissue attacked, even in the
case of a strong infection, is only a very small percentage of the
whole. In short the hosts do not, as a rule, suffer any appreciable
inconvenience from the presence of the parasites.
Morphology.
The body of a Gregarine is always of a definite shape, usually oval
or elongated; in one or two instances (e.g. _Diplodina_) it is
spherical, and, on the other hand, in _Porospora_ (fig. 3) it is
greatly drawn out and vermiform. In many adult Gregarines, the body is
divided into two distinct but unequal regions or halves, the anterior
part being known as the _protomerite_, the hinder, generally the
larger, as the _deutomerite_. This feature is closely associated with
another important morphological character, one which is observable,
however, only during the earlier stages of growth and development,
namely, the presence of a definite organ, the _epimerite_, which
serves for the attachment of the parasite to the host-cell (fig. 6).
[Illustration: After Siedlecki, from Lankester's _Treatise on
Zoology_.
FIG. 5.--Part of a section through the apparatus of fixation of a
_Pterocephalus_, showing root-like processes extending from the
Gregarine between the epithelial cells. g, Head of Gregarine; r,
Root-like processes; ep, Epithelial cells.]
In those Gregarines (most intestinal forms) which become attached to
an epithelial cell, the attachment occurs by means of a minute
projection or beak (rostrum) at the anterior end of the sporozoite,
which pushes its way into the cell, followed by the first part of the
growing germ. This portion of the body increases in size much quicker
at first than the rest (the extracellular part), more or less fills up
the host-cell, and forms the well-developed epimerite or secondary
attaching organella. The extracellular part of the Gregarine next
grows rapidly, and a transverse septum is formed at a short distance
away from (outside) the point where the body penetrates into the cell
(fig. 6); this marks off the large deutomerite posteriorly (distally).
Léger thinks that this partition most likely owes its origin to
trophic considerations, i.e. to the slightly different manner in which
the two halves of the young parasite (the proximal, largely
intracellular part, and the distal, extracellular one) may be supposed
to obtain their nutriment. In the case of the one half, the host-cell
supplies the nutriment, in that of the other, the intestinal liquid;
and the septum is, as it were, the expression of the conflicting limit
between these two methods. Nevertheless, the present writer does not
think that mechanical considerations should be altogether left out of
account. The septum may also be, to some extent, an adaption for
strengthening the body of the fixed parasite against lateral thrusts
or strains, due to the impact of foreign bodies (food, &c.) in the
intestine.
[Illustration: From Wasielewski, after Léger.
FIG. 6.--_Corycella armata_, Léger. a, Cephalont; b, Epimerite in
host-cell; c, Sporont.]
At the point where the body becomes actually intracellular, it is
constricted, and this constriction marks off the epimerite
(internally) from the middle portion (between this point and the
septum), which is the protomerite. Further growth is restricted,
practically, to the extracellular regions, and the epimerite often
comes to appear ultimately as a small appendage at the anterior end of
the protomerite. A Gregarine at this stage is known as a cephalont.
Later on, the parasite breaks loose from the host-cell and becomes
free in the lumen, the separation taking place at the constriction
between the protomerite and the epimerite; the latter is left behind
in the remains of the host-cell, the former becomes the anterior part
of the free trophozoite.
In other Gregarines, however, those, namely, which pass inwards,
ultimately becoming "coelomic," as well as those which become entirely
intracellular, no epimerite is ever developed, and, further, the body
remains single or unseptate. These forms, which include, for instance,
_Monocystis_ (fig. 4), _Lankesteria_, _Diplocystis_, are
distinguished, as _Acephalina_ or _Aseptata_ (_Haplocyta_,
_Monocystida_), according to which character is referred to, from the
others, termed _Cephalina_ or _Septata_ (_Polycystida_).
The two sets of terms are not, however, completely identical or
interchangeable, for there are a few forms which possess an epimerite,
but which lack the division into protomerite and deutomerite, and are
hence known as _Pseudomonocystida_; this condition may be primitive
(_Doliocystis_) or (possibly) secondary, the partition having in
course of time disappeared. Again, _Stenophora_ is a septate form
which has become, secondarily, completely intracellular during the
young stages, and, doubtless correlated with this, shows no sign of an
epimerite.
[Illustration: From Wasielewski, after Léger.
FIG. 7.--Forms of Epimerites.
1, _Gregarina longa_.
2, _Sycia inopinata_.
3, _Pileocephalus heerii_.
4, _Stylorhynchus longicollis_.
5, _Beloides firmus_.
6, _Cometoides crinitus_.
7, _Geneiorhynchus monnieri_.
8, _Echinomera hispida_.
9, _Pterocephalus nobilis_.]
With regard to the epimerites themselves, they are of all variety of
form and shape and need not be described in detail (fig. 7). In one or
two cases, however, another variety of attaching organella is met
with. Thus in _Pterocephalus_, only the rostrum of the sporozoite
penetrates into the host-cell, and no epimerite is formed. Instead, a
number of fine root-like processes are developed from near the
anterior end, which pass in between the host-cells (fig. 5) and thus
anchor the parasite firmly. Similarly, in the curious
_Schizogregarinae_, the anterior end of the (unseptate) body forms a
number of stiff, irregular processes, which perform the same function
(fig. 8). It is to be noted that these processes are non-motile, and
not in any way comparable to pseudopodia, to which they were formerly
likened.
A very interesting and remarkable morphological peculiarity has been
recently described by Léger (18) in the case of a new Gregarine,
_Taeniocystis_. In this form the body is elongated and metamerically
segmented, recalling that of a segmented worm, the adult trophozoites
possessing numerous partitions or segments (each corresponding to the
septum between the proto- and deuto-merite in an ordinary Polycystid),
which divide up the cytoplasm into roughly equal compartments. Léger
thinks only the deutomerite becomes thus segmented, the protomerite
remaining small and undivided. The nucleus remains single, so that
there is no question as to the unicellular or individual nature of the
entire animal.
[Illustration: After Léger and Hagenmüller, from Lankester's _Treatise
on Zoology_.
FIG. 8.--Three Individuals (G) of _Ophryocystis schneideri_, attached
to wall of Malpighian tubule of _Blaps_ sp. p, Syncytial protoplasm of
the tubule; c, Cilia lining the lumen.]
Minute structure.
The general cytoplasm usually consists of distinct ectoplasm and
endoplasm, and is limited by a membrane or cuticle (epicyte), secreted
by the former. The cuticle varies considerably in thickness, being
well developed in active, intestinal forms, but very thin and delicate
in non-motile coelomic forms (e.g. _Diplodina_). In the former case it
may show longitudinal striations. The cuticle also forms the hooks or
spines of many epimerites. The ectoplasm usually shows (fig. 9A) a
differentiation into two layers, an outer, firmer layer, clear and
hyaline, the sarcocyte, and an inner layer, the myocyte, which is
formed of a network of muscle-fibrillae (mainly longitudinal and
transverse, fig. 9B). The sarcocyte alone constitutes the septum,
traversing the endoplasm, in septate Gregarines. The myonemes are
undoubtedly the agents responsible for the active "gregarinoid"
movements (of flexion and contraction) to be observed in many forms.
The peculiar gliding movements were formerly thought to be produced by
the extrusion of a gelatinous thread posteriorly, but Crawley (8) has
recently ascribed them to a complicated succession of wave-like
contractions of the myocyte layer. This view is supported by the fact
that certain coelomic forms, like _Diplodina_ and others, which either
lack muscle-fibrils or else show no ectoplasmic differentiation at
all, are non-motile. The endoplasm, or nutritive plasm, consists of a
semi-fluid matrix in which are embedded vast numbers of grains and
spherules of various kinds and of all sizes, representing an
accumulation of food-material which is being stored up prior to
reproduction. The largest and most abundant grains are of a substance
termed para-glycogen, a carbohydrate; in addition, flattened
lenticular platelets, of an albuminoid character, and
highly-refringent granules often occur.
[Illustration: After Schewiakoff, from Lankester's _Treatise on
Zoology_.
FIG. 9A.--Longitudinal section of a Gregarine in the region of the
septum between protomerite and deutomerite.
Pr, Protomerite.
De, Deutomerite.
s, Septum.
en, Endoplasm.
sc, Sarcocyte.
c, Cuticle.
m, f, Myocyte fibrils (cut across).
g, Gelatinous layer.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9B.--_Gregarina munieri_, showing the network of
myocyte fibrillae.]
The nucleus is always lodged in the endoplasm, and, in the septate
forms, in the deutomeritic half of the body. It is normally spherical
and always limited by a distinct nuclear membrane, which itself often
contains chromatin. The most characteristic feature of the nucleus is
the deeply-staining, more or less vacuolated spherical karyosome
(consisting of chromatin intimately bound up with a plastinoid basis)
which is invariably present. In one or two instances (e.g.
_Diplocystis schneideri_) the nucleus has more than one karyosome. All
the chromatin of the nucleus is not, however, confined to the
karyosome, some being in the form of grains in the nuclear sap; and in
some cases at any rate (e.g. _Diplodina, Lankesteria_) there is a
well-marked nuclear reticulum which is impregnated with granules and
dots of chromatin.
[Illustration: From Wasielewski, after A. Schneider.
FIG. 10.--Schizogony in _Ophryocystis francisci_. a, Rosette of small
individuals, produced from a schizont which has just divided; b, A
later stage, the daughter-individuals about to separate and assuming
the characters of the adult.]
Life-history.
A sexual multiplication (schizogony) is only known certainly to occur
in a few cases, one being in a Monocystid form, a species of
_Gonospora_, which is for a long time intracellular (Caullery and
Mesnil [4]), the rest among the _Schizogregarinae_, so named for this
reason, in which schizogonous fission takes place regularly during the
free, trophic condition. Usually, the body divides up, by a process of
multiple fission (fig. 10), into a few (up to eight)
daughter-individuals; but in a new genus (_Eleutheroschizon_), Brasil
(3) finds that a great number of little merozoites are formed, and a
large amount of vacuolated cytoplasm is left over unused.
In the vast majority of Gregarines, however, the life-cycle is limited
to gametogony and sporogony. A very general, if not indeed universal,
prelude to gametogony is the characteristic and important feature of
the order, known as association, the biological significance of which
has only lately been fully brought out (see H. M. Woodcock [31]). In
normal association, two individuals which are to be regarded as of
opposite sex, come into close contact with each other and remain thus
attached. The manner in which the parasites join varies in different
forms; the association may be end-to-end (terminal), either by like or
by unlike poles, or it may be side-to-side (lateral) (fig. 12). The
couple (syzygy) thus formed may proceed forthwith to encystment and
sporoblast-formation (_Lankesteria, Monocystis_), or may continue in
the trophic phase for some time longer (_Gregarina_). In one or two
instances (_Zygocystis_), association occurs as soon as the
trophozoites become adult. This leads on to the interesting
phenomenon of precocious association (neogamy), found in non-motile,
coelomic Gregarines (e.g. _Cystobia_, _Diplodina_ and _Diplocystis_),
in which the parasitism is most advanced. Woodcock (_loc. cit._) has
described and compared the different methods adopted to ensure a
permanent union, and the degree of neogamy attained, in these forms.
Here it must suffice to say that, in the extreme condition (seen, for
instance, in _Diplodina minchinii_) the union takes place very early
in the life-history, between individuals which are little more than
sporozoites, and is of a most intimate character, the actual cytoplasm
of the two associates joining. In such cases, there is absolutely
nothing to indicate the "double" nature of the growing trophozoite,
but the presence of the two nuclei which remain quite distinct.
[Illustration: From Wasielewski, after Léger.
FIG. 11.--_Eirmocystis spp._ a, b, Associations of two and three
Gregarines; c, Chain of five parasites; p, Primite; s, Satellites.]
There can be little doubt that, in the great majority, if not in all
Gregarines, association is necessary for subsequent sporulation to
take place; i.e. that the cytotactic attraction imparts a
developmental stimulus to both partners, which is requisite for the
formation of primary sporoblasts (gametes). This association is
usually permanent; but in one or two cases (perhaps _Gonospora sp._)
temporary association may suffice. While association has fundamentally
a reproductive (sexual) significance, in some cases, this function may
be delayed or, as it were, temporarily suspended, the cytotactic
attraction serving meanwhile a subsidiary purpose in trophic life.
Thus, probably, are to be explained the curious multiple associations
and long chains of Gregarines (fig. 11) sometimes met with (e.g.
_Eirmocystis_, _Clepsydrina_).
Encystment is nearly always double, i.e. of an associated couple.
Solitary encystment has been described, but whether successful
independent sporulation results, is uncertain; if it does, the
encystment in such cases is, in all probability, only after prior
(temporary) association. In the case of free parasites, a
well-developed cyst is secreted by the syzygy, which rotates and
gradually becomes spherical. A thick, at first gelatinous, outer
cyst-membrane (_ectocyst_) is laid down, and then a thin, but firm
internal one (endocyst). The cyst once formed, further development is
quite independent of the host, and, in fact, often proceeds outside
it. In certain coelomic Gregarines, on the other hand, which remain in
very close relation with the host's tissues, little or nothing of an
encystment-process on the part of the parasites is recognizable, the
cyst-wall being formed by an enclosing layer of the host
(_Diplodina_).
[Illustration: From Wasielewski, after Léger.
FIG. 12.--Associations of _Gonospora sparsa_.]
The nuclear changes and multiplication which precede
sporoblast-formation vary greatly in different Gregarines and can only
be outlined here. In the formation of both sets of sexual elements
(gametes) there is always a comprehensive nuclear purification or
maturation. This elimination of a part of the nuclear material (to be
distinguished as trophic or somatic, from the functional or germinal
portion, which forms the sexual nuclei) may occur at widely-different
periods. In some cases (_Lankesteria_, _Monocystis_), a large part of
the original (sporont-) nucleus of each associate is at once got rid
of, and the resulting (segmentation-) nucleus, which is
highly-specialized, represents the sexual part. In other cases, again,
the entire sporont-nucleus proceeds to division, and the distinction
between somatic and germinal portions does not become manifest until
after nuclear multiplication has continued for some little time, when
certain of the daughter-nuclei become altered in character, and
ultimately degenerate, the remainder giving rise to the
sporoblast-nuclei (_Diplodina_, _Stylorhynchus_). Even after the
actual sporoblasts (sex-cells) themselves are constituted, their
nuclei may yet undergo a final maturation (e.g. _Clepsydrina ovata_);
and in _Monocystis_, indeed, Brasil (2) finds that what is apparently
a similar process is delayed until after conjugation and formation of
the zygote (definitive sporoblast).
Nuclear multiplication is usually indirect, the mitosis being, as a
rule, more elaborate in the earlier than in the later divisions. The
attraction-spheres are generally large and conspicuous, sometimes
consisting of a well-developed centrosphere, with or without
centrosomic granules, at other times of very large centrosomes with a
few astral rays. In those cases where the karyosome is retained, and
the sporont-nucleus divides up as a whole, however, the earliest
nuclear divisions are direct; the daughter-nuclei being formed either
by a process of simple constriction (e.g. _Diplodina_), or by a kind
of multiple fission or fragmentation (_Gregarina_ and _Selenidium
spp._). Nevertheless, the later divisions, at any rate in _Diplodina_,
are indirect.
By the time nuclear multiplication is well advanced or completed, the
bodies of the two parent-Gregarines (associates) have usually become
very irregular in shape, and produced into numerous lobes and
processes. While in some forms (e.g. _Monocystis_, _Urospora_,
_Stylorhynchus_) the two individuals remain fairly separate and
independent of each other, in others (_Lankesteria_) they become
intertwined and interlocked, often to a remarkable extent
(_Diplodina_). The sexual nuclei next pass to the surface of the
processes and segments, where they take up a position of uniform
distribution. Around each, a small area of cytoplasm becomes
segregated, the whole often projecting as a little bud or hillock from
the general surface. These uninuclear protuberances are at length cut
off as the sporoblasts or gametes. Frequently a large amount of the
general protoplasm of each parent-individual is left over unused,
constituting two cystal residua, which may subsequently fuse; in
_Diplodina_, however, practically the whole cytoplasm is used up in
the formation of the gametes.
[Illustration: After Léger, from Lankester's _Treatise on Zoology_.
FIG. 13.--Development of the Gametes and Conjugation in _Stylorhynchus
longicollis_.
a, Undifferentiated gamete, attached to body of parent-individual.
b-d, Stages in development of motile male gamete.
e, Mature female gamete.
f, g, Stages in conjugation and nuclear union of the two elements.
h, Zygote (copula).
i, Spore, still with single nucleus and undivided sporoplasm.]
The sporoblasts themselves show all gradations from a condition of
marked differentiation into male and female (anisogamy), to one of
complete equality (isogamy). Anisogamy is most highly developed in
_Pterocephalus_. Here, the male elements (microgametes) are minute,
elongated and spindle-like in shape, with a minute rostrum anteriorly
and a long flagellum posteriorly, and very active; the female elements
(megagametes) are much larger, oblong to ovoid, and quite passive. In
_Stylorhynchus_ the difference between the conjugating gametes is not
quite so pronounced (fig. 13), the male elements being of about the
same bulk as the females, but pyriform instead of round, and
possessing a distinct flagellum; a most interesting point about this
parasite is that certain highly motile and spermatozoon-like male
gametes are formed (fig. 13), which are, however, quite sterile and
have acquired a subsidiary function. In other cases, again, the two
kinds of element exhibit either very slight differences (_Monocystis_)
or none (_Urospora_, _Gonospora_), in size and appearance, the chief
distinction being in the nuclei, those of the male elements being
smaller and chromatically denser than those of the females.
Lastly, in _Lankesteria_, _Gregarina_, _Clepsydrina_, _Diplocystis_
and _Diplodina_ complete isogamy is found, there being no apparent
difference whatever between the conjugating elements. Nevertheless,
these forms are also to be regarded as instances of binary sexuality
and not merely of exogamy; for it is practically certain that this
condition of isogamy is derived from one of typical anisogamy, through
a stage such as is seen in _Gonospora_, &c. And, similarly, just as in
all instances where the formation of differentiated gametes has been
observed, the origin of the two conjugates is from different
associates (parent-sporonts), and all the elements arising from the
same parent are of the same sex, so it is doubtless the case here.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Cyst of _Monocystis agilis_, the common
Gregarine of the Earthworm, showing ripe spores and absence of any
residual protoplasm in the cyst. (From Lankester.)]
The actual union is brought about or facilitated by the well-known
phenomenon termed the _danse des sporoblastes_, which is due to
various causes. In the case of highly-differentiated gametes
(_Pterocephalus_), the actively motile microgametes rush about here
and there, and seek out the female elements. In _Stylorhynchus_, Léger
has shown that the function of the sterile male gametes is to bring
about, by their vigorous movements, the _mêlée sexuelle_. In the forms
where the gametes are isogamous or only slightly differentiated and
(probably) not of themselves motile, other factors aid in producing
the necessary commingling. Thus in _Gregarina sp._ from the mealworm,
the unused somata or cystal residua become amoeboid and send out
processes which drive the peripherally-situated gametes round in the
cyst; in some cases where the residual soma becomes liquefied
(_Urospora_) the movements of the host are considered to be
sufficient; and lastly, in _Diplodina_, owing to the extent to which
the intertwining process is carried, if each gamete is not actually
contiguous to a suitable fellow-conjugant, a very slight movement or
mutual attraction will bring two such, when liberated, into contact.
An unusual modification of the process of sporoblast-formation and
conjugation, which occurs in _Ophryocystis_, must be mentioned. Here
encystment of two associates takes place as usual; the sporont-nucleus
of each, however, only divides twice, and one of the daughter-nuclei
resulting from each division degenerates. Hence only one
sporoblast-nucleus, representing a quarter of the original
nuclear-material, persists in each half. Around this some of the
cytoplasm condenses, the rest forming a residuum. The sporoblast or
gamete thus formed is completely isogamous and normally conjugates
with the like one from the other associate, when a single zygote
results which becomes a spore containing eight sporozoites, in the
ordinary manner. Sometimes, however, the septum between the two halves
of the cyst does not break down, in which case parthenogenesis occurs,
each sporoblast developing by itself into a small spore.
The two conjugating elements unite completely, cytoplasm with
cytoplasm and nucleus with nucleus, to form the definitive sporoblast
or zygote. The protoplasm assumes a definite outline, generally that
of an ovoid or barrel, and secretes a delicate membrane, the
ectospore. This subsequently becomes thickened, and often produced
into rims, spines or processes, giving rise to the characteristic
appearance of the Gregarine spore. Internal to the ectocyst, another,
thinner membrane, the endocyst, is also laid down. These two membranes
form the spore-wall (sporocyst). Meanwhile the contents of the spore
have been undergoing division. By successive divisions, usually
mitotic, the zygote-nucleus gives rise to eight daughter-nuclei, each
of which becomes the nucleus of a sporozoite. Next, the sporoplasm
becomes split longitudinally, around each nucleus, and thus eight
sickle-shaped (falciform) sporozoites are formed. There is usually a
certain amount of unused sporoplasm left over in the centre of the
spore, constituting the sporal residuum. It is important to note that
in all known Gregarines, with one exception, the number of sporozoites
in the spore is eight; the exception is _Selenidium_, in many ways far
from typical, where the number is half, viz. four.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Ripe Cyst of _Gregarina blattarum_, partially
emptied. (From Lankester.) a, Channels leading to the sporoducts; b,
Mass of spores still left in the cyst; c, Endocyst; d, The everted
sporoducts; e, Gelatinous ectocyst.]
Hitherto a variation from the general mode of spore-formation has been
considered to occur in certain Crustacean Gregarines, the
_Aggregatidae_ and the _Porosporidae_. The spores of these forms have
been regarded as gymnospores (naked), lacking the enveloping membranes
(sporocyst) of the ordinary spores, and the sporozoites, consequently,
as developed freely in the cyst. In the case of the first-named
parasites, however, what was taken for sporogony has been proved to be
really schizogony, and on other grounds these forms are, in the
present writer's opinion, preferably associated with the Coccidia
(q.v.). With regard to the _Porosporidae_, also, it is quite likely
that the gymnosporous cysts considered to belong to the Gregarine
_Porospora_ (as known in the trophic condition) have really no
connexion with it, but represent the schizogonous generation of some
other form, similar to _Aggregata_; in which case the true spores of
_Porospora_ have yet to be identified.
In the intestine of a fresh host the cysts rupture and the spores are
liberated. This is usually largely brought about by the swelling of
the residual protoplasm. Sometimes (e.g. _Gregarina_) long tubular
outgrowths, known as sporoducts (fig. 15), are developed from the
residual protoplasm, for the passage of the spores to the exterior.
Classification.
The Gregarines are extremely numerous, and include several families,
characterized, for the most part, by the form of the spores (fig. 16).
The specialized _Schizogregarinae_ are usually separated off from the
rest as a distinct sub-order.
SUB-ORDER I.--_Schizogregarinae._
Forms in which schizogonic reproduction is of general occurrence
during the extra-cellular, trophic phase. Three genera,
_Ophryocystis_, _Schizocystis_ and _Eleutheroschizon_, different
peculiarities of which have been referred to above. Mostly parasitic
in the intestine or Malpighian tubules of insects. (In this type of
parasite, as exemplified by _Ophryocystis_, the body was formerly
wrongly considered as amoeboid, and hence this genus was placed in a
special order, the _Amoebosporidia_.)
[Illustration: From Wasielewski, after Léger.
FIG. 16.--Spores of various Gregarines.
a, _Eirmocystis, Sphaerocystis_, &c.
b, _Echinomera, Pterocephalus_, &c.
c, _Gregarina_, &c.
d, _Beloides_.
e, _Ancyrophora_.
f, _Stylorhynchidae_ (type of).
g, _Menosporidae_.
h, _Gonospora terebellae_.
i, _Ceratospora_.
k, _Urospora synaptae_.]
SUB-ORDER II.--_Eugregarinae._
Schizogony very exceptional, only occurring during the intracellular
phase, if at all. Gregarines fall naturally into two tribes, described
as cephalont and septate, or as acephalont and aseptate (haplocytic),
respectively. In strictness, however, as already mentioned, these two
sets of terms do not agree absolutely, and whichever set is adopted,
the other must be taken into account in estimating the proper position
of certain parasites. Here the cephalont or acephalont condition is
regarded as the more primary and fundamental.
Tribe A.--_Cephalina_ (practically equivalent to _Septata_).
Save exceptionally, the body possesses an epimerite, at any rate
during the early stages of growth, and is typically septate. Mostly
intestinal parasites of Arthropods.
The chief families, with representative genera, are as follows:
_Porosporidae_, with _Porospora gigantea_, at present thought to be
gymnosporous; _Gregarinidae_ (_Clepsydrinidae_), with _Gregarina_,
_Clepsydrina_, _Eirmocystis_, _Hyalospora_, _Cmenidospora_,
_Stenophora_; _Didymophyidae_, with _Didymophyes_; _Dactylophoridae_,
with _Dactylophorus_, _Pterocephalus_, _Echinomera_, _Rhopalonia_;
_Actinocephalidae_ with _Actinocephalus_, _Pyxinia_, _Coleorhynchus_,
_Stephanophora_, _Legeria_, _Stictospora_, _Pileocephalus_,
_Sciadophora_; _Acanthosporidae_ with _Acanthospora_, _Corycella_,
_Cometoides_; _Menosporidae_ with _Menospora_, _Hoplorhynchus_;
_Stylorhynchidae_, with _Stylorhynchus_, _Lophocephalus_;
_Doliocystidae_ with _Doliocystis_; and _Taeniocystidae_, with
_Taeniocystis_. The curious genus _Selenidium_ is somewhat apart.
Tribe B.--_Acephalina_ (practically equivalent to _Aseptata_,
_Haplocyta_).
The body never possesses an epimerite and is non-septate. Chiefly
coelomic parasites of "worms," Holothurians and insects.
The _Aseptata_ have not been so completely arranged in families as the
_Septata_. Léger has distinguished two well-marked ones, but the
remaining genera still want classifying more in detail. Fam.
_Gonosporidae_, with _Gonospora_, _Diplodina_; and _Urosporidae_, with
_Urosopora_, _Cystobia_, _Lithocystis_, _Ceratospora_; the genera
_Monocystis_, _Diplocystis Lankesteria_ and _Zygocystis_ probably
constitute another; _Pterospora_ and, again, _Syncystis_ are distinct;
lastly, certain forms, e.g. _Zygosoma_, _Anchora_ (_Anchorina_), are
incompletely known.
There remains for mention the remarkable parasite, recently described
by J. Nusbaum (24) under the appropriate name of _Schaudinnella
henleae_, which inhabits the intestine of _Henlea leptodera_. Briefly
enumerated, the principal features in the life-cycle are as follows.
The young trophozoites (aseptate) are attached to the intestinal
cells, but practically entirely extracellular. Association is very
primitive in character and indiscriminate; it takes place
indifferently between individuals which will give rise to gametes of
the same or opposite sex. Often it is only temporary; at other times
it is multiple, several adults becoming more or less enclosed in a
gelatinous investment. Nevertheless, in no case does true encystment
occur, the sex-cells being developed practically free. The female
gametes are large and egg-like; the males, minute and sickle-like, but
with no flagellum and apparently non-motile. While many of the zygotes
("amphionts") resulting from copulation pass out to the exterior, to
infect a new host, others, possessing a more delicate
investing-membrane, penetrate in between the intestinal cells,
producing a further infection (auto-infection). Numerous sporozoites
are formed in each zygote. It will be seen that _Schaudinnella_ is a
practically unique form. While, on the one hand, it recalls the
Gregarines in many ways, on the other hand it differs widely from them
in several characteristic features, being primitive in some respects,
but highly specialized in others, so that it cannot be properly
included in the order. _Schaudinnella_ rather represents a primitive
Ectosporan parasite, which has proceeded upon a line of its own,
intermediate between the Gregarines and Coccidia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Among the important papers relating to Gregarines are
the following: 1. A. Berndt, "Beitrag zur Kenntnis der ...
Gregarinen," _Arch. Protistenk._ I, p. 375, 3 pls. (1902); 2. L.
Brasil, "Recherches sur la reproduction des Grégarines monocystidées,"
_Arch. zool. exp._ (4) 3, p. 17, pl. 2 (1905), and _op. cit._ 4, p.
69, 2 pls. (1905); 3. L. Brazil, "_Eleutheroschizon duboscqi_,
parasite nouveau, &c.," _op. cit._ (N. et R.) (4), p. xvii., 5 figs.
(1906); 4. M. Caullery and F. Mesnil, "Sur une Grégarine ...
présentant ... une phase de multiplication asporulée," _C.R. Ac. Sci._
126, p. 262 (1898); 5. M. Caullery and F. Mesnil, "Le Parasitisme
intracellulaire des Grégarines," _op. cit._ 132, p. 220 (1901); 6. M.
Caullery and F. Mesnil, "Sur une mode particulière de division
nucléaire chez les Grégarines," _Arch. anat. microsc._ 3, p. 146, 1
pl. (1900); 7. M. Caullery and F. Mesnil, "Sur quelques parasites
internes des Annélides," _Misc. biol._ (_Trav. Stat. Wimereux_), 9, p.
80, 1 pl. (1899); 7a. J. Cecconi, "Sur l'_Anchorina sagittata_, &c.,"
_Arch. Protistenk._ 6, p. 230, 2 pls. (1905); 8. H. Crawley,
"Progressive Movement of Gregarines," _P. Ac. Philad._ 54, p. 4, 2
pls. (1902), also _op. cit._ 57, p. 89 (1905); 9. H. Crawley, "List of
the Polycystid Gregarines of the U.S.," _op. cit._ 55, pp. 41, 632, 4
pls. (1903); 10. L. Cuénot, "Recherches sur l'évolution et la
conjugaison des Grégarines," _Arch. biol._ 17, p. 581, 4 pls. (1901);
11. A. Laveran and F. Mesnil, "Sur quelques particularités de
l'évolution d'une Grégarine et la réaction de la cellule-hôte," _C.R.
Soc. Biol._ 52, p. 554, 9 figs. (1900); 12. L. Léger, "Recherches sur
les Grégarines," _Tabl. zool._ 3, p. i., 22 pls. (1892); 13. L. Léger,
"Contribution à la connaissance des Sporozoaires, &c.," _Bull. Sci.
France_, 30, p. 240, 3 pls. (1897); 14. L. Léger, "Sur un nouveau
Sporozoaire (_Schizocystis_), &c.," _C.R. Ac. Sci._ 131, p. 722
(1900); 15. L. Léger, "La Reproduction sexuée chez les Ophryocystis,"
_t. c._ p. 761 (1900); 16. L. Léger, "Sur une nouvelle Grégarine
(_Aggregata coelomica_,), &c." _op. cit._ 132, p. 1343 (1901); 17. L.
Léger, "La Reproduction sexuée chez les Stylorhynchus," _Arch.
Protistenk._ 3, p. 304, 2 pls. (1904); 18. L. Léger, "Etude sur
_Taeniocystis mira_ (Léger), &c.," _op. cit._ 7, p. 307, 2 pls.
(1906); 19. L. Léger and O. Duboscq, "La Reproduction sexuée chez
_Pterocephalus_," _Arch. zool. exp._ (N. et R.) (4) 1, p. 141, 11
figs. (1903); 20. L. Léger and O. Duboscq, "_Aggregata vagans_, n.
sp., &c." _t. c._ p. 147, 6 figs. (1903); 21. L. Léger and O. Duboscq,
"Les Grégarines et l'épithélium intestinal, &c.," _Arch. parasitol._
6, p. 377, 4 pls. (1902); 22. L. Léger and O. Duboscq, "Nouvelles
Recherches sur les Grégarines, &c.," _Arch. Protistenk._ 4, p. 335, 2
pls. (1904); 23. M. Lühe, "Bau und Entwickelung der Gregarinen," _t.
c._ p. 88, several figs. (1904); 24. J. Nusbaum, "Über die ...
Fortpflanzung einer ... Gregarine, _Schaudinnella henleae_," _Zeit.
wiss. Zool._ 75, p. 281, pl. 22 (1903); 25. F. Paehler, "Über die
Morphologie, Fortpflanzung ... von _Gregarina ovata_," _Arch.
Protistenk._ 4, p. 64, 2 pls. (1904); 26. S. Prowazek, "Zur
Entwickelung der Gregarinen," _op. cit._, 1, p. 297, pl. 9 (1902); 27.
A. Schneider (Various memoirs on Gregarines), _Tabl. zool._ 1 and 2
(1886-1892); 28. H. Schnitzler, "Über die Fortpflanzung von
_Clepsydrina ovata_," _Arch. Protistenk._ 6, p. 309, 2 pls. (1905);
29. M. Siedlecki, "Über die geschlechtliche Vermehrung der _Monocystis
ascidiae_," _Bull. Ac. Cracovie_, p. 515, 2 pls. (1900); 30. M.
Siedlecki, "Contribution à l'étude des changements cellulaires
provoquées par les Grégarines," _Arch. anat. microsc._ 4, p. 87, 9
figs. (1901); 31. H. M. Woodcock, "The Life-Cycle of _Cystobia
irregularis_, &c.," _Q.J.M. Sci._ 50, p. 1. 6 pls. (1906).
(H. M. Wo.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Figures 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 16 are redrawn from
Wasielewski's _Sporozoenkunde_, by permission of the author and of
the publisher, Gustav Fischer, Jena.
GRÉGOIRE, HENRI (1750-1831), French revolutionist and constitutional
bishop of Blois, was born at Vého near Lunéville, on the 4th of December
1750, the son of a peasant. Educated at the Jesuit college at Nancy, he
became curé of Emberménil and a teacher at the Jesuit school at
Pont-à-Mousson. In 1783 he was crowned by the academy of Nancy for his
_Éloge de la poésie_, and in 1788 by that of Metz for an _Essai sur la
régénération physique et morale des Juifs_. He was elected in 1789 by
the clergy of the _bailliage_ of Nancy to the states-general, where he
soon became conspicuous in the group of clerical and lay deputies of
Jansenist or Gallican sympathies who supported the Revolution. He was
among the first of the clergy to join the third estate, and contributed
largely to the union of the three orders; he presided at the permanent
sitting of sixty-two hours while the Bastille was being attacked by the
people, and made a vehement speech against the enemies of the nation. He
subsequently took a leading share in the abolition of the privileges of
the nobles and the Church. Under the new civil constitution of the
clergy, to which he was the first priest to take the oath (December 27,
1790), he was elected bishop by two departments. He selected that of
Loire-et-Cher, taking the old title of bishop of Blois, and for ten
years (1791-1801) ruled his diocese with exemplary zeal. An ardent
republican, it was he who in the first session of the National
Convention (September 21, 1792) proposed the motion for the abolition of
the kingship, in a speech in which occurred the memorable phrase that
"kings are in the moral order what monsters are in the natural." On the
15th of November he delivered a speech in which he demanded that the
king should be brought to trial, and immediately afterwards was elected
president of the Convention, over which he presided in his episcopal
dress. During the trial of Louis XVI., being absent with other three
colleagues on a mission for the union of Savoy to France, he along with
them wrote a letter urging the condemnation of the king, but omitting
the words _à mort_; and he endeavoured to save the life of the king by
proposing in the Convention that the penalty of death should be
suspended.
When on the 7th of November 1793 Gobel, bishop of Paris, was intimidated
into resigning his episcopal office at the bar of the Convention,
Grégoire, who was temporarily absent from the sitting, hearing what had
happened, hurried to the hall, and in the face of a howling mob of
deputies refused to abjure either his religion or his office. He was
prepared to face the death which he expected; but his courage, a rare
quality at that time, won the day, and the hubbub subsided in cries of
"Let Grégoire have his way!" Throughout the Terror, in spite of attacks
in the Convention, in the press, and on placards posted at the street
corners, he appeared in the streets in his episcopal dress and daily
read mass in his house. After Robespierre's fall he was the first to
advocate the reopening of the churches (speech of December 21, 1794). He
also exerted himself to get measures put in execution for restraining
the vandalistic fury against the monuments of art, extended his
protection to artists and men of letters, and devoted much of his
attention to the reorganization of the public libraries, the
establishment of botanic gardens, and the improvement of technical
education. He had taken during the Constituent Assembly a great interest
in Negro emancipation, and it was on his motion that men of colour in
the French colonies were admitted to the same rights as whites. On the
establishment of the new constitution, Grégoire was elected to the
Council of 500, and after the 18th Brumaire he became a member of the
Corps Législatif, then of the Senate (1801). He took the lead in the
national church councils of 1797 and 1801; but he was strenuously
opposed to Napoleon's policy of reconciliation with the Holy See, and
after the signature of the concordat he resigned his bishopric (October
8, 1801). He was one of the minority of five in the Senate who voted
against the proclamation of the empire, and he opposed the creation of
the new nobility and the divorce of Napoleon from Josephine; but
notwithstanding this he was subsequently created a count of the empire
and officer of the Legion of Honour. During the later years of
Napoleon's reign he travelled in England and Germany, but in 1814 he had
returned to France and was one of the chief instigators of the action
that was taken against the empire.
To the clerical and ultra-royalist faction which was supreme in the
Lower Chamber and in the circles of the court after the second
Restoration, Grégoire, as a revolutionist and a schismatic bishop, was
an object of double loathing. He was expelled from the Institute and
forced into retirement. But even in this period of headlong reaction his
influence was felt and feared. In 1814 he had published a work, _De la
constitution française de l'an 1814_, in which he commented on the
Charter from a Liberal point of view, and this reached its fourth
edition in 1819. In this latter year he was elected to the Lower Chamber
by the department of Isère. By the powers of the Quadruple Alliance this
event was regarded as of the most sinister omen, and the question was
even raised of a fresh armed intervention in France under the terms of
the secret treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. To prevent such a catastrophe
Louis XVIII. decided on a modification of the franchise; the Dessolle
ministry resigned; and the first act of Decazes, the new premier, was to
carry a vote in the chamber annulling the election of Grégoire. From
this time onward the ex-bishop lived in retirement, occupying himself in
literary pursuits and in correspondence with most of the eminent savants
of Europe; but as he had been deprived of his pension as a senator he
was compelled to sell his library to obtain means of support. He died on
the 20th of May 1831.
To the last Grégoire remained a devout Catholic, exactly fulfilling all
his obligations as a Christian and a priest; but he refused to budge an
inch from his revolutionary principles. During his last illness he
confessed to his parish _curé_, a priest of Jansenist sympathies, and
expressed his desire for the last sacraments of the Church. These the
archbishop of Paris would only concede on condition that he would
retract his oath to the civil constitution of the clergy, which he
peremptorily refused to do. Thereupon, in defiance of the archbishop,
the abbé Baradère gave him the _viaticum_, while the rite of extreme
unction was administered by the abbé Guillon, an opponent of the civil
constitution, without consulting the archbishop or the parish curé. The
attitude of the archbishop roused great excitement in Paris, and the
government had to take precautions to avoid a repetition of the riots
which in the preceding February had led to the sacking of the church of
St Germain l'Auxerrois and the archiepiscopal palace. On the day after
his death Grégoire's funeral was celebrated at the church of the
Abbaye-aux-Bois; the clergy of the church had absented themselves in
obedience to the archbishop's orders, but mass was sung by the abbé
Grieu assisted by two clergy, the catafalque being decorated with the
episcopal insignia. After the hearse set out from the church the horses
were unyoked, and it was dragged by students to the cemetery of
Montparnasse, the cortège being followed by a sympathetic crowd of some
20,000 people.
Whatever his merits as a writer or as a philanthropist, Grégoire's name
lives in history mainly by reason of his wholehearted effort to prove
that Catholic Christianity is not irreconcilable with modern conceptions
of political liberty. In this effort he was defeated, mainly because the
Revolution, for lack of experience in the right use of liberty, changed
into a military despotism which allied itself with the spiritual
despotism of Rome; partly because, when the Revolution was overthrown,
the parties of reaction sought salvation in the "union of altar and
throne." Possibly Grégoire's Gallicanism was fundamentally
irreconcilable with the Catholic idea of authority. At least it made
their traditional religion possible for those many French Catholics who
clung passionately to the benefits the Revolution had brought them; and
had it prevailed, it might have spared France and the world that fatal
gulf between Liberalism and Catholicism which Pius IX.'s Syllabus of
1864 sought to make impassable.
Besides several political pamphlets, Grégoire was the author of
_Histoire des sectes religieuses, depuis le commencement du siècle
dernier jusqu'à l'époque actuelle_ (2 vols., 1810); _Essai historique
sur les libertés de l'église gallicane_ (1818); _De l'influence du
Christianisme sur la condition des femmes_ (1821); _Histoire des
confesseurs des empereurs, des rois, et d'autres princes_ (1824);
_Histoire du mariage des prêtres en France_ (1826). _Grégoireana, ou
résumé général de la conduite, des actions, et des écrits de M. le
comte Henri Grégoire_, preceded by a biographical notice by Cousin
d'Avalon, was published in 1821; and the _Mémoires ... de Grégoire_,
with a biographical notice by H. Carnot, appeared in 1837 (2 vols.).
See also A. Debidour, _L'Abbé Grégoire_ (1881); A. Gazier, Études sur
l'histoire religieuse de la Révolution Française (1883); L. Maggiolo,
La Vie et les oeuvres de l'abbé Grégoire (Nancy, 1884), and numerous
articles in _La Révolution Française_; E. Meaume, _Étude hist. et
biog. sur les Lorrains révolutionnaires_ (Nancy, 1882); and A. Gazier,
_Études sur l'histoire religieuse de la Révolution Française_ (1887).
GREGORAS, NICEPHORUS (c. 1295-1360), Byzantine historian, man of
learning and religious controversialist, was born at Heraclea in Pontus.
At an early age he settled at Constantinople, where his reputation for
learning brought him under the notice of Andronicus II., by whom he was
appointed Chartophylax (keeper of the archives). In 1326 Gregoras
proposed (in a still extant treatise) certain reforms in the calendar,
which the emperor refused to carry out for fear of disturbances; nearly
two hundred years later they were introduced by Gregory XIII. on almost
the same lines. When Andronicus was dethroned (1328) by his grandson
Andronicus III., Gregoras shared his downfall and retired into private
life. Attacked by Barlaam, the famous monk of Calabria, he was with
difficulty persuaded to come forward and meet him in a war of words, in
which Barlaam was worsted. This greatly enhanced his reputation and
brought him a large number of pupils. Gregoras remained loyal to the
elder Andronicus to the last, but after his death he succeeded in
gaining the favour of his grandson, by whom he was appointed to conduct
the unsuccessful negotiations (for a union of the Greek and Latin
churches) with the ambassadors of Pope John XXII. (1333). Gregoras
subsequently took an important part in the Hesychast controversy, in
which he violently opposed Gregorius Palamas, the chief supporter of the
sect. After the doctrines of Palamas had been recognized at the synod of
1351, Gregoras, who refused to acquiesce, was practically imprisoned in
a monastery for two years. Nothing is known of the end of his life. His
chief work is his _Roman History_, in 37 books, of the years 1204 to
1359. It thus partly supplements and partly continues the work of George
Pachymeres. Gregoras shows considerable industry, but his style is
pompous and affected. Far too much space is devoted to religious matters
and dogmatic quarrels. This work and that of John Cantacuzene supplement
and correct each other, and should be read together. The other writings
of Gregoras, which (with a few exceptions) still remain unpublished,
attest his great versatility. Amongst them may be mentioned a history of
the dispute with Palamas; biographies of his uncle and early instructor
John, metropolitan of Heraclea, and of the martyr Codratus of Antioch;
funeral orations for Theodore Metochita, and the two emperors
Andronicus; commentaries on the wanderings of Odysseus and on Synesius's
treatise on dreams; tracts on orthography and on words of doubtful
meaning; a philosophical dialogue called _Florentius or Concerning
Wisdom_; astronomical treatises on the date of Easter and the
preparation of the astrolabe; and an extensive correspondence.
_Editions_: in Bonn _Corpus scriptorum hist. Byz._, by L. Schopen and
I. Bekker, with life and list of works by J. Boivin (1829-1855); J. P.
Migne, _Patrologia graeca_, cxlviii., cxlix.; see also C. Krumbacher,
_Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur_ (1897).
GREGOROVIUS, FERDINAND (1821-1891), German historian, was born at
Neidenburg on the 19th of January 1821, and studied at the university of
Königsberg. After spending some years in teaching he took up his
residence in Italy in 1852, remaining in that country for over twenty
years. He was made a citizen of Rome, and he died at Munich on the 1st
of May 1891. Gregorovius's interest in and acquaintance with Italy and
Italian history is mainly responsible for his great book, _Geschichte
der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter_ (Stuttgart, 1859-1872, and other
editions), a work of much erudition and interest, which has been
translated into English by A. Hamilton (13 vols., 1894-1900), and also
into Italian at the expense of the Romans (Venice, 1874-1876). It deals
with the history of Rome from about A.D. 400 to the death of Pope
Clement VII. in 1534, and in the words of its author it describes "how,
from the time of Charles the Great to that of Charles V., the historic
system of the papacy remained inseparable from that of the Empire." The
other works of Gregorovius include: _Geschichte des Kaisers Hadrian und
seiner Zeit_ (Königsberg, 1851), English translation by M. E. Robinson
(1898); _Corsica_ (Stuttgart, 1854), English translation by R. Martineau
(1855); _Lucrezia Borgia_ (Stuttgart, 1874), English translation by J.
L. Garner (1904); _Die Grabdenkmäler der Päpste_ (Leipzig, 1881),
English translation by R. W. Seton-Watson (1903); _Wanderjahre in
Italien_ (5 vols., Leipzig, 1888-1892); _Geschichte der Stadt Athen im
Mittelalter_ (1889); _Kleine Schriften zur Geschichte der Kultur_
(Leipzig, 1887-1892); and _Urban VIII. im Widerspruch zu Spanien und dem
Kaiser_ (Stuttgart, 1879). This last work was translated into Italian by
the author himself (Rome, 1879). Gregorovius was also something of a
poet; he wrote a drama, _Der Tod des Tiberius_ (1851), and some
_Gedichte_ (Leipzig, 1891).
His _Römische Tagebücher_ were edited by F. Althaus (Stuttgart, 1892),
and were translated into English as the _Roman Journals of F.
Gregorovius_, by A. Hamilton (1907).
GREGORY, ST (c. 213-c. 270), surnamed in later ecclesiastical tradition
Thaumaturgus (the miracle-worker), was born of noble and wealthy pagan
parents at Neocaesarea in Pontus, about A.D. 213. His original name was
Theodorus. He took up the study of civil law, and, with his brother
Athenodorus, was on his way to Berytus to complete his training when at
Caesarea he met Origen, and became his pupil and then his convert (A.D.
233). In returning to Cappadocia some five years after his conversion,
it had been his original intention to live a retired ascetic life (Eus.
_H.E._ vi. 30), but, urged by Origen, and at last almost compelled by
Phaedimus of Amasia, his metropolitan, neither of whom was willing to
see so much learning, piety and masculine energy practically lost to the
church, he, after many attempts to evade the dignity, was consecrated
bishop of his native town (about 240). His episcopate, which lasted some
thirty years, was characterized by great missionary zeal, and by so much
success that, according to the (doubtless somewhat rhetorical) statement
of Gregory of Nyssa, whereas at the outset of his labours there were
only seventeen Christians in the city, there were at his death only
seventeen persons in all who had not embraced Christianity. This result
he achieved in spite of the Decian persecution (250-251), during which
he had felt it to be his duty to absent himself from his diocese, and
notwithstanding the demoralizing effects of an irruption of barbarians
(Goths and Boranians) who laid waste the diocese in A.D. 253-254.
Gregory, although he has not always escaped the charge of Sabellianism,
now holds an undisputed place among the fathers of the church; and
although the turn of his mind was practical rather than speculative, he
is known to have taken an energetic part in most of the doctrinal
controversies of his time. He was active at the first synod of Antioch
(A.D. 264-265), which investigated and condemned the heresies of Paul of
Samosata; and the rapid spread in Pontus of a Trinitarianism approaching
the Nicene type is attributed in large measure to the weight of his
influence. Gregory is believed to have died in the reign of Aurelian,
about the year 270, though perhaps an earlier date is more probable. His
festival (semiduplex) is observed by the Roman Catholic Church on the
17th of November.
For the facts of his biography we have an outline of his early years
in his eulogy on Origen, and incidental notices in the writings of
Eusebius, of Basil of Caesarea and Jerome. Gregory of Nyssa's
untrustworthy panegyric represents him as having wrought miracles of a
very startling description; but nothing related by him comes near the
astounding narratives given in the _Martyrologies_, or even in the
_Breviarium Romanum_, in connexion with his name.
The principal works of Gregory Thaumaturgus are the _Panegyricus in
Origenem_ ([Greek: Eis Ôrigenên panêgyrikos logos]), which he wrote
when on the point of leaving the school of that great master (it
contains a valuable minute description of Origen's mode of
instruction), a _Metaphrasis in Ecclesiasten_, characterized by Jerome
as "short but useful"; and an _Epistola canonica_, which treats of the
discipline to be undergone by those Christians who under pressure of
persecution had relapsed into paganism, but desired to be restored to
the privileges of the Church. It gives a good picture of the
conditions of the time, and shows Gregory to be a true shepherd (cf.
art PENANCE). The [Greek: Ekthesis pisteôs] (_Expositio fidei_), a
short creed usually attributed to Gregory, and traditionally alleged
to have been received by him immediately in vision from the apostle
John himself, is probably authentic. A sort of Platonic dialogue of
doubtful authenticity "on the impassivity and the passivity of God" in
Syriac is in the British Museum.
_Editions_: Gerhard Voss (Mainz, 1604), Fronto Ducäus (Paris, 1622),
Migne, Patr. Graec. x. 963.
_Translations_: S. D. F. Salmond in _Ante-Nicene Fathers_, vi.;
_Lives_, by Pallavicini (Rome, 1644); J. L. Boye (Jena, 1709); H. R.
Reynolds (_Dict. Chr. Biog._ ii.); G. Krüger, _Early Chr. Lit._ 226;
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyk._ vii. (where full bibliographies are given).
GREGORY, ST, OF NAZIANZUS (329-389), surnamed Theologus, one of the four
great fathers of the Eastern Church, was born about the year A.D. 329,
at or near Nazianzus, Cappadocia. His father, also named Gregory, had
lately become bishop of the diocese; his mother, Nonna, exercised a
powerful influence over the religious convictions of both father and
son. Gregory visited successively the two Caesareas, Alexandria and
Athens, as a student of grammar, mathematics, rhetoric and philosophy;
at Athens he had for fellow-students Basil (q.v.), who afterwards became
bishop of Caesarea, and Julian, afterwards emperor. Shortly after his
return to his father's house at Nazianzus (about the year 360) Gregory
received baptism. He resolved to give himself to the service of
religion; but for some time, and indeed more or less throughout his
whole life, was in a state of hesitation as to the form which that
service ought to take. Strongly inclined by nature and education to a
contemplative life spent among books and in the society of congenial
friends, he was continually urged by outward circumstances, as well as
by an inward call, to active pastoral labour. The spirit of refined
intellectual monasticism, which clung to him through life and never
ceased to struggle for the ascendancy, was about this time strongly
encouraged by his intercourse with Basil, who induced him to share the
exalted pleasures of his retirement in Pontus. To this period belongs
the preparation of the [Greek: Philokalia], a sort of chrestomathy
compiled by the two friends from the writings of Origen. But the events
which were stirring the political and ecclesiastical life of Cappadocia,
and indeed of the whole Roman world, made a career of learned leisure
difficult if not impossible to a man of Gregory's position and
temperament. The emperor Constantius, having by intrigue and
intimidation succeeded in thrusting a semi-Arian formula upon the
Western bishops assembled at Ariminum in Italy, had next attempted to
follow the same course with the Eastern episcopate. The aged bishop of
Nazianzus having yielded to the imperial threats, a great storm arose
among the monks of the diocese, which was only quelled by the influence
of the younger Gregory, who shortly afterwards (about 361) was ordained
to the priesthood. After a vain attempt to evade his new duties and
responsibilities by flight, he appears to have continued to act as a
presbyter in his father's diocese without interruption for some
considerable time; and it is probable that his two _Invectives_ against
Julian are to be assigned to this period. Subsequently (about 372),
under a pressure which he somewhat resented, he allowed himself to be
nominated by Basil as bishop of Sasima, a miserable little village some
32 m. from Tyana; but he seems hardly, if at all, to have assumed the
duties of this diocese, for after another interval of "flight" we find
him once more (about 372-373) at Nazianzus, assisting his aged father,
on whose death (374) he retired to Seleucia in Isauria for a period of
some years. Meanwhile a more important field for his activities was
opening up. Towards 378-379 the small and depressed remnant of the
orthodox party in Constantinople sent him an urgent summons to undertake
the task of resuscitating their cause, so long persecuted and borne down
by the Arians of the capital. With the accession of Theodosius to the
imperial throne, the prospect of success to the Nicene doctrine had
dawned, if only it could find some courageous and devoted champion. The
fame of Gregory as a learned and eloquent disciple of Origen, and still
more of Athanasius, pointed him out as such a defender; nor could he
resist the appeal made to him, although he took the step reluctantly.
Once arrived in Constantinople, he laboured so zealously and well that
the orthodox party speedily gathered strength; and the small apartment
in which they had been accustomed to meet was soon exchanged for a vast
and celebrated church which received the significant name of Anastasia,
the Church of the Resurrection. Among the hearers of Gregory were to be
found, not only churchmen like Jerome and Evagrius, but also heretics
and pagans; and it says much for the sound wisdom and practical tact of
the preacher that he set himself less to build up and defend a doctrinal
position than to urge his flock to the cultivation of the loving
Christian spirit which cherishes higher aims than mere heresy hunting or
endless disputation. Doctrinal, nevertheless, he was, as is abundantly
shown by the famous five discourses on the Trinity, which earned for him
the distinctive appellation of [Greek: theologos]. These orations are
the finest exposition of the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity as
conceived by the orthodox teachers of the East, and they were directed
especially against the Eunomians and Macedonians. "There is perhaps no
single book in Greek patristic literature to which the student who
desires to gain an exact and comprehensive view of Greek theology can be
more confidently referred." With the arrival of Theodosius in 380 came
the visible triumph of the orthodox cause; the metropolitan see was then
conferred upon Gregory, and after the assembling of the second
ecumenical council in 381 he received consecration from Meletius. In
consequence, however, of a spirit of discord and envy which had
manifested itself in connexion with this promotion, he soon afterwards
resigned his dignity and withdrew into comparative retirement. The rest
of his days were spent partly at Nazianzus in ecclesiastical affairs,
and partly on his neighbouring patrimonial estate at Arianzus, where he
followed his favourite literary pursuits, especially poetical
composition, until his death, which occurred in 389 or 390. His festival
is celebrated in the Eastern Church on the 25th and 30th of January, in
the Western on the 9th of May (duplex).
His extant works consist of poems, epistles and orations. The poems,
which include epigrams, elegies and an autobiographical sketch, have
been frequently printed, the _editio princeps_ being the Aldine
(1504). Other editions are those of Tollius (1696) and Muratori
(1709); a volume of _Carmina selecta_ also has been edited by Dronke
(1840). The tragedy entitled [Greek: Christos paschôn] usually
included is certainly not genuine. Gregory's poetry did not absorb his
best energies; it was adopted in his later years as a recreation
rather than as a serious pursuit; thus it is occasionally delicate,
graphic, beautiful, but it is not sustained. Of the hymns none have
passed into ecclesiastical use. The letters are entitled to a higher
place in literature. They are always easy and natural; and there is
nothing forced in the manner in which their acute, witty and profound
sayings are introduced. Those to Basil introduce us to the story of a
most romantic friendship, those to Cledonius have theological value
for their bearing on the Apollinarian controversy. As an orator he was
so facile, vigorous and persuasive, that men forgot his small stature
and emaciated countenance. Forty-five orations are extant. Gregory was
less an independent theologian than an interpreter. He was influenced
by Athanasius in his Christology, by Origen in his anthropology, for,
though teaching original sin and deriving human mortality from the
Fall, he insists on the ability of the human will to choose the good
and to co-operate in the work of salvation with the will of God.
Though possessed neither of Basil's gift of government nor of Gregory
of Nyssa's power of speculative thought, he worthily takes a place in
that triumvirate of Cappadocians whom the Catholic Church gratefully
recognizes as having been, during the critical struggles in the latter
half of the 4th century, the best defenders of its faith. The _Opera
omnia_ were first published by Hervagius (Basel, 1550); the
subsequent editions have been those of Billius (Paris, 1609, 1611;
aucta ex interpretatione Morelli, 1630), of the Benedictines (begun in
1778, but interrupted by the French Revolution and not completed until
1840, Caillau being the final editor) and of Migne. The _Theological
Orations_ (edited by A. J. Mason) were published separately at
Cambridge in 1899.
Scattered notices of the life of Gregory Nazianzen are to be found in
the writings of Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret and Rufinus, as well as
in his own letters and poems. The data derived from these sources do
not always harmonize with the account of Suidas. The earlier modern
authorities, such as Tillemont (_Mem. Eccl._ t. ix.) and Leclerc
(_Bib. Univ._ t. xviii.), were used by Gibbon. See also C. Ullmann,
_Gregorius von Nazianz, der Theologe_ (1825; Eng. trans. by G. F.
Coxe, M.A., 1857); A. Bénoit, _St Grégoire de Nazianze; sa vie, ses
oeuvres, et son époque_ (1877); Montaut, _Revue critique de quelques
questions historiques se rapportant à St Grégoire de Nazianze_ (1879);
F. W. Farrar, _Lives of the Fathers_, i. 491-582, and F. Loofs in
Hauck-Herzog's _Realencyk. für prot. Theologie_, vii. 138.
GREGORY, ST, OF NYSSA (c. 331-c. 396), one of the four great fathers of
the Eastern Church, designated by one of the later ecumenical councils
as "a father of fathers," was a younger brother of Basil (the Great),
bishop of Caesarea, and was born (probably) at Neocaesarea about A.D.
331. For his education he was chiefly indebted to his elder brother. At
a comparatively early age he entered the church, and held for some time
the office of anagnost or reader; subsequently he manifested a desire to
devote himself to the secular life as a rhetorician, an impulse which
was checked by the earnest remonstrances of Gregory of Nazianzus.
Finally, in 371 or 372 he was ordained by his brother Basil to the
bishopric of Nyssa, a small town in Cappadocia. Here he is usually said
(but on inadequate data) to have adopted the opinion then gaining ground
in favour of the celibacy of the clergy, and to have separated from his
wife Theosebia, who became a deaconess in the church. His strict
orthodoxy on the subject of the Trinity and the Incarnation, together
with his vigorous eloquence, combined to make him peculiarly obnoxious
to the Arian faction, which was at that time in the ascendant through
the protection of the emperor Valens; and in 375, the synod of Ancyra,
convened by Demetrius the Arian governor of Pontus, condemned him for
alleged irregularities in his election and in the administration of the
finances of his diocese. In 376 he was deprived of his see, and Valens
sent him into exile, whence he did not return till the publication of
the edict of Gratian in 378. Shortly afterwards he took part in the
proceedings of the synod which met at Antioch in Caria, principally in
connexion with the Meletian schism. At the great ecumenical council held
at Constantinople in 381, he was a conspicuous champion of the orthodox
faith; according to Nicephorus, indeed, the additions made to the Nicene
creed were entirely due to his suggestion, but this statement is of
doubtful authority. That his eloquence was highly appreciated is shown
by the facts that he pronounced the discourse at the consecration of
Gregory of Nazianzus, and that he was chosen to deliver the funeral
oration on the death of Meletius the first president of the council. In
the following year, moreover (382), he was commissioned by the council
to inspect and set in order the churches of Arabia, in connexion with
which mission he also visited Jerusalem. The impressions he gathered
from this journey may, in part at least, be gathered from his famous
letter _De euntibus Hierosolyma_, in which an opinion strongly
unfavourable to pilgrimages is expressed. In 383 he was probably again
in Constantinople; where in 385 he pronounced the funeral orations of
the princess Pulcheria and afterwards of the empress Placilla. Once more
we read of him in 394 as having been present in that metropolis at the
synod held under the presidency of Nectarius to settle a controversy
which had arisen among the bishops of Arabia; in the same year he
assisted at the consecration of the new church of the apostles at
Chalcedon, on which occasion there is reason to believe that his
discourse commonly but wrongly known as that [Greek: Eis tên heautou
cheirotonian] was delivered. The exact date of his death is unknown;
some authorities refer it to 396, others to 400. His festival is
observed by the Greek Church on the 10th of January; in the Western
martyrologies he is commemorated on the 9th of March.
Gregory of Nyssa was not so firm and able an administrator as his
brother Basil, nor so magnificent an orator as Gregory of Nazianzus, but
he excelled them both, alike as a speculative and constructive
theologian, and in the wide extent of his acquirements. His teaching,
though strictly trinitarian, shows considerable freedom and originality
of thought; in many points his mental and spiritual affinities with
Origen show themselves with advantage, as in his doctrine of [Greek:
apokatastasis] or final restoration. There are marked pantheistic
tendencies, e.g. the inclusion of sin as a necessary part of the
cosmical process, which make him akin to the pantheistic monophysites
and to some modern thinkers.
His style has been frequently praised by competent authorities for
sweetness, richness and elegance. His numerous works may be classified
under five heads: (1) Treatises in doctrinal and polemical theology.
Of these the most important is that _Against Eunomius_ in twelve
books. Its doctrinal thesis (which is supported with great philosophic
acumen and rhetorical power) is the divinity and consubstantiality of
the Word; incidentally the character of Basil, which Eunomius had
aspersed, is vindicated, and the heretic himself is held up to scorn
and contempt. This is the work which, most probably in a shorter
draft, was read by its author when at Constantinople before Gregory
Nazianzen and Jerome in 381 (Jerome, _De vir. ill._ 128). To the same
class belong the treatise _To Ablavius_, against the tritheists; _On
Faith_, against the Arians; _On Common Notions_, in explanation of the
terms in current employment with regard to the Trinity; _Ten
Syllogisms_, against the Manichaeans; _To Theophilus_, against the
Apollinarians; an _Antirrhetic_ against the same; _Against Fate_, a
disputation with a heathen philosopher; _De anima et resurrectione_, a
dialogue with his dying sister Macrina; and the _Oratio catechetica
magna_, an argument for the incarnation as the best possible form of
redemption, intended to convince educated pagans and Jews. (2)
Practical treatises. To this category belong the tracts _On Virginity_
and _On Pilgrimages_; as also the _Canonical Epistle_ upon the rules
of penance. (3) Expository and homiletical works, including the
_Hexaëmeron_, and several series of discourses _On the Workmanship of
Man_, _On the Inscriptions of the Psalms_, _On the Sixth Psalm_, _On
the first three Chapters of Ecclesiastes_, _On Canticles_, _On the
Lord's Prayer_ and _On the Eight Beatitudes_. (4) Biographical,
consisting chiefly of funeral orations. (5) Letters.
The only complete editions of the whole works are those by Fronton le
Duc (Fronto Ducäus, Paris, 1615; with additions, 1618 and 1638) and by
Migne. G. H. Forbes began an excellent critical edition, but only two
parts of the first volume appeared (Burntisland, 1855 and 1861)
containing the _Explicatio apologetica in hexaëmeron_ and the _De
opificio hominis_. Of the new edition projected by F. Oehler only the
first volume, containing the _Opera dogmatica_, has appeared (1865).
There have been numerous editions of several single treatises, as for
example of the _Oratio catechetica_ (J. G. Krabinger, Munich, 1838; J.
H. Crawley, Cambridge, 1903), _De precatione_ and _De anima et
resurrectione_.
See F. W. Farrar, _Lives of the Fathers_, ii. 56-83, the monograph by
J. Rupp (_Gregors, des Bischofs von Nyssa, Leben und Meinungen_,
Leipzig, 1834), and compare P. Heyns (_Disputatio historico-theologica
de Greg. Nyss._, 1835), C. W. Möller (_Gregorii Nyss. doctrinam de
hominis natura et illustravit et cum Origeniana comparavit_, 1854) and
J. N. Stigler, _Die Psychologie des h. Gregors von Nyssa_ (Regensburg,
1857), and many smaller monographs cited in Hauck-Herzog's _Realencyk.
für prot. Theol._ vii. 149.
GREGORY, ST, OF TOURS (538-594), historian of the Franks, was born in
the chief city of the Arverni (the modern Clermont-Ferrand) on the 30th
of November 538. His real name was Georgius Florentius, Georgius being
his grandfather's name and Florentius his father's. He was called
Gregory after his maternal great-grandfather, the bishop of Langres.
Gregory belonged to an illustrious senatorial family, many of whose
members held high office in the church and bear honoured names in the
history of Christianity. He was descended, it is said, from Vettius
Epagathus, who was martyred at Lyons in 177 with St Pothinus; his
paternal uncle, Gallus, was bishop of Clermont; his maternal
grand-uncle, Nicetius (St Nizier), occupied the see of Lyons; and he was
a kinsman of Euphronius, bishop of Tours.
Gregory lost his father early, and his mother Armentaria settled in the
kingdom of Burgundy on an estate belonging to her near Cavaillon, where
her son often visited her. Gregory was brought up at Clermont-Ferrand by
his uncle Gallus and by his successor, Avitus, and there he received his
education. Among profane authors he read the first six books of the
_Aeneid_ and Sallust's history of the Catiline conspiracy, but his
education was mainly religious. The principles of religion he learnt
from the Bible, Sulpicius Severus and some lives of saints, but to
patristic literature and the subtleties of theology he remained a
stranger. In 563, at the age of twenty-five, he was ordained deacon.
Falling seriously ill, he went to Tours to seek a cure at the tomb of St
Martin. At Tours he lived with Euphronius, and so great was the young
man's popularity that, on the death of Euphronius in 573, the people
unanimously designated him bishop.
At that time Tours belonged to Austrasia, and King Sigebert hastened to
confirm Gregory's election. After the assassination of Sigebert (575),
the province was ruled by Chilperic for nine years, during which period
Gregory displayed the greatest energy in protecting his town and church
from the Frankish king. He had to contend with Count Leudast, the
governor of Tours; despite all the king's threats, he refused to give up
Chilperic's son Meroving, who had sought refuge from his father's wrath
at the sanctuary of St Martin; and he defended Bishop Pretextatus
against Chilperic, by whom he had been condemned for celebrating the
marriage of Merovech and Queen Brunhilda. In 580 Gregory was himself
accused before a council at Berny of using abusive language against
Queen Fredegond, but he cleared himself of the charge by an oath and was
acquitted. On the death of Chilperic, Tours remained for two years
(584-585) in the hands of Guntram, but when Guntram adopted his nephew
Childebert, Sigebert's son, it again became Austrasian. This change was
welcome to Gregory, who often visited the court. In 586 he was at
Coblenz, and on his return to Yvois (the modern Carignan) visited the
stylite Wulfilaic; in 588 we hear of him at Metz and also at
Chalon-sur-Saône, whither he was sent to obtain from King Guntram the
ratification of the pact of Andelot; in 593 he was at Orleans, where
Childebert had just succeeded his uncle Guntram. In the intervals of
these journeys he governed Tours with great firmness, repressing
disorders and reducing the monks and nuns to obedience. He died on the
17th of November 594.
Gregory left many writings, of which he himself gives an enumeration at
the end of his _Historia Francorum_: "Decem libros Historiarum, septem
Miraculorum, unum de Vita Patrum scripsi; in Psalterii tractatu librum
unum commentatus sum; de Cursibus etiam ecclesiasticis unum librum
condidi." The ten books of history are discussed below. The seven books
of miracles are divided into the _De gloria martyrum_, the _De
virtutibus sancti Juliani_, four books of _Miracula sancti Martini_, and
the _De gloria confessorum_, the last dealing mainly with confessors who
had dwelt in the cities of Tours and Clermont. The _Vitae patrum_
consists of twenty biographies of bishops, abbots and hermits belonging
to Gaul. The commentary on the Psalms is lost, the preface and the
titles of the chapters alone being extant. The treatise _De cursibus
ecclesiasticis_, discovered in 1853, is a liturgical manual for
determining the hour of divers nocturnal offices by the position of the
stars. Gregory also left a life of St Andrew, translated from the Greek,
and a history of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, translated from Syriac.
His most important work, however, is the _Historia Francorum_, which is
divided into three parts. The first four books, which were composed at
one time, cover the period from the creation of the world to the death
of Sigebert in 575. The first book, which is a mere compilation from the
chronicles of St Jerome and Orosius, is of no value. The second book,
from 397 to 511, deals with the invasions of the Franks, and is based on
the histories of Sulpicius Alexander and Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus,
now lost; on the catalogues of the bishops of Clermont and Tours; on
some lives of saints, e.g. Remigius and Maxentius, now lost; on the
annals of Arles and Angers, now lost; and on legends, either collected
by Gregory himself from oral tradition, or cantilenes or epics written
in the Latin and Germanic languages. In the third and fourth books the
earlier part is based on materials collected from men older than
himself; of the later events he was himself an eye-witness. The fifth
and sixth books, up to the death of Chilperic (584), deal with matters
within his own experience. The first six books are often separate in the
MSS., and it was these alone that were used by the chronicler
Fredegarius in his abridgment of Gregory's history. To the first six
books Gregory subsequently added chapters on the bishops Salonius and
Sagittarius, and on his quarrels with Felix of Nantes. The authenticity
of these chapters has been undeservedly attacked by Catholic writers.
Books vii. to x., from 584 to 591, were written in the form of a diary;
of each important event, as it occurred, he inserted an account in his
book. The last six books are of great historical value.
Gregory had an intimate knowledge of contemporary events. He was
frequently at court, and he found Tours an excellent place for
collecting information. The shrine of St Martin attracted the sick from
all quarters, and the basilica of the saint was a favourite sanctuary
for political refugees. Moreover, Tours was on the high road between the
north and south of France, and was a convenient stage for travellers,
the ambassadors going to and from Spain frequently halting there.
Gregory plied every one with questions, and in this way gathered a great
mass of detailed information. He was, besides, at great pains to be an
impartial writer, but was not always successful. His devotion to
Austrasia made him very bitter against, and perhaps unjust to, the
sovereigns of Neustria, Chilperic and Fredegond. As an orthodox
Christian, he had no good word for the Arians. He excuses the crimes of
kings who protected the church, such as Clovis, Clotaire I. and Guntram,
but had no mercy for those who violated ecclesiastical privileges. This
attitude, no doubt, explains his hatred for Chilperic. But if Gregory's
historical judgments are suspect, he at least concealed nothing and
invented nothing; and we can correct his judgments by his own narrative.
His history is a curious compound of artlessness and shrewdness. He was
ignorant of the rules of grammar, confused genders and cases, and wrote
in the vernacular Latin of his time, apart from certain passages which
are especially elaborated and filled with poetical and elegant
expressions. But in spite of his shortcomings he is an exceedingly
attractive writer, and his mastery of the art of narrative has earned
for him the name of the Herodotus of the barbarians.
T. Ruinart brought out a complete edition of Gregory's works at Paris
in 1699. The best modern complete edition is that of W. Arndt and B.
Krusch in _Mon. Germ. hist. script. rer. Merov._ (vol. i., 1885). Of
the many editions of the _Historia Francorum_ may be mentioned those
of Guadet and Taranne in the _Soc. de l'hist. de France_ (4 vols.,
with French translation, 1836-1838), of Omont (the first six books; a
reproduction of the Corvey MS.) and of G. Collon (the last four books;
a reproduction of the Brussels MS. No. 9, 403). Gregory's hagiographic
works were published by H. Bordier in the _Soc. de l'hist. de France_
(4 vols., with French translation, 1857-1864). Cf. J. W. Löbell,
_Gregor von Tours und seine Zeit_ (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1868); G. Monod,
"Études critiques sur les sources de l'histoire mérovingienne" in the
_Bibl. de l'École des Hautes Études_ (1872); G. Kurth, "Grégoire de
Tours et les études classiques au VI^e siècle" in the _Revue des
questions historiques_ (xxiv. 586 seq., 1878); Max Bonnet, _Le Latin
de Grégoire de Tours_ (Paris, 1890). For details, see Ulysse
Chevalier, _Biobibliographie_ (2nd ed.). (C. Pf.)
GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, the reputed founder of the Armenian Church. His
legend is briefly as follows. His father Anak, head of the Parthian clan
of Suren, was bribed about the time of his birth (c. 257) by the
Sassanid king of Persia to assassinate the Armenian king, Chosroes, who
was of the old Arsacid dynasty, and father of Tiridates or Trdat, first
Christian king of Armenia. Anak was slain by his victim's soldiers;
Gregory was rescued by his Christian nurse, carried to Caesarea in
Cappadocia, and brought up a Christian. Grown to manhood he took service
under Tiridates, now king of Armenia, in order by his own fidelity to
atone for his father's treachery. Presently at a feast of Anahite
Gregory refused to assist his sovereign in offering pagan sacrifice, and
his parentage being now revealed, was thrown into a deep pit at
Artashat, where he languished for fourteen years, during which
persecution raged in Armenia.
The scene of the legend now shifts to Rome, where Diocletian falls in
love with a lovely nun named Ripsimé; she, rather than gratify his
passion, flees with her abbess Gaiana and several priests to Armenia.
Diocletian asks her back of Tiridates, who meanwhile has fallen in love
with her himself. He too is flouted, and in his rage tortures and slays
her and her companions. The traditional date of this massacre is the 5th
of October, A.D. 301. Providence, incensed at such cruelty, turns
Tiridates into a wild boar, and afflicts his subjects with madness; but
his sister, Chosrowidukht, has a revelation to bring Gregory back out of
his pit. The king consents, the saint is acclaimed, the bodies of the
thirty-seven martyrs solemnly interred, and the king, after fasting
five, and listening to Gregory's homilies for sixty days, is healed.
This all took place at Valarshapat, where Gregory, anxious to fix a site
on which to build shrines for the relics of Ripsimé and Gaiana, saw the
Son of God come down in a sheen of light, the stars of heaven attending,
and smite the earth with a golden hammer till the nether world resounded
to his blows. Three chapels were built on the spot, and Gregory raised
his cross there and elsewhere for the people to worship, just as St Nino
was doing about the same time in Georgia. There followed a campaign
against the idols whose temples and books were destroyed. The time had
now come for Gregory, who was still a layman and father of two sons, to
receive ordination; so he went to Caesarea, where Leontius ordained and
consecrated him catholicos or vicar-general of Armenia. This was
sometime about 290, when Leontius may have acceded, though we first hear
of him as bishop in 314.
Gregory's ordination at Caesarea is historical. The vision at
Valarshapat was invented later by the Armenians when they broke with the
Greeks, in order to give to their church the semblance, if not of
apostolic, at least of divine origin.
According to Agathangelus, Tiridates went to Rome with Gregory,
Aristaces, son of Gregory, and Albianos, head of the other priestly
family, to make a pact with Constantine, newly converted to the faith,
and receive a pallium from Silvester. The better sources make Sardica
the scene of meeting and name Eusebius (of Nicomedia) as the prelate who
attended Constantine. There is no reason to doubt that some such visit
was made about the year 315, when the death of Maximin Daza left
Constantine supreme. Eusebius testifies (_H.E._ ix. 8) that the
Armenians were ardent Christians, and ancient friends and allies of the
Roman empire when Maximin attacked them about the year 308. The
conversion of Tiridates was probably a matter of policy. His kingdom was
honeycombed with Christianity, and he wished to draw closer to the West,
where he foresaw the victory of the new faith, in order to fortify his
realm against the Sassanids of Persia. Following the same policy he sent
Aristaces in 325 to the council of Nice. Gregory is related to have
added a clause to the creed which Aristaces brought back; he became a
hermit on Mount Sebuh about the year 332, and died there.
Is the Ripsimé episode mere legend? The story of the conversion of
Georgia by St Nino in the same age is so full of local colour, and
coheres so closely with the story of Ripsimé and Gaiana, that it seems
over-sceptical to explain the latter away as a mere doublet of the
legend of Prisca and Valeria. The historians Faustus of Byzant and Lazar
of Pharp in the 5th century already attest the reverence with which
their memory was invested. We know from many sources the prominence
assigned to women prophets in the Phrygian church. Nino's story reads
like that of such a female missionary, and something similar must
underlie the story of her Armenian companions.
The history of Gregory by Agathangelus is a compilation of about 450,
which was rendered into Greek 550. Professor Marr has lately published
an Arabic text from a MS. in Sinai which seems to contain an older
tradition. A letter of Bishop George of Arabia to Jeshu, a priest of the
town Anab, dated 714 (edited by Dashian, Vienna, 1891), contains an
independent tradition of Gregory, and styles him a Roman by birth.
In spite of legendary accretions we can still discern the true outlines
and significance of his life. He did not really illumine or convert
great Armenia, for the people were in the main already converted by
Syrian missionaries to the Adoptionist or Ebionite type of faith which
was dominant in the far East, and was afterwards known as Nestorianism.
Marcionites and Montanists had also worked in the field. Gregory
persuaded Tiridates to destroy the last relics of the old paganism, and
carried out in the religious sphere his sovereign's policy of detaching
Great Armenia from the Sassanid realm and allying it with the
Graeco-Roman empire and civilization. He set himself to Hellenize or
Catholicize Armenian Christianity, and in furtherance of this aim set up
a hierarchy officially dependent on the Cappadocian. He in effect turned
his country into a province of the Greek see of Cappadocia. This
hierarchical tie was soon snapped, but the Hellenizing influence
continued to work, and bore its most abundant fruit in the 5th century.
His career was thus analogous to that of St Patrick in Ireland.
AUTHORITIES.--S. Weber, _Die Catholische Kirche in Armenien_
(Freiburg, 1903, with bibliography); Bollandii, _Acta sanctorum sept._
tom. 8; A. Carrière, _Les Huit Sanctuaires de l'Arménie_ (Paris,
1899); "Chrysostom" in Migne, _P. Gr._ tom. 63, col. 943 foll.; C.
Fortescue, _The Armenian Church_ (London, 1872); H. Gelzer, _Die
Anfänge der armenischen Kirche_ (Leipzig, 1895) (_Sächs. Gesells. der
Wissensch._); and s.v. "Armenien" in Herzog-Hauck (Leipzig, 1897); v.
Gutschmid, _Kleine Schriften_ (Leipzig, 1892); Himpel, _Gregor der
Erleuchter_, Kl. v.; Issaverdenz, _Hist. of Arm. Church_ (Venice,
1875); de Lagarde, _Agathangelos_ (Göttingen, 1888); Arshak Ter
Mikelian, _Die arm. Kirche_ (Leipzig, 1892); Palmieri, "La Conversione
ufficiale degli Iberi," _Oriens Christ._ (Rome, 1902); Ryssel, _Ein
Brief Gregors, übersetzt, Studien und Kritiken_, 56, Bd. (1883);
Samuelian, _Bekehrung Armeniens_ (Vienna, 1844); Vetter, "Die arm.
Väter," in Nischl's _Lehrbuch der Patrol._ iii. 215-262, (Mainz,
1881-1885); Malan, _S. Gregory the Illuminator_ (Rivingtons, 1868).
(F. C. C.)
GREGORY (_Gregorius_), the name of sixteen popes and one anti-pope.
SAINT GREGORY, surnamed the Great (_c._ 540-604), the first pope of that
name, and the last of the four doctors of the Latin Church, was born in
Rome about the year 540. His father was Gordianus "the regionary," a
wealthy man of senatorial rank, owner of large estates in Sicily and of
a palace on the Caelian Hill in Rome; his mother was Silvia, who is
commemorated as a saint on the 3rd of November. Of Gregory's early
period we know few details, and almost all the dates are conjectural. He
received the best education to be had at the time, and was noted for his
proficiency in the arts of grammar, rhetoric and dialectic. Entering on
a public career he held, about 573, the high office of prefect of the
city of Rome; but about 574, feeling irresistibly attracted to the
"religious" life, he resigned his post, founded six monasteries in
Sicily and one in Rome, and in the last--the famous monastery of St
Andrew--became himself a monk. This grateful seclusion, however, he was
not permitted long to enjoy. About 578 he was ordained "seventh deacon"
(or possibly archdeacon) of the Roman Church, and in the following
spring Pope Pelagius II. appointed him "apocrisiarius," or resident
ambassador, at the imperial court in Constantinople. Here he represented
the interests of his church till about 586, when he returned to Rome and
was made abbot of St Andrew's monastery. His rule, though popular, was
characterized by great severity, as may be inferred from the story of
the monk Justus, who was denied Christian burial because he had secreted
a small sum of money. About this time Gregory completed and published
his well-known exposition of the book of Job, commenced in
Constantinople: he also delivered lectures on the Heptateuch, the books
of Kings, the Prophets, the book of Proverbs and the Song of Songs. To
this period, moreover, Bede's incident of the English slave-boys (if
indeed it be accepted as historical) ought to be assigned. Passing one
day through the Forum, Gregory saw some handsome slaves offered for
sale, and inquired their nation. "Angles," was the reply. "Good," said
the abbot, "they have the faces of angels, and should be coheirs with
the angels in heaven. From what province do they come?" "From Deira."
"Deira. Yea, verily, they shall be saved from God's ire (_de ira_) and
called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that country named?"
"Ælla." "Then must Allelulia be sung in Ælla's land." Gregory determined
personally to undertake the conversion of Britain, and with the pope's
consent actually set out upon the mission, but on the third day of his
journey he was overtaken by messengers recalling him to Rome. In the
year 590 Pelagius II. died of the plague that was raging in the city;
whereupon the clergy and people unanimously chose Gregory as his
successor. The abbot did his best to avoid the dignity, petitioned the
emperor Maurice not to ratify his election, and even meditated going
into hiding; but, "while he was preparing for flight and concealment, he
was seized and carried off and dragged to the basilica of St Peter," and
there consecrated bishop, on the 3rd of September 590.
The fourteen years of Gregory's pontificate were marked by extraordinary
vigour and activity. "He never rested," writes a biographer, "he was
always engaged in providing for the interests of his people, or in
writing some composition worthy of the church, or in searching out the
secrets of heaven by the grace of contemplation." His mode of life was
simple and ascetic in the extreme. Having banished all lay attendants
from his palace, he surrounded himself with clerics and monks, with whom
he lived as though he were still in a monastery. To the spiritual needs
of his people he ministered with pastoral zeal, frequently appointing
"stations" and delivering sermons; nor was he less solicitous in
providing for their physical necessities. Deaconries (offices of alms)
and guest-houses were liberally endowed, and free distributions of food
were made to the poor in the convents and basilicas. The funds for these
and similar purposes were supplied from the Patrimony of St Peter--the
papal estates in Italy, the adjacent islands, Gaul, Dalmatia and Africa.
These extensive domains were usually administered by specially appointed
agents,--rectors and defensors,--who resided on the spot; but the
general superintendence devolved upon the pope. In this sphere Gregory
manifested rare capacity. He was one of the best of the papal landlords.
During his pontificate the estates increased in value, while at the same
time the real grievances of the tenants were redressed and their general
position was materially improved. Gregory's principal fault as a man of
business was that he was inclined to be too lavish of his revenues. It
is said that he even impoverished the treasury of the Roman Church by
his unlimited charities.
Within the strict bounds of his patriarchate, i.e. the churches of the
suburbicarian provinces and the islands, it was Gregory's policy to
watch with particular care over the election and discipline of the
bishops. With wise toleration he was willing to recognize local
deviations from Roman usage (e.g. in the ritual of baptism and
confirmation), yet he was resolute to withstand any unauthorized
usurpation of rights and privileges. The following rules he took pains
to enforce: that clerics in holy orders should not cohabit with their
wives or permit any women, except those allowed by the canons, to live
in their houses; that clerics accused on ecclesiastical or lesser
criminal charges should be tried only in the ecclesiastical courts; that
clerics in holy orders who had lapsed should "utterly forfeit their
orders and never again approach the ministry of the altar"; that the
revenues of each church should be divided by its bishop into four equal
parts, to be assigned to the bishop, the clergy, the poor and the repair
of the fabric of the church.
In his relations with the churches which lay outside the strict limits
of his patriarchate, in northern Italy, Spain, Gaul, Africa and
Illyricum and also in the East, Gregory consistently used his influence
to increase the prestige and authority of the Roman See. In his view
Rome, as the see of the Prince of the Apostles, was by divine right "the
head of all the churches." The decrees of councils would have no binding
force "without the authority and consent of the apostolic see": appeals
might be made to Rome against the decisions even of the patriarch of
Constantinople: all bishops, including the patriarchs, if guilty of
heresy or uncanonical proceedings, were subject to correction by the
pope. "If any fault is discovered in a bishop," Gregory wrote, "I know
of no one who is not subject to the apostolic see." It is true that
Gregory respected the rights of metropolitans and disapproved of
unnecessary interference within the sphere of their jurisdiction
canonically exercised; also that in his relations with certain churches
(e.g. those in Africa) he found it expedient to abstain from any
obtrusive assertion of Roman claims. But of his general principle there
can be no doubt. His sincere belief in the apostolic authority of the
see of St Peter, his outspoken assertion of it, the consistency and
firmness with which in practice he maintained it (e.g. in his
controversies with the bishops of Ravenna concerning the use of the
pallium, with Maximus the "usurping" bishop of Salona, and with the
patriarchs of Constantinople in respect of the title "ecumenical
bishops"), contributed greatly to build up the system of papal
absolutism. Moreover this consolidation of spiritual authority coincided
with a remarkable development of the temporal power of the papacy. In
Italy Gregory occupied an almost regal position. Taking advantage of the
opportunity which circumstances offered, he boldly stepped into the
place which the emperors had left vacant and the Lombard kings had not
the strength to seize. For the first time in history the pope appeared
as a political power, a temporal prince. He appointed governors to
cities, issued orders to generals, provided munitions of war, sent his
ambassadors to negotiate with the Lombard king and actually dared to
conclude a private peace. In this direction Gregory went farther than
any of his predecessors: he laid the foundation of a political influence
which endured for centuries. "Of the medieval papacy," says Milman, "the
real father is Gregory the Great."
The first monk to become pope, Gregory was naturally a strong supporter
of monasticism. He laid himself out to diffuse the system, and also to
carry out a reform of its abuses by enforcing a strict observance of the
Rule of St Benedict (of whom, it may be noted, he was the earliest
biographer). Two slight innovations were introduced: the minimum age of
an abbess was fixed at sixty, and the period of novitiate was prolonged
from one year to two. Gregory sought to protect the monks from episcopal
oppression by issuing _privilegia_, or charters in restraint of abuses,
in accordance with which the jurisdiction of the bishops over the
monasteries was confined to spiritual matters, all illegal aggressions
being strictly prohibited. The documents are interesting as marking the
beginning of a revolution which eventually emancipated the monks
altogether from the control of their diocesans and brought them under
the direct authority of the Holy See. Moreover Gregory strictly forbade
monks to minister in parish churches, ordaining that any monk who was
promoted to such ecclesiastical cure should lose all rights in his
monastery and should no longer reside there. "The duties of each office
separately are so weighty that no one can rightly discharge them. It is
therefore very improper that one man should be considered fit to
discharge the duties of both, and that by this means the ecclesiastical
order should interfere with the monastic life, and the rule of the
monastic life in turn interfere with the interests of the churches."
Once more, Gregory is remembered as a great organizer of missionary
enterprise for the conversion of heathens and heretics. Most important
was the two-fold mission to Britain--of St Augustine in 596, of
Mellitus, Paulinus and others in 601; but Gregory also made strenuous
efforts to uproot paganism in Gaul, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica,
Arianism in Spain, Donatism in Africa, Manichaeism in Sicily, the heresy
of the Three Chapters in Istria and northern Italy. In respect of the
methods of conversion which he advocated he was not less intolerant than
his contemporaries. Towards the Jews, however, he acted with exceptional
lenity, protecting them from persecution and securing them the enjoyment
of their legal privileges. The so-called "simoniacal heresy,"
particularly prevalent in Gaul, Illyricum and the East, be repeatedly
attacked; and against the Gallican abuse of promoting laymen to
bishoprics he protested with vigour.
The extent and character of Gregory's works in connexion with the
liturgy and the music of the church is a subject of dispute. If we are
to credit a 9th century biographer, Gregory abbreviated and otherwise
simplified the Sacramentary of Gelasius, producing a revised edition
with which his own name has become associated, and which represents the
groundwork of the modern Roman Missal. But though it is certain that he
introduced three changes in the liturgy itself (viz. the addition of
some words in the prayer _Hanc igitur_, the recitation of the Pater
Noster at the end of the Canon immediately before the fraction of the
bread, and the chanting of the Allelulia after the Gradual at other
times besides the season of Easter) and two others in the ceremonial
connected therewith (forbidding deacons to perform any musical portion
of the service except the chanting of the gospel, and subdeacons to wear
chasubles), neither the external nor the internal evidence appears to
warrant belief that the Gregorian Sacramentary is his work.
Ecclesiastical tradition further ascribes to Gregory the compilation of
an Antiphonary, the revision and rearrangement of the system of church
music, and the foundation of the Roman _schola cantorum_. It is highly
doubtful, however, whether he had anything to do either with the
Antiphonary or with the invention or revival of the _cantus planus_; it
is certain that he was not the founder of the Roman singing-school,
though he may have interested himself in its endowment and extension.
Finally, as Fourth Doctor of the Latin Church, Gregory claims the
attention of theologians. He is the link between two epochs. The last of
the great Latin Fathers and the first representative of medieval
Catholicism he brings the dogmatic theology of Tertullian, Ambrose and
Augustine into relation with the Scholastic speculation of later ages.
"He connects the Graeco-Roman with the Romano-Germanic type of
Christianity." His teaching, indeed, is neither philosophical,
systematic nor truly original. Its importance lies mainly in its simple,
popular summarization of the doctrine of Augustine (whose works Gregory
had studied with infinite care, but not always with insight), and in its
detailed exposition of various religious conceptions which were current
in the Western Church, but had not hitherto been defined with precision
(e.g. the views on angelology and demonology, on purgatory, the
Eucharistic Sacrifice, and the efficacy of relics). In his exposition of
such ideas Gregory made a distinct advance upon the older theology and
influenced profoundly the dogmatic development of the future. He
imparted a life and impulse to prevailing tendencies, helping on the
construction of the system hereafter to be completed in Scholasticism.
He gave to theology a tone and emphasis which could not be disregarded.
From his time to that of Anselm no teacher of equal eminence arose in
the Church.
Gregory died on the 12th of March 604, and was buried the same day in
the portico of the basilica of St Peter, in front of the sacristy.
Translations took place in the 9th, 15th and 17th centuries, and the
remains now rest beneath the altar in the chapel of Clement VIII. In
respect of his character, while most historians agree that he was a
really great man, some deny that he was also a great saint. The worst
blot on his fair fame is his adulatory congratulation of the murderous
usurper Phocas; though his correspondence with the Frankish queen
Brunhilda, and the series of letters to and concerning the renegade monk
Venantius also present problems which his admirers find difficult of
solution. But while it may be admitted that Gregory was inclined to be
unduly subservient to the great, so that at times he was willing to shut
his eyes to the vices and even the crimes of persons of rank; yet it
cannot fairly be denied that his character as a whole was singularly
noble and unselfish. His life was entirely dominated by the religious
motive. His sole desire was to promote the glory of God and of his
church. At all times he strove honestly to live up to the light that was
in him. "His goal," says Lau, "was always that which he acknowledged as
the best." Physically, Gregory was of medium height and good figure. His
head was large and bald, surrounded with a fringe of dark hair. His face
was well-proportioned, with brown eyes, aquiline nose, thick and red
lips, high-coloured cheeks, and prominent chin sparsely covered with a
tawny beard. His hands, with tapering fingers, were remarkable for their
beauty.
_Gregory's Works._--The following are now universally admitted to be
genuine:--_Epistolarum libri xiv._, _Moralium libri xxxv._, _Regulae
pastoralis liber_, _Dialogorum libri iv._, _Homiliarum in Ezechielem
prophetam libri ii._, _Homiliarum in Evangelia libri ii._ These are
all printed in Migne's _Patrologia Latina_. The _Epistolae_, however,
have been published separately by P. Ewald and L. M. Hartmann in the
_Monumenta Germaniae historica_ (Berlin, 1887-1899), and this splendid
edition has superseded all others. The question of the chronological
reconstruction of the _Register_ is dealt with by Ewald in his
celebrated article in the _Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere
deutsche Geschichtskunde_, iii. pp. 433-625; and briefly by T.
Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_, v. 333-343. For information about
these writings of Gregory, consult especially G. J. T. Lau, _Gregor I.
der Grosse_, pt. ii. chap. i. _Die Schriften Gregors_ and F. Homes
Dudden, _Gregory the Great_ (see Index II. B.). In addition to the
above-mentioned works there are printed under Gregory's name in
Migne's _Patrologia Latina_, vol. lxxix., the following:--_Super
Cantico Canticorum expositio_, _In librum primum Regum variarum
expositionum libri vi._, _In septem psalmos poenitentiales expositio_
and _Concordia quorundam teslimoniorum s. scripturae_. But (with the
possible exception of the first) none of these treatises are of
Gregorian authorship. See the discussions in Migne, Lau and Dudden.
AUTHORITIES.--(a) The principal ancient authorities for the life and
works of Gregory are given in their chronological order. They are:
Gregory of Tours, _Historia Francorum_, x. 1; _Liber pontificalis_,
"Vita Gregorii Magni"; Isidore of Seville, _De vir. illustr._ 40, and
Ildefonsus of Toledo, _De vir. illustr._ i.; an anonymous _Vita
Gregorii_ (of English authorship) belonging to the monastery of St
Gall, discovered by Ewald and published by F. A. Gasquet, _A Life of
Pope St Gregory the Great_ (1904); Bede, _Historia ecclesiastica_, ii.
c. 1; Paul the Deacon, _Vita Gregorii Magni_ (770-780); John the
Deacon, _Vita Gregorii_ (872-882). (b) Recent Literature: J. Barmby,
_Gregory the Great_ (1892); T. Bonsmann, _Gregor I. der Grosse, ein
Lebensbild_ (1890); F. Homes Dudden, _Gregory the Great: his place in
History and Thought_ (2 vols., 1905); G. J. T. Lau, _Gregor I. der
Grosse nach seinem Leben und seiner Lehre geschildert_ (1845); C.
Wolfsgruber, _Gregor der Grosse_ (1897). See also F. Gregorovius,
_Rome in the Middle Ages_ (Eng. trans.) ii. 16-103; T. Hodgkin, _Italy
and her Invaders_, v. cc. 7-10; H. K. Mann, _The Lives of the Popes_,
i. 1-250; F. W. Kellett, _Pope Gregory the Great and his Relations
with Gaul_; L. Pingaud, _La Politique de Saint Grégoire le Grand_; W.
Wisbaum, _Die wichtigsten Richtungen und Ziele der Tätigkeit des
Papstes Gregors des Grossen_; W. Hohaus, _Die Bedeutung Gregors des
Grossen als liturgischer Schriftsteller_; E. G. P. Wyatt, _St Gregory
and the Gregorian Music_; and the bibliographies of Gregory in
Chevalier, _Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen âge_, and A.
Potthast, _Bibliotheca historica medii aevi_. (F. H. D.)
GREGORY II., pope from 715 to 731, succeeded Constantine I., whom he
accompanied from Constantinople in 710. Gregory did all in his power to
promote the spread of Christianity in Germany, and gave special
encouragement to the mission of St Boniface, whom he consecrated bishop
in 722. He was a staunch adherent of the East Roman empire, which still
exercised sovereignty over Rome, Ravenna and some other parts of Italy,
and he impeded as far as possible the progress of the Lombards. About
726, however, he became involved in a conflict with the emperor Leo the
Isaurian on account of the excessive taxation of the Italians, and,
later, on the question of image worship, which had been proscribed by
the government of Constantinople. Leo endeavoured to rid himself of the
pope by violence, but Gregory, supported by the people of Rome and also
by the Lombards, succeeded in eluding the emperor's attacks, and died
peacefully on the 11th of February 731.
GREGORY III., pope from 731 to 741. He condemned the iconoclasts at a
council convened at Rome in November 731, and, like his predecessor
Gregory II., stimulated the missionary labours of St Boniface, on whom
he conferred the pallium. Towards the Lombards he took up an imprudent
attitude, in support of which he in vain invoked the aid of the Frankish
prince Charles Martel.
GREGORY IV., pope from 827 to 844, was chosen to succeed Valentinus in
December 827, on which occasion he recognized the supremacy of the
Frankish emperor in the most unequivocal manner. His name is chiefly
associated with the quarrels between Lothair and Louis the Pious, in
which he espoused the cause of the former, for whom, in the Campus
Mendacii (_Lügenfeld_, field of lies), as it is usually called (833), he
secured by his treachery a temporary advantage. The institution of the
feast of All Saints is usually attributed to this pope. He died on the
25th of January 844, and was succeeded by Sergius II.
GREGORY V. (Bruno), pope from 996 to 999, a great-grandson of the
emperor Otto the Great, succeeded John XV. when only twenty-four years
of age, and until the council of Pavia (997) had a rival in the person
of the anti-pope John XVI., whom the people of Rome, in revolt against
the will of the youthful emperor Otto III., had chosen after having
expelled Gregory. The most memorable acts of his pontificate were those
arising out of the contumacy of the French king, Robert, who was
ultimately brought to submission by the rigorous infliction of a
sentence of excommunication. Gregory died suddenly, and not without
suspicion of foul play, on the 18th of February 999. His successor was
Silvester II.
GREGORY VI., pope from 1045 to 1046. As Johannes Gratianus he had earned
a high reputation for learning and probity, and in 1045 he bought the
Roman pontificate from his godson Benedict IX. At a council held by the
emperor Henry III. at Sutri in 1046, he was accused of simony and
deposed. He was banished into Germany, where he died in 1047. He was
accompanied into exile by his young protégé Hildebrand (afterwards pope
as Gregory VII.), and was succeeded by Clement II. (L. D.*)
GREGORY VII., pope from 1073 to 1085. Hildebrand (the future pope) would
seem to have been born in Tuscany--perhaps Raovacum--early in the third
decade of the 11th century. The son of a plain citizen, Bunicus or
Bonizo, he came to Rome at an early age for his education; an uncle of
his being abbot of the convent of St Mary on the Aventine. His
instructors appear to have included the archpriest Johannes Gratianus,
who, by disbursing a considerable sum to Benedict IX., smoothed his way
to the papal throne and actually ascended it as Gregory VI. But when the
emperor Henry III., on his expedition to Rome (1046), terminated the
scandalous _impasse_ in which three popes laid claim to the chair of
Peter by deposing all three, Gregory VI. was banished to Germany, and
Hildebrand found himself obliged to accompany him. As he himself
afterwards admitted, it was with extreme reluctance that he crossed the
Alps. But his residence in Germany was of great educative value, and
full of significance for his later official activity. In Cologne he was
enabled to pursue his studies; he came into touch with the circles of
Lorraine where interest in the elevation of the Church and her life was
highest, and gained acquaintance with the political and ecclesiastical
circumstances of that country which was destined to figure so largely in
his career. Whether, on the death of Gregory VI. in the beginning of
1048, Hildebrand proceeded to Cluny is doubtful. His brief residence
there, if it actually occurred, is to be regarded as no more than a
visit; for he was never a monk of Cluny. His contemporaries indeed
describe him as a monk; but his entry into the convent must be assigned
to the period preceding or following his German travels and presumably
took place in Rome. He returned to that city with Bishop Bruno of Toul,
who was nominated pope under the title of Leo IX. (1048-1054). Under him
Hildebrand found his first employment in the ecclesiastical service,
becoming a sub-deacon and steward in the Roman Church. He acted,
moreover, as a legate in France, where he was occupied _inter alia_ with
the question of Berengarius of Tours, whose views on the Lord's Supper
had excited opposition. On the death of Leo IX. he was commissioned by
the Romans as their envoy to the German court, to conduct the
negotiations with regard to his successor. The emperor pronounced in
favour of Bishop Gebhard of Eichstädt, who, in the course of his short
reign as Victor II. (1055-1057), again employed Hildebrand as his legate
to France. When Stephen IX. (Frederick of Lorraine) was raised to the
papacy, without previous consultation with the German court, Hildebrand
and Bishop Anselm of Lucca were despatched to Germany to secure a
belated recognition, and he succeeded in gaining the consent of the
empress Agnes. Stephen, however, died before his return, and, by the
hasty elevation of Bishop Johannes of Velletri, the Roman aristocracy
made a last attempt to recover their lost influence on the appointment
to the papal throne--a proceeding which was charged with peril to the
Church as it implied a renewal of the disastrous patrician régime. That
the crisis was surmounted was essentially the work of Hildebrand. To
Benedict X., the aristocratic nominee, he opposed a rival pope in the
person of Bishop Gerhard of Florence, with whom the victory rested. The
reign of Nicholas II. (1059-1061) was distinguished by events which
exercised a potent influence on the policy of the Curia during the next
two decades--the _rapprochement_ with the Normans in the south of Italy,
and the alliance with the democratic and, subsequently, anti-German
movement of the Patarenes in the north. It was also under his
pontificate (1059) that the law was enacted which transferred the papal
election to the College of Cardinals, thus withdrawing it from the
nobility and populace of Rome and thrusting the German influence on one
side. It would be too much to maintain that these measures were due to
Hildebrand alone, but it is obvious that he was already a dominant
personality on the Curia, through he still held no more exalted office
than that of archdeacon, which was indeed only conferred on him in 1059.
Again, when Nicholas II. died and a new schism broke out, the
discomfiture of Honorius II. (Bishop Cadalus of Parma) and the success
of his rival (Anselm of Lucca) must be ascribed principally, if not
entirely, to Hildebrand's opposition to the former. Under the sway of
Alexander II. (1061-1073) this man loomed larger and larger in the eye
of his contemporaries as the soul of the Curial policy. It must be
confessed the general political conditions, especially in Germany, were
at that period exceptionally favourable to the Curia, but to utilize
them with the sagacity actually shown was nevertheless no slight
achievement, and the position of Alexander at the end of his pontificate
was a brilliant justification of the Hildebrandine statecraft.
On the death of Alexander II. (April 21, 1073), Hildebrand became pope
and took the style of Gregory VII. The mode of his election was bitterly
assailed by his opponents. True, many of the charges preferred are
obviously the emanations of scandal and personal dislike, liable to
suspicion from the very fact that they were not raised to impugn his
promotion till several years had elapsed (_c._ 1076); still it is plain
from his own account of the circumstances of his elevation that it was
conducted in extremely irregular fashion, and that the forms prescribed
by the law of 1059 were not observed. But the sequel justified his
election--of which the worst that can be said is that there was no
general suffrage. And this sequel again owed none of its success to
chance, but was the fruit of his own exertions. In his character were
united wide experience and great energy tested in difficult situations.
It is proof of the popular faith in his qualifications that, although
the circumstances of his election invited assault in 1073, no sort of
attempt was then made to set up a rival pontiff. When, however, the
opposition which took head against him had gone so far as to produce a
pretender to the chair, his long and undisputed possession tended to
prove the original legality of his papacy; and the appeal to
irregularities at its beginning not only lost all cogency but assumed
the appearance of a mere biased attack. On the 22nd of May he received
sacerdotal ordination, and on the 30th of June episcopal consecration;
the empress Agnes and the duchess Beatrice of Tuscany being present at
the ceremony, in addition to Bishop Gregory of Vercelli, the chancellor
of the German king, to whom Gregory would thus seem to have communicated
the result of the election.
The focus of the ecclesiastico-political projects of Gregory VII. is to
be found in his relationship with Germany. Since the death of Henry III.
the strength of the monarchy in that country had been seriously
impaired, and his son Henry IV. had to contend with great internal
difficulties. This state of affairs was of material assistance to the
pope. His advantage was still further accentuated by the fact that in
1073 Henry was but twenty-three years of age and by temperament inclined
to precipitate action. Many sharp lessons were needful before he learned
to bridle his impetuosity, and he lacked the support and advice of a
disinterested and experienced statesman. Such being the conditions, a
conflict between Gregory VII. and Henry IV. could have only one
issue--the victory of the former.
In the two following years Henry was compelled by the Saxon rebellion to
come to amicable terms with the pope at any cost. Consequently in May
1074 he did penance at Nuremberg in presence of the legates to expiate
his continued intimacy with the members of his council banned by
Gregory, took an oath of obedience, and promised his support in the work
of reforming the Church. This attitude, however, which at first won him
the confidence of the pope, he abandoned so soon as he gained the upper
hand of the Saxons: this he achieved by his victory at Hohenburg on the
Unstrut (June 9, 1075). He now attempted to reassert his rights of
suzerain in upper Italy without delay. He sent Count Eberhard to
Lombardy to combat the Patarenes; nominated the cleric Tedaldo to the
archbishopric of Milan, thus settling a prolonged and contentious
question; and finally endeavoured to establish relations with the Norman
duke, Robert Guiscard. Gregory VII. answered with a rough letter, dated
December 8, in which--among other charges--he reproached the German king
with breach of his word and with his further countenance of the
excommunicated councillors; while at the same time he sent by word of
mouth a brusque message intimating that the enormous crimes which would
be laid to his account rendered him liable, not only to the ban of the
church, but to the deprivation of his crown. Gregory ventured on these
audacious measures at a time when he himself was confronted by a
reckless opponent in the person of Cencius, who on Christmas-night did
not scruple to surprise him in church and carry him off as a prisoner,
though on the following day he was obliged to surrender his captive. The
reprimands of the pope, couched as they were in such an unprecedented
form, infuriated Henry and his court, and their answer was the hastily
convened national council in Worms, which met on the 24th of January
1076. In the higher ranks of the German clergy Gregory had many enemies,
and a Roman cardinal, Hugo Candidus, once on intimate terms with him but
now at variance, had made a hurried expedition to Germany for the
occasion and appeared at Worms with the rest. All the gross scandals
with regard to the pontiff that this prelate could utter were greedily
received by the assembly, which committed itself to the ill-considered
and disastrous resolution that Gregory had forfeited his papal dignity.
In a document full of accusations the bishops renounced their
allegiance. In another King Henry pronounced him deposed, and the Romans
were required to choose a new occupant for the vacant chair of St Peter.
With the utmost haste two bishops were despatched to Italy in company
with Count Eberhard under commission of the council, and they succeeded
in procuring a similar act of deposition from the Lombard bishops in the
synod of Piacenza. The communication of these decisions to the pope was
undertaken by the priest Roland of Parma, and he was fortunate enough to
gain an opportunity for speech in the synod, which had barely assembled
in the Lateran church, and there to deliver his message announcing the
dethronement of the pontiff. For the moment the members were petrified
with horror, but soon such a storm of indignation was aroused that it
was only due to the moderation of Gregory himself that the envoy was not
cut down on the spot. On the following day the pope pronounced the
sentence of excommunication against the German king with all formal
solemnity, divested him of his royal dignity and absolved his subjects
from the oaths they had sworn to him. This sentence purported to eject
the king from the church and to strip him of his crown. Whether it would
produce this effect, or whether it would remain an idle threat, depended
not on the author of the verdict, but on the subjects of Henry--before
all, on the German princes. We know from contemporary evidence that the
excommunication of the king made a profound impression both in Germany
and Italy. Thirty years before, Henry III. had deposed three popes, and
thereby rendered a great and acknowledged service to the church. When
Henry IV. attempted to copy this summary procedure he came to grief, for
he lacked the support of the people. In Germany there was a speedy and
general revulsion of sentiment in favour of Gregory, and the
particularism of the princes utilized the auspicious moment for
prosecuting their anti-regal policy under the cloak of respect for the
papal decision. When at Whitsuntide the king proposed to discuss the
measures to be taken against Gregory in a council of his nobles at
Mainz, only a few made their appearance; the Saxons snatched at the
golden opportunity for renewing their insurrection and the anti-royalist
party grew in strength from month to month. The situation now became
extremely critical for Henry. As a result of the agitation, which was
zealously fostered by the papal legate Bishop Altmann of Passau, the
princes met in October at Tribur to elect a new German king, and Henry,
who was stationed at Oppenheim on the left bank of the Rhine, was only
saved from the loss of his sceptre by the failure of the assembled
princes to agree on the question of his successor. Their dissension,
however, merely induced them to postpone the verdict. Henry, they
declared, must make reparation to the pope and pledge himself to
obedience; and they settled that, if, on the anniversary of his
excommunication, he still lay under the ban, the throne should be
considered vacant. At the same time they determined to invite Gregory to
Augsburg, there to decide the conflict. These arrangements showed Henry
the course to be pursued. It was imperative, under any circumstances and
at any price, to secure his absolution from Gregory before the period
named, otherwise he could scarcely foil his opponents in their intention
to pursue their attack against himself and justify their measures by an
appeal to his excommunication. At first he attempted to attain his ends
by an embassy, but when Gregory rejected his overtures he took the
celebrated step of going to Italy in person. The pope had already left
Rome, and had intimated to the German princes that he would expect their
escort for his journey on January 8 in Mantua. But this escort had not
appeared when he received the news of the king's arrival. Henry, who
travelled through Burgundy, had been greeted with wild enthusiasm by the
Lombards, but resisted the temptation to employ force against Gregory.
He chose instead the unexpected and unusual, but, as events proved, the
safest course, and determined to compel the pope to grant him absolution
by doing penance before him at Canossa, where he had taken refuge. This
occurrence was quickly embellished and inwoven by legend, and great
uncertainty still prevails with regard to several important points. The
reconciliation was only effected after prolonged negotiations and
definite pledges on the part of the king, and it was with reluctance
that Gregory at length gave way, for, if he conferred his absolution,
the diet of princes in Augsburg, in which he might reasonably hope to
act as arbitrator, would either be rendered purposeless, or, if it met
at all, would wear an entirely different character. It was impossible,
however, to deny the penitent re-entrance into the church, and the
politician had in this case to be subordinated to the priest. Still the
removal of the ban did not imply a genuine reconciliation, and no basis
was gained for a settlement of the great questions at issue--notably
that of investiture. A new conflict was indeed inevitable from the very
fact that Henry IV. naturally considered the sentence of deposition
repealed with that of excommunication; while Gregory on the other hand,
intent on reserving his freedom of action, gave no hint on the subject
at Canossa.
That the excommunication of Henry IV. was simply a pretext--not a
motive--for the opposition of the rebellious German nobles is manifest.
For not only did they persist in their policy after his absolution, but
they took the more decided step of setting up a rival king in the person
of Duke Rudolph of Swabia (Forchheim, March 1077). At the election the
papal legates present observed the appearance of neutrality, and Gregory
himself sought to maintain this attitude during the following years. His
task was the easier in that the two parties were of fairly equal
strength, each endeavouring to gain the upper hand by the accession of
the pope to their side. But his hopes and labours, with the object of
receiving an appeal to act as arbitrator in the dynastic strife, were
fruitless, and the result of his non-committal policy was that he
forfeited in large measure the confidence of both parties. Finally he
decided for Rudolph of Swabia in consequence of his victory at
Flarchheim (January 27, 1080). Under pressure from the Saxons, and
misinformed as to the significance of this battle, Gregory abandoned his
waiting policy and again pronounced the excommunication and deposition
of King Henry (March 7, 1080), unloosing at the same time all oaths
sworn to him in the past or the future. But the papal censure now proved
a very different thing from the papal censure four years previously. In
wide circles it was felt to be an injustice, and men began to put the
question--so dangerous to the prestige of the pope--whether an
excommunication pronounced on frivolous grounds was entitled to respect.
To make matters worse, Rudolph of Swabia died on the 16th of October of
the same year. True, a new claimant--Hermann of Luxemburg--was put
forward in August 1081, but his personality was ill adapted for a leader
of the Gregorian party in Germany, and the power of Henry IV. was in the
ascendant. The king, who had now been schooled by experience, took up
the struggle thus forced upon him with great vigour. He refused to
acknowledge the ban on the ground of illegality. A council had been
summoned at Brixen, and on the 25th of June 1080 it pronounced Gregory
deposed and nominated the archbishop Guibert of Ravenna as his
successor--a policy of anti-king, anti-pope. In 1081 Henry opened the
conflict against Gregory in Italy. The latter had now fallen on evil
days, and he lived to see thirteen cardinals desert him, Rome
surrendered by the Romans to the German king, Guibert of Ravenna
enthroned as Clement III. (March 24, 1084), and Henry crowned emperor by
his rival, while he himself was constrained to flee from Rome.
The relations of Gregory to the remaining European states were
powerfully influenced by his German policy; for Germany, by engrossing
the bulk of his powers, not infrequently compelled him to show to other
rulers that moderation and forbearance which he withheld from the German
king. The attitude of the Normans brought him a rude awakening. The
great concessions made to them under Nicholas II. were not only
powerless to stem their advance into central Italy but failed to secure
even the expected protection for the papacy. When Gregory was hard
pressed by Henry IV., Robert Guiscard left him to his fate, and only
interfered when he himself was menaced with the German arms. Then, on
the capture of Rome, he abandoned the city to the tender mercies of his
warriors, and by the popular indignation evoked by his act brought about
the banishment of Gregory.
In the case of several countries, Gregory attempted to establish a claim
of suzerainty on the part of the see of St Peter, and to secure the
recognition of its self-asserted rights of possession. On the ground of
"immemorial usage" Corsica and Sardinia were assumed to belong to the
Roman Church. Spain and Hungary were also claimed as her property, and
an attempt was made to induce the king of Denmark to hold his realm as a
fief from the pope. Philip I. of France, by his simony and the violence
of his proceedings against the church, provoked a threat of summary
measures; and excommunication, deposition and the interdict, appeared to
be imminent in 1074. Gregory, however, refrained from translating his
menaces into actions, although the attitude of the king showed no
change, for he wished to avoid a dispersion of his strength in the
conflict soon to break out in Germany. In England, again, William the
Conqueror derived no less benefit from this state of affairs. He felt
himself so safe that he interfered autocratically with the management of
the church, forbade the bishops to visit Rome, filled bishoprics and
abbeys, and evinced little anxiety when the pope expatiated to him on
the different principles which he entertained as to the relationship of
church and state, or when he prohibited him from commerce or commanded
him to acknowledge himself a vassal of the apostolic chair. Gregory had
no power to compel the English king to an alteration in his
ecclesiastical policy, so chose to ignore what he could not approve, and
even considered it advisable to assure him of his particular affection.
Gregory, in fact, established relations--if no more--with every land in
Christendom; though these relations did not invariably realize the
ecclesiastico-political hopes connected with them. His correspondence
extended to Poland, Russia and Bohemia. He wrote in friendly terms to
the Saracen king of Mauretania in north Africa, and attempted, though
without success, to bring the Armenians into closer contact with Rome.
The East, especially, claimed his interest. The ecclesiastical rupture
between the bishops of Rome and Byzantium was a severe blow to him, and
he laboured hard to restore the former amicable relationship. At that
period it was impossible to suspect that the schism implied a definite
separation, for prolonged schisms had existed in past centuries, but had
always been surmounted in the end. Both sides, moreover, had an
interest in repairing the breach between the churches. Thus,
immediately on his accession to the pontificate, Gregory sought to come
into touch with the emperor Michael VII. and succeeded. When the news of
the Saracenic outrages on the Christians in the East filtered to Rome,
and the political embarrassments of the Byzantine emperor increased, he
conceived the project of a great military expedition and exhorted the
faithful to participation in the task of recovering the sepulchre of the
Lord (1074). Thus the idea of a crusade to the Holy Land already floated
before Gregory's vision, and his intention was to place himself at the
head. But the hour for such a gigantic enterprise was not yet come, and
the impending struggle with Henry IV. turned his energies into another
channel.
In his treatment of ecclesiastical policy and ecclesiastical reform,
Gregory did not stand alone, but on the contrary found powerful support.
Since the middle of the 11th century the tendency--mainly represented by
Cluny--towards a stricter morality and a more earnest attitude to life,
especially on the part of the clergy, had converted the papacy; and,
from Leo IX. onward, the popes had taken the lead in the movement. Even
before his election, Gregory had gained the confidence of these circles,
and, when he assumed the guidance of the church, they laboured for him
with extreme devotion. From his letters we see how he fostered his
connexion with them and stimulated their zeal, how he strove to awake
the consciousness that his cause was the cause of God and that to
further it was to render service to God. By this means he created a
personal party, unconditionally attached to himself, and he had his
confidants in every country. In Italy Bishop Anselm of Lucca, to take an
example, belonged to their number. Again, the duchess Beatrice of
Tuscany and her daughter the Margravine Matilda, who put her great
wealth at his disposal, were of inestimable service. The empress Agnes
also adhered to his cause. In upper Italy the Patarenes had worked for
him in many ways, and all who stood for their objects stood for the
pope. In Germany at the beginning of his reign the higher ranks of the
clergy stood aloof from him and were confirmed in their attitude by some
of his regulations. But Bishop Altmann of Passau, who has already been
mentioned, and Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg, were among his most
zealous followers. That the convent of Hirschau in Swabia was held by
Gregory was a fact of much significance, for its monks spread over the
land as itinerant agitators and accomplished much for him in southern
Germany. In England Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury probably stood
closest to him; in France his champion was Bishop Hugo of Dié, who
afterwards ascended the archiepiscopal chair of Lyons.
The whole life-work of Gregory VII. was based on his conviction that the
church has been founded by God and entrusted with the task of embracing
all mankind in a single society in which His will is the only law; that,
in her capacity as a divine institution, she outtops all human
structures; and that the pope, _qua_ head of the church, is the
vice-regent of God on earth, so that disobedience to him implies
disobedience to God--or, in other words, a defection from Christianity.
Elaborating an idea discoverable in St Augustine, he looked on the
worldly state--a purely human creation--as an unhallowed edifice whose
character is sufficiently manifest from the fact that it abolishes the
equality of man, and that it is built up by violence and injustice. He
developed these views in a famous series of letters to Bishop Hermann of
Metz. But it is clear from the outset that we are only dealing with
reflections of strictly theoretical importance; for any attempt to
interpret them in terms of action would have bound the church to
annihilate not merely a single definite state, but all states. Thus
Gregory, as a politician desirous of achieving some result, was driven
in practice to adopt a different standpoint. He acknowledged the
existence of the state as a dispensation of Providence, described the
coexistence of church and state as a divine ordinance, and emphasized
the necessity of union between the _sacerdotium_ and the _imperium_. But
at no period would he have dreamed of putting the two powers on an
equality; the superiority of church to state was to him a fact which
admitted of no discussion and which he had never doubted. Again, this
very superiority of the church implied in his eyes a superiority of the
papacy, and he did not shrink from drawing the extreme conclusions from
these premises. In other words, he claimed the right of excommunicating
and deposing incapable monarchs, and of confirming the choice of their
successors. This habit of thought needs to be appreciated in order to
understand his efforts to bring individual states into feudal subjection
to the chair of St Peter. It was no mere question of formality, but the
first step to the realization of his ideal theocracy comprising each and
every state.
Since this papal conception of the state involved the exclusion of
independence and autonomy, the history of the relationship between
church and state is the history of one continued struggle. In the time
of Gregory it was the question of appointment to spiritual offices--the
so-called _investiture_--which brought the theoretical controversy to a
head. The preparatory steps had already been taken by Leo IX., and the
subsequent popes had advanced still further on the path he indicated;
but it was reserved for Gregory and his enactments to provoke the
outbreak of the great conflict which dominated the following decades. By
the first law (1075) the right of investiture for churches was in
general terms denied to the laity. In 1078 neglect of this prohibition
was made punishable by excommunication, and, by a further decree of the
same year, every investiture conferred by a layman was declared invalid
and its acceptance pronounced liable to penalty. It was, moreover,
enacted that every layman should restore, under pain of excommunication,
all lands of the church, held by him as fiefs from princes or clerics;
and that, henceforward, the assent of the pope, the archbishop, &c., was
requisite for any investiture of ecclesiastical property. Finally in
1080 the forms regulating the canonical appointment to a bishopric were
promulgated. In case of a vacancy the election was to be conducted by
the people and clergy under the auspices of a bishop nominated by the
pope or metropolitan; after which the consent of the pope or archbishop
was to be procured; if any violation of these injunctions occurred, the
election should be null and void and the right of choice pass to the
pope or metropolitan. In so legislating, Gregory had two objects: in the
first place, to withdraw the appointment to episcopal offices from the
influence of the king; in the second, to replace that influence by his
own. The intention was not to increase the power of the metropolitan: he
simply desired that the nomination of bishops by the pope should be
substituted for the prevalent nomination of bishops by the king. But in
this course of action Gregory had a still more ambitious goal before his
eyes. If he could once succeed in abolishing the lay investiture the
king would, _ipso facto_, be deprived of his control over the great
possessions assigned to the church by himself and his predecessors, and
he could have no security that the duties and services attached to those
possessions would continue to be discharged for the benefit of the
Empire. The bishops in fact were to retain their position as princes of
the Empire, with all the lands and rights of supremacy pertaining to
them in that capacity, but the bond between them and the Empire was to
be dissolved: they were to owe allegiance not to the king, but to the
pope--a non-German sovereign who, in consequence of the Italian policy
of the German monarchy, found himself in perpetual opposition to
Germany. Thus, by his ecclesiastical legislation, Gregory attempted to
shake the very foundations on which the constitution of the German
empire rested, while completely ignoring the historical development of
that constitution (see INVESTITURE).
That energy which Gregory threw into the expansion of the papal
authority, and which brought him into collision with the secular powers,
was manifested no less in the internal government of the church. He
wished to see all important matters of dispute referred to Rome; appeals
were to be addressed to himself, and he arrogated the right of
legislation. The fact that his laws were usually promulgated by Roman
synods which he convened during Lent does not imply that these possessed
an independent position; on the contrary, they were entirely dominated
by his influence, and were no more than the instruments of his will.
The centralization of ecclesiastical government in Rome naturally
involved a curtailment of the powers of the bishops and metropolitans.
Since these in part refused to submit voluntarily and attempted to
assert their traditional independence, the pontificate of Gregory is
crowded with struggles against the higher ranks of the prelacy. Among
the methods he employed to break their power of resistance, the despatch
of legates proved peculiarly effective. The regulation, again, that the
metropolitans should apply at Rome in person for the pallium--pronounced
essential to their qualifications for office--served to school them in
humility.
This battle for the foundation of papal omnipotence within the church is
connected with his championship of compulsory celibacy among the clergy
and his attack on simony. Gregory VII. did not introduce the celibacy of
the priesthood into the church, for even in antiquity it was enjoined by
numerous laws. He was not even the first pope to renew the injunction in
the 11th century, for legislation on the question begins as early as in
the reign of Leo IX. But he took up the struggle with greater energy and
persistence than his predecessors. In 1074 he published an encyclical,
requiring all to renounce their obedience to those bishops who showed
indulgence to their clergy in the matter of celibacy. In the following
year he commanded the laity to accept no official ministrations from
married priests and to rise against all such. He further deprived these
clerics of their revenues. Wherever these enactments were proclaimed
they encountered tenacious opposition, and violent scenes were not
infrequent, as the custom of marriage was widely diffused throughout the
contemporary priesthood. Other decrees were issued by Gregory in
subsequent years, but were now couched in milder terms, since it was no
part of his interest to increase the numbers of the German faction. As
to the objectionable nature of simony--the transference or acquisition
of a spiritual office for monetary considerations--no doubt could exist
in the mind of an earnest Christian, and no theoretical justification
was ever attempted. The practice, however, had attained great dimensions
both among the clergy and the laity, and the sharp campaign, which had
been waged since the days of Leo IX., had done little to limit its
scope. The reason was that in many cases it had assumed an extremely
subtle form, and detection was difficult when the simony took the
character of a tax or an honorarium. The fact, again, that lay
investiture was described as simony, inevitably brought with it an
element of confusion, and, in the case of a charge of simoniacal
practices, enormously accentuates the difficulty of determining the
actual state of affairs. The war against simony in its original form was
undoubtedly necessary, but it led to highly complicated and problematic
issues. Was the priest or bishop, whose ordination was due to simony,
actually in the possession of the sacerdotal or episcopal power or not?
If the answer was in the affirmative, it would seem possible to buy the
Holy Ghost; if in the negative, then obviously all the official acts of
the respective priest or bishop--which, according to the doctrine of the
church, presupposed the possession of a spiritual quality--were invalid.
And, since the number of simoniacal bishops was at that period extremely
large, incalculable consequences resulted. The difficulty of the problem
accounts for the diversity of solutions propounded. The perplexity of
the situation was aggravated by the fact that, if the stricter view was
adopted, it followed that the sacrament of ordination must be pronounced
invalid, even in the cases where it had been unconsciously sought at the
hands of a simoniac, for the dispenser was in point of fact no bishop,
although he exercised the episcopal functions and his transgressions
were unknown, and consequently it was impossible for him to ordain
others. In the time of Gregory the conflict was still swaying to and
fro, and he himself in 1078 declared consecration by a simoniac null and
void.
The pontificate of Gregory VII. came to a melancholy close, for he died
an exile in Salerno; the Romans and a number of his most trusted
coadjutors had renounced him, and the faithful band in Germany had
shrunk to scant proportions. Too much the politician, too rough in his
methods, too exclusively the representative of the Roman see and its
interests, he had gained more enemies than friends. He was of course a
master of statecraft; he had pursued political ends with consummate
skill, causing them to masquerade as requirements of religion; but he
forgot that incitement to civil war, the preaching of rebellion, and the
release of subjects from their oaths, were methods which must infallibly
lead to moral anarchy, and tend, with justice, to stifle the confidence
once felt in him. The more he accustomed his contemporaries to the
belief that any and every measure--so long as it opened up some prospect
of success--was good in his sight, no matter how dangerous the fruits it
might mature, the fainter grew their perception of the fact that he was
not only a statesman but primarily the head of the Christian Church.
That the frail bonds of piety and religious veneration for the chair of
St Peter had given way in the struggle for power was obvious to all,
when he himself lost that power and the star of his opponent was in the
ascendant. He had given the rein to his splendid gifts as a ruler, and
in his capacity of pope he omitted to provide an equivalent
counterpoise. We are told that he was once an impressive preacher, and
he could write to his faithful countesses in terms which prove that he
was not wanting in religious feeling; but in the whirlpool of secular
politics this phase of his character was never sufficiently developed to
allow the vice-gerent of Christ to be heard instead of the hierarch in
his official acts.
But to estimate the pontificate of Gregory by the disasters of its
closing years would be to misconceive its significance for the history
of the papacy entirely. On the contrary, his reign forms an important
chapter in the history of the popedom as an institution; it contains the
germs of far-reaching modifications of the church, and it gave new
impulses to both theory and practice, the value of which may indeed be
differently estimated, but of which the effects are indubitable. It was
he who conceived and formulated the ideal of the papacy as a structure
embracing all peoples and lands. He took the first step towards the
codification of ecclesiastical law and the definite ratification of the
claims of the apostolic chair as corner-stones in the church's
foundation. He educated the clergy and the lay world in obedience to
Rome; and, finally, it was due to his efforts that the duty of the
priest with regard to sexual abstinence was never afterwards a matter of
doubt in the Catholic Christianity of the West.
On the 25th of May 1085 he died, unbroken by the misfortunes of his last
years, and unshaken in his self-certainty. _Dilexi justitiam et odivi
iniquitatem: propterea morior in exilio_--are said to have been his last
words. In 1584 Gregory XIII. received him into the _Martyrologium
Romanum_; in 1606 he was canonized by Paul V. The words dedicated to him
in the _Breviarium Romanum_, for May 25, contain such an apotheosis of
his pontificate that in the 18th and 19th centuries they were prohibited
by the governments of several countries with Roman Catholic populations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--A comprehensive survey of the sources and literature
for the history of Gregory VII. is given by C. Mirbt, s.v. "Gregor
VII." in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopädie_, 3rd ed. vol. vii. pp. 96
sqq. The main source for the reign of Gregory consists of his letters
and decrees, the greater part of which are collected in the
_Registrum_ (ed. P. Jaffé, _Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum_, ii.,
Berlin, 1865). The letters preserved in addition to this official
collection are also reprinted by Jaffé under the title of _Epistolae
collectae_. The _Dictatus Papae_--a list of twenty-seven short
sentences on the rights of the pope,--which is given in the
_Registrum_, is not the work of Gregory VII., but should probably be
ascribed to Cardinal Deusdedit. Further: A. Potthast, _Bibliotheca
historica medii aevi_, i. (2nd ed., Berlin, 1896), pp. 541 sq., ii.
1351; P. Jaffé, _Regesta pontificum_ (2nd ed., 1865), tome i. pp.
594-649, Nr. 4771-5313, tome ii. p. 751. The most important letters
and decrees of Gregory VII. are reprinted by C. Mirbt, _Quellen zur
Geschichte des Papsttums_ (2nd ed., Tübingen, 1901), Nr. 183 sqq., pp.
100 sqq. The oldest life of Gregory is that by Paul von Bermried,
reprinted, e.g. by Watterich, _Vitae pontificum_, i. 474-546. Among
the historians the following are of especial importance: Berthold,
Bernold, Lambert von Hersfeld, Bruno, Marianus Scotus, Leo of Ostia,
Peter of Marte Cassino, Sigebert of Gembloux, Hugo of Flavigny,
Arnulph and Landulf of Milan, Donizo--their works being reprinted in
the section "Scriptores" in the _Monumenta Germaniae historica_, vols.
v., vi., vii., viii., xii. The struggles which broke out under Gregory
VII. and were partially continued in the subsequent decades gave rise
to a pamphlet literature which is of extreme importance for their
internal history. The extant materials vary greatly in extent, and
display much diversity from the literary-historical point of view.
Most of them are printed in the _Monumenta Germaniae_, under the
title, _Libelli de lite imperatorum et pontificum saeculis XI. et XII.
conscripti_, tome i. (Hanover, 1891), tome ii. (1892), tome iii.
(1897). The scientific investigation of the Gregorian age has received
enormous benefit from the critical editions of the sources in the
_Monumenta Germaniae_, so that the old literature is for the most part
antiquated. This is true even of the great monograph on this pope--A.
F. Gfrörer, _Papst Gregorius VII. und sein Zeitalter_ (7 vols.,
Schaffhausen, 1859-1861), which must be used with extreme caution. The
present state of criticism is represented by the following works: G.
Meyer von Knonau, _Jahrbücher des deutschen Reichs unter Heinrich IV.
und Heinrich V._, vol. i. (Leipzig, 1890), ii. (1894), iii. (1900),
iv. (1903); W. Martens, _Gregor VII., sein Leben und Werken_ (2 vols.,
Leipzig, 1904); C. Mirbt, _Die Publizistik im Zeitalter Gregors VII._
(Leipzig, 1894); A. Hauck, _Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_ (3 vols.,
Leipzig, 1894). The special literature on individual events during the
Gregorian pontificate is so extensive that no list can be given here.
On Gregory's elevation to the chair, cf. C. Mirbt, _Die Wahl Gregors
VII._ (Marburg, 1892). See also A. H. Mathew, D.D., _Life and Times of
Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII._ (1910). (C. M.)
GREGORY VIII. (_Mauritius Burdinus_), antipope from 1118 to 1121, was a
native of southern France, who had crossed the Pyrenees while young and
had later been made archbishop of Braga. Suspended by Paschal II. in
1114 on account of a dispute with the Spanish primate and papal legate,
the archbishop of Toledo, he went to Rome and regained favour to such an
extent that he was employed by the pope on important legations. He
opposed the extreme Hildebrandine policy, and, on the refusal of
Gelasius II. to concede the emperor's claim to investiture, he was
proclaimed pope at Rome by Henry V. on the 8th of March 1118. He was not
universally recognized, however, and never fully enjoyed the papal
office. He was excommunicated by Gelasius II. in April 1118, and by
Calixtus II. at the synod of Reims (October 1119). He was driven from
Rome by the latter in June 1121, and, having been surrendered by the
citizens of Sutri, he was forced to accompany in ridiculous guise the
triumphal procession of Calixtus through Rome. He was exiled to the
convent of La Cava, where he died.
The life of Gregory VIII. by Baluzius in _Baluzii miscellanea_, vol.
i, ed. by J. D. Mansi (Lucca, 1761), is an excellent vindication of an
antipope. The chief sources are in _Monumenta Germaniae historica_,
_Scriptores_, vols. 5 and 20, and in J. M. Watterich, _Pontif. Roman.
vitae_, vol. 2. See C. Mirbt, _Die Publizistik im Zeitalter Gregors
VII._ (Leipzig, 1894); J. Langen, _Geschichte der römischen Kirche von
Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III._ (Bonn, 1893); Jaffé, _Regesta pontif.
Roman._, 2nd ed., (1885-1888); K. J. von Hefele,
_Conciliengeschichte_, Bd. 5, 2nd ed.; F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the
Middle Ages_, vol. 4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London,
1900-1902); P. B. Gams, _Kirchengeschichte von Spanien_, vol. 3
(Regensburg, 1876).
GREGORY VIII. (_Alberto de Mora_), pope from the 21st of October to the
17th of December 1187, a native of Benevento and Praemonstratensian
monk, successively abbot of St Martin at Laon, cardinal-deacon of San'
Adriano al foro, cardinal-priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina, and
chancellor of the Roman Church, was elected to succeed Urban III. Of
amiable disposition, he hastened to make peace with Henry VI. and
promised not to oppose the latter's claim to Sicily. He addressed
general letters both to the bishops, reminding them of their duties to
the Roman Church, especially of their required visits _ad limina_, and
to the whole Christian people, urging a new crusade to recover
Jerusalem. He died at Pisa while engaged in making peace between the
Pisans and Genoese in order to secure the help of both cities in the
crusade. His successor was Clement III.
His letters are in J. P. Migne, _Patrol. Lat._ vol. 202. Consult also
J. M. Watterich, _Pontif. Roman. vitae_, vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1862), and
Jaffé-Wattenbach, _Regesta pontif. Roman._ (1885-1888). See J. Langen,
_Geschichte der römischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III._
(Bonn, 1893); P. Nadig, _Gregors VIII. 57 tägiges Pontifikat_ (Basel,
1890); P. Scheffer-Boichorst, _Friedrichs I. letzter Streit mit der
Kurie_ (Berlin, 1866); F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the Middle Ages_, vol.
4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1896).
GREGORY IX. (_Ugolino Conti de Segni_), pope from the 19th of March
1227, to the 22nd of August 1241, was a nobleman of Anagni and probably
a nephew of Innocent III. He studied at Paris and Bologna, and, having
been successively archpriest of St Peter's, papal chaplain,
cardinal-deacon of Sant' Eustachio, cardinal-bishop of Ostia, the first
protector of the Franciscan order, and papal legate in Germany under
Innocent III., and Honorius III., he succeeded the latter in the papacy.
He had long been on friendly terms with the emperor Frederick II., but
now excommunicated him (29th of September 1227) for continued neglect of
his vows and refusal to undertake the crusade. When Frederick finally
set out the following June without making submission to the pope,
Gregory raised an insurrection against him in Germany, and forced him in
1230 to beg for absolution. The Romans, however, soon began a very
bitter war against the temporal power and exiled the pope (1st of June
1231). Hardly had this contest been brought to an end favourable to the
papacy (May 1235) when Gregory came into fresh conflict with Frederick
II. He again excommunicated the emperor and released his subjects from
their allegiance (24th of March 1239). Frederick, on his side, invaded
the Papal States and prevented the assembling of a general council
convoked for Easter 1241. The work of Gregory, however, was by no means
limited to his relations with emperor and Romans. He systematized the
Inquisition and entrusted it to the Dominicans; his rules against
heretics remained in force until the time of Sixtus V. He supported
Henry III. against the English barons, and protested against the
Pragmatic Sanction of Louis IX. of France. He sent monks to
Constantinople to negotiate with the Greeks for church unity, but
without result. He canonized Saints Elizabeth of Thuringia, Dominic,
Anthony of Padua and Francis of Assisi. He permitted free study of the
Aristotelian writings, and issued (1234), through his chaplain, Raymond
of Pennaforte, an important new compilation of decretals which he
prescribed in the bull _Rex pacificus_ should be the standard text-book
in canon law at the universities of Bologna and Paris. Gregory was famed
for his learning and eloquence, his blameless life, and his great
strength of character. He died on the 22nd of August 1241, while
Frederick II. was advancing against him, and was succeeded by Celestine
IV.
For the life of Gregory IX., consult his Letters in _Monumenta
Germaniae historica, Epistolae saeculi XIII. e regestis pontif. Roman.
selectae_ (Berlin, 1883); "Les Registres de Grégoire IX," ed. L.
Auvray in _Bibliothèque des écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome_
(Paris, 1890-1905); A. Potthast, _Regesta pontif. Roman._ (Berlin,
1875) and "Registri dei Cardinali Ugolino d' Ostia et Ottaviano degli
Ubaldini," ed. G. Levi in _Fonti per la storia d' Italia_ (1890). See
J. Felten, _Papst Gregor IX._ (Freiburg i. B., 1886); J. Marx, _Die
Vita Gregorii IX. quellenkritisch untersucht_ (1889); P. Balan,
_Storia di Gregorio IX e dei suoi tempi_ (3 vols., Modena, 1872-1873);
F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the Middle Ages_, vol. 5, trans. by Mrs G. W.
Hamilton (London, 1900-1902); H. H. Milman, _Latin Christianity_, vol.
5 (London, 1899); R. Honig, _Rapporti tra Federico II e Gregorio IX
rispetto alla spedizione in Palestina_ (1896); P. T. Masetti, _I
Pontefici Onorio III, Gregorio IX ed Innocenzo IV a fronte dell'
Imperatore Federico II nel secolo XIII_ (1884); T. Frantz, _Der grosse
Kampf zwischen Kaisertum u. Papsttum zur Zeit des Hohenstaufen
Friedrich II._ (Berlin, 1903); W. Norden, _Das Papsttum u. Byzanz_
(Berlin, 1903). An exhaustive bibliography and an excellent article on
Gregory by Carl Mirbt are to be found in Hauck's _Realencyklopädie_,
3rd edition.
GREGORY X. (_Tebaldo Visconti_), pope from the 1st of September 1271, to
the 10th of January 1276, was born at Piacenza in 1208, studied for the
church, and became archdeacon of Liége. The eighteen cardinals who met
to elect a successor to Clement IV. were divided into French and Italian
factions, which wrangled over the election for nearly three years in the
midst of great popular excitement, until finally, stirred by the
eloquence of St Bonaventura, the Franciscan monk, they entrusted the
choice to six electors, who hit on Visconti, at that time accompanying
Edward of England on the crusade. He returned to Rome and was ordained
priest on the 19th of March 1272, and consecrated on the 27th. He at
once summoned the fourteenth general council of the Catholic Church,
which met at Lyons in 1274, with an attendance of some 1600 prelates,
for the purpose of considering the eastern schism, the condition of the
Holy Land, and the abuses in the church. The Greeks were persuaded,
thanks to St Bonaventura, to consent to a union with Rome for the time
being, and Rudolph of Habsburg renounced at the council all imperial
rights in the States of the Church. The most celebrated among the many
reform decrees issued by Gregory was the constitution determining for
the first time the form of conclave at papal elections, which in large
measure has remained ever since the law of the church. Gregory was on
his way to Rome to crown Rudolph and send him out on a great crusade in
company with the kings of England, France, Aragon and Sicily, when he
died at Arezzo on the 10th of January 1276. He was a nobleman, fond of
peace and actuated by the consciousness of a great mission. He has been
honoured as a saint by the inhabitants of Arezzo and Piacenza. His
successor in the papacy was Innocent V.
The registers of Gregory X. have been published by J. Guiraud in the
_Bibliothèque des écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome_ (Paris,
1892-1898). See K. J. von Hefele, _Conciliengeschichte_, vol. 5, 2nd
edition (1873-1890); H. Finke, _Konzilienstudien z. Gesch. des 13ten
Jahrhunderts_ (Münster, 1891); P. Piacenza, _Compendia della storia
del b. Gregorio X, papa_ (Piacenza, 1876); F. Gregorovius, _Rome in
the Middle Ages_, vol. 5, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London,
1900-1902); H. Otto, _Die Beziehungen Rudolfs von Habsburgs zu Papst
Gregor X._ (Innsbruck, 1895); A. Zisterer, _Gregor X. u. Rudolf von
Habsburg in ihren gegenseitigen Beziehungen_ (Freiburg i. B., 1891);
F. Walter, _Die Politik der Kurie unter Gregor X._ (Berlin, 1894); A.
Potthast, _Regesta pontif. Roman._ vol. 2 (Berlin, 1875); W. Norden,
_Das Papsttum und Byzanz_ (Berlin, 1903); J. Loserth, "Akten über die
Wahl Gregors X." in _Neues Archiv_, xxi. (1895); A. von
Hirsch-Gereuth, "Die Kreuzzugspolitik Gregors X." in _Studien z.
Gesch. d. Kreuzzugsidee nach den Kreuzzügen_ (Munich, 1896). There is
an excellent article by Carl Mirbt in Hauck's _Realencyklopädie_, 3rd
edition.
GREGORY XI. (_Pierre Roger de Beaufort_), pope from the 30th of December
1370 to the 27th of March 1378, born in Limousin in 1330, created
cardinal-deacon of Sta Maria Nuova by his uncle, Clement VI., was the
successor of Urban V. His efforts to establish peace between France and
England and to aid the Eastern Christians against the Turks were
fruitless, but he prevented the Visconti of Milan from making further
encroachments on the States of the Church. He introduced many reforms in
the various monastic orders and took vigorous measures against the
heresies of the time. His energy was stimulated by the stirring words of
Catherine of Siena, to whom in particular the transference of the papal
see back to Italy (17th of January 1377) was almost entirely due. Whilst
at Rome he issued several bulls to the archbishop of Canterbury, the
king of England, and the university of Oxford, commanding an
investigation of Wycliffe's doctrines. Gregory was meditating a return
to Avignon when he died. He was the last of the French popes who for
some seventy years had made Avignon their see, a man learned and full of
zeal for the church, but irresolute and guilty of nepotism. The great
schism, which was to endure fifty years, broke out soon after the
election of his successor, Urban VI.
See H. J. Tomaseth, "Die Register u. Secretäre Urbans V. u. Gregors
XI." in _Mitteilungen des Instituts für österreichische
Geschichtsforschung_ (1898); Baluzius, _Vitae pap. Avenion._ vol. I
(Paris, 1693); L. Pastor, _History of the Popes_, vol. I, trans. by F.
I. Antrobus (London, 1899); F. Gregorovius, _Rome in the Middle Ages_,
vol. 6, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1900-1902); J. P.
Kirsch, _Die Rückkehr der Päpste Urban V. u. Gregor XI. von Avignon
nach Rom_ (Paderborn, 1898); J. B. Christophe, _Histoire de la papauté
pendant le XIV^e siècle_, vol. 2 (Paris, 1853). There is a good
article by J. N. Brischar in the _Kirchenlexikon_, 2nd edition.
GREGORY XII. (_Angelo Coriaro_, or _Correr_), pope from the 30th of
November 1406, to the 4th of July 1415, was born of a noble family at
Venice about 1326. Successively bishop of Castello, Latin patriarch of
Constantinople, cardinal-priest of San Marco, and papal secretary, he
was elected to succeed Innocent VII., after an interregnum of
twenty-four days, under the express condition that, should the antipope
Benedict XIII. at Avignon renounce all claim to the papacy, he also
would renounce his, so that the long schism might be terminated. As
pope, he concluded a treaty with his rival at Marseilles, by which a
general council was to be held at Savona in September, 1408, but King
Ladislaus of Naples, who opposed the plan from policy, seized Rome and
brought the negotiations to nought. Gregory had promised not to create
any more cardinals, and when he did so, in 1408, his former cardinals
deserted him and, together with the Avignon cardinals, convoked the
council of Pisa, which, despite its irregularity, proclaimed in June
1409 the deposition of both popes and the election of Alexander V.
Gregory, still supported by Naples, Hungary, Bavaria, and by Rupert,
king of the Romans, found protection with Ladislaus, and in a synod at
Cividale del Friuli banned Benedict and Alexander as schismatical,
perjured and scandalous. John XXIII., having succeeded to the claims of
Alexander in 1410, concluded a treaty with Ladislaus, by which Gregory
was banished from Naples on the 31st of October 1411. The pope then took
refuge with Carlo Malatesta, lord of Rimini, through whom he presented
his resignation to the council of Constance on the 4th of July 1415. A
weak and easily-influenced old man, his resignation was the noblest act
of his pontificate. The rest of his life was spent in peaceful obscurity
as cardinal-bishop of Porto and legate of the mark of Ancona. He died at
Recanati on the 18th of October 1417. Some writers reckon Alexander V.
and John XXIII. as popes rather than as antipopes, and accordingly count
Gregory's pontificate from 1406 to 1409. Roman Catholic authorities,
however, incline to the other reckoning.
See L. Pastor, _History of the Popes_, vol. i., trans. by F. I.
Antrobus (London, 1899); M. Creighton, _History of the Papacy_, vol. 1
(London, 1899); N. Valois, _La France et le grand schisme d'occident_
(Paris, 1896-1902); Louis Gayet, _Le Grand Schisme d'occident_ (Paris,
1898); J. von Haller, _Papsttum u. Kirchenreform_ (Berlin, 1903); J.
Loserth, _Geschichte des späteren Mittelalters_ (1903); _Theoderici de
Nyem de schismate libri tres_, ed. by G. Erler (Leipzig, 1890). There
is an excellent article by J. N. Brischar in the _Kirchenlexikon_ 2nd
ed., vol. 5. (C. H. Ha.)
GREGORY XIII. (_Ugo Buoncompagno_), pope from 1572 to 1585, was born on
the 7th of January 1502, in Bologna, where he received his education,
and subsequently taught, until called to Rome (1539) by Paul III., who
employed him in various offices. He bore a prominent part in the council
of Trent, 1562-1563. In 1564 he was made cardinal by Pius IV., and, in
the following year, sent to Spain as legate. On the 13th of May 1572 he
was chosen pope to succeed Pius V. His previous life had been rather
worldly, and not wholly free from spot; but as pope he gave no occasion
of offence. He submitted to the influence of the rigorists, and carried
forward the war upon heresy, though not with the savage vehemence of his
predecessor. However, he received the news of the massacre of St
Bartholomew (23rd of August 1572) with joy, and publicly celebrated the
event, having been led to believe, according to his apologists, that
France had been miraculously delivered, and that the Huguenots had
suffered justly as traitors. Having failed to rouse Spain and Venice
against the Turks, Gregory attempted to form a general coalition against
the Protestants. He subsidized Philip II. in his wars in the
Netherlands; aided the Catholic League in France; incited attacks upon
Elizabeth by way of Ireland. With the aid of the Jesuits, whose
privileges he multiplied, he conducted a vigorous propaganda. He
established or endowed above a score of colleges, among them the
Collegium Romanum (founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1550), and the
Collegium Germanicum, in Rome. Among his noteworthy achievements are the
reform of the calendar on the 24th of February 1582 (see CALENDAR); the
improved edition of the _Corpus juris canonici_, 1582; the splendid
Gregorian Chapel in St Peter's; the fountains of the Piazza Navona; the
Quirinal Palace; and many other public works. To meet the expenses
entailed by his liberality and extravagance, Gregory resorted to
confiscation, on the pretext of defective titles or long-standing
arrearages. The result was disastrous to the public peace: nobles armed
in their defence; old feuds revived; the country became infested with
bandits; not even in Rome could order be maintained. Amid these
disturbances Gregory died, on the 10th of April 1585, leaving to his
successor, Sixtus V., the task of pacifying the state.
See the contemporary lives by Cicarella, continuator of Platina, _De
vitis pontiff. Rom._; Ciaconius, _Vitae et res gestae summorum
pontiff. Rom._ (Rome, 1601-1602); and Ciappi, _Comp. dell' attioni e
santa vita di Gregorio XIII_ (Rome, 1591). See also Bompiano, _Hist.
pontificatus Gregorii XIII._ (Rome, 1655); Ranke, _Popes_ (Eng.
trans., Austin), i. 428 seq.; v. Reumont, _Gesch. der Stadt Rom._ iii.
2, 566 seq.; and for numerous references upon Gregory's relation to
the massacre of St Bartholomew, _Cambridge Mod. Hist._ iii. 771 seq.
GREGORY XIV. (_Nicoló Sfondrato_), pope 1590-1591, was born in Cremona,
on the 11th of February 1535, studied in Perugia, and Padua, became
bishop of his native place in 1560, and took part in the council of
Trent, 1562-1563. Gregory XIII. made him a cardinal, 1583, but
ill-health forbade his active participation in affairs. His election to
the papacy, to succeed Urban VII., on the 5th of December 1590, was due
to Spanish influence. Gregory was upright and devout, but utterly
ignorant of politics. During his short pontificate the States of the
Church suffered dire calamities, famine, epidemic and a fresh outbreak
of brigandage. Gregory was completely subservient to Philip II.; he
aided the league, excommunicated Henry of Navarre, and threatened his
adherents with the ban; but the effect of his intervention was only to
rally the moderate Catholics to the support of Henry, and to hasten his
conversion. Gregory died on the 15th of October 1591, and was succeeded
by Innocent IX.
See Ciaconius, _Vitae et res gestae summorum pontiff. Rom._ (Rome,
1601-1602); Cicarella, continuator of Platina, _De vitis pontiff.
Rom._ (both contemporary); Brosch, _Gesch. des Kirchenstaates_ (1880).
i. 300; Ranke, _Popes_ (Eng. trans., Austin), ii. 228 seq.
GREGORY XV. (_Alessandro Ludovisi_) was born on the 9th of January 1554,
in Bologna, where he also studied and taught. He was made archbishop of
his native place and cardinal by Paul V., whom he succeeded as pope on
the 9th of February 1621. Despite his age and feebleness, Gregory
displayed remarkable energy. He aided the emperor in the Thirty Years'
War, and the king of Poland against the Turks. He endorsed the claims of
Maximilian of Bavaria to the electoral dignity, and was rewarded with
the gift of the Heidelberg library, which was carried off to Rome.
Gregory founded the Congregation of the Propaganda, encouraged missions,
fixed the order to be observed in conclaves, and canonized Ignatius
Loyola, Francis Xavier, Philip Neri and Theresa de Jesus. He died on the
8th of July 1623, and was succeeded by Urban VIII.
See the contemporary life by Vitorelli, continuator of Ciaconius,
_Vitae et res gestae summorum pontiff. Rom._; Ranke's excellent
account, _Popes_ (Eng. trans., Austin), ii. 468 seq.; v. Reumont,
_Gesch. der Stadt Rom_, iii. 2, 609 seq.; Brosch, _Gesch. des
Kirchenstaates_ (1880), i. 370 seq.; and the extended bibliography in
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopädie_, s.v. "Gregor XV." (T. F. C.)
GREGORY XVI. (_Bartolommeo Alberto Cappellari_), pope from 1831 to 1846,
was born at Belluno on the 18th of September 1765, and at an early age
entered the order of the Camaldoli, among whom he rapidly gained
distinction for his theological and linguistic acquirements. His first
appearance before a wider public was in 1799, when he published against
the Italian Jansenists a controversial work entitled _Il Trionfo della
Santa Sede_, which, besides passing through several editions in Italy,
has been translated into several European languages. In 1800 he became a
member of the Academy of the Catholic Religion, founded by Pius VII., to
which he contributed a number of memoirs on theological and
philosophical questions and in 1805 was made abbot of San Gregorio on
the Caelian Hill. When Pius VII. was carried off from Rome in 1809,
Cappellari withdrew to Murano, near Venice, and in 1814, with some other
members of his order, he removed to Padua; but soon after the
restoration of the pope he was recalled to Rome, where he received
successive appointments as vicar-general of the Camaldoli, councillor of
the Inquisition, prefect of the Propaganda, and examiner of bishops. In
March 1825 he was created cardinal by Leo XII., and shortly afterwards
was entrusted with an important mission to adjust a concordat regarding
the interests of the Catholics of Belgium and the Protestants of
Holland. On the 2nd of February 1831 he was, after sixty-four days'
conclave, unexpectedly chosen to succeed Pius VIII. in the papal chair.
The revolution of 1830 had just inflicted a severe blow on the
ecclesiastical party in France, and almost the first act of the new
government there was to seize Ancona, thus throwing all Italy, and
particularly the Papal States, into an excited condition which seemed to
demand strongly repressive measures. In the course of the struggle which
ensued it was more than once necessary to call in the Austrian bayonets.
The reactionaries in power put off their promised reforms so
persistently as to anger even Metternich; nor did the replacement of
Bernetti by Lambruschini in 1836 mend matters; for the new cardinal
secretary of state objected even to railways and illuminating gas, and
was liberal chiefly in his employment of spies and of prisons. The
embarrassed financial condition in which Gregory left the States of the
Church makes it doubtful how far his lavish expenditure in architectural
and engineering works, and his magnificent patronage of learning in the
hands of Mai, Mezzofanti, Gaetano, Moroni and others, were for the real
benefit of his subjects. The years of his pontificate were marked by the
steady development and diffusion of those ultramontane ideas which were
ultimately formulated, under the presidency of his successor Pius IX.,
by the council of the Vatican. He died on the 1st of June 1846.
See A. M. Bernasconi, _Acta Gregorii Papae XVI. scilicet
constitutiones, bullae, litterae apostolicae, epistolae_, vols. i-4
(Rome, 1901 ff.); Cardinal Wiseman, _Recollections of the Last Four
Popes_ (London, 1858); Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopädie_, vol. vii.
(Leipzig, 1899), 127 ff. (gives literature); Frederik Nielsen,
_History of the Papacy in the 19th Century_, ii. (London, 1906).
(W. W. R.*)
GREGORY,[1] the name of a Scottish family, many members of which
attained high eminence in various departments of science, fourteen
having held professorships in mathematics or medicine. Of the most
distinguished of their number a notice is given below.
I. DAVID GREGORY (1627-1720), eldest son of the Rev. John Gregory of
Drumoak, Aberdeenshire, who married Janet Anderson in 1621. He was for
some time connected with a mercantile house in Holland, but on
succeeding to the family estate of Kinardie returned to Scotland, and
occupied most of his time in scientific pursuits, freely giving his
poorer neighbours the benefit of his medical skill. He is said to have
been the first possessor of a barometer in the north of Scotland; and on
account of his success by means of it in predicting changes in the
weather, he was accused of witchcraft before the presbytery of Aberdeen,
but he succeeded in convincing that body of his innocence.
II. JAMES GREGORY (1638-1675), Scottish mathematician, younger brother
of the preceding, was educated at the grammar school of Aberdeen and at
Marischal College of that city. At an early period he manifested a
strong inclination and capacity for mathematics and kindred sciences;
and in 1663 he published his famous treatise _Optica promota_, in which
he made known his great invention, the Gregorian reflecting telescope.
About 1665 he went to the university of Padua, where he studied for some
years, and in 1667 published _Vera circuli et hyperbolae quadratura_, in
which he discussed infinite convergent series for the areas of the
circle and hyperbola. In the following year he published also at Padua
_Geometriae pars universalis_, in which he gave a series of rules for
the rectification of curves and the mensuration of their solids of
revolution. On his return to England in this year he was elected a
fellow of the Royal Society; in 1669 he became professor of mathematics
in the university of St Andrews; and in 1674 he was transferred to the
chair of mathematics in Edinburgh. In October 1675, while showing the
satellites of the planet Jupiter to some of his students through one of
his telescopes, he was suddenly struck with blindness, and he died a few
days afterwards.
He was also the author of _Exercitationes geometricae_ (1668), and, it
is alleged, of a satirical tract entitled _The Great and New Art of
Weighing Vanity_, intended to ridicule certain fallacies of a
contemporary writer on hydraulics, and published at Glasgow in 1672,
professedly by "Patrick Mathers, archbeadle of the university of St
Andrews."
III. DAVID GREGORY (1661-1708), son of David Gregory (1627-1720), was
born in Aberdeen and educated partly in his native city and partly in
Edinburgh, where he became professor of mathematics in 1683. From 1691
till his death he was Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford. His
principal works are _Exercitatio geometrica de dimensione figurarum_
(1684), _Catoptricae et dioptricae sphaericae elementa_ (1695), and
_Astronomiae physicae et geometricae elementa_ (1702)--the last a work
highly esteemed by Sir Isaac Newton, of whose system it is an
illustration and a defence. _A Treatise on Practical Geometry_ which he
left in manuscript was translated from the Latin and published in 1745.
He was succeeded in the chair of mathematics in Edinburgh by bis brother
James; another brother, Charles, was in 1707 appointed professor of
mathematics in the university of St Andrews; and his eldest son, David
(1696-1767), became professor of modern history at Oxford, and canon and
subsequently dean of Christ Church.
IV. JOHN GREGORY (1724-1773), Scottish physician, grandson of James
Gregory (1638-1675) and youngest son of Dr James Gregory (d. 1731),
professor of medicine in King's College, Aberdeen, was born at Aberdeen
on the 3rd of June 1724. He received his early education at the grammar
school of Aberdeen and at King's College in that city, and in 1741 he
attended the medical classes at Edinburgh university. In 1745 he went to
Leiden to complete his medical studies, and during his stay there he
received without solicitation the degree of doctor of medicine from
King's College, Aberdeen. On his return from Holland he was elected
professor of philosophy at King's College, but in 1749 he resigned his
professorship on account of its duties interfering too much with his
private practice. In 1754 he proceeded to London, where he made the
acquaintance of many persons of distinction, and the same year was
chosen fellow of the Royal Society. On the death in November 1755 of his
brother Dr James Gregory, who had succeeded his father as professor of
medicine in King's College, Aberdeen, he was appointed to that office.
In 1764 he removed to Edinburgh in the hope of obtaining a more extended
field of practice as a physician, and in 1766 he was appointed professor
of the practice of medicine in the university of Edinburgh, to whose
eminence as a medical school he largely contributed. He died of gout on
the 10th of February 1773.
He is the author of _A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of
Man with those of the Animal World_ (1765); _Observations on the
Duties, Offices and Qualifications of a Physician_ (1772); _Elements
of the Practice of Physic_ (1772); and _A Father's Legacy to his
Daughters_ (1774). _His Whole Works_, with a life by Mr Tytler
(afterwards Lord Woodhouselee), were published at Edinburgh in 1788.
V. JAMES GREGORY (1753-1821), Scottish physician, eldest son of the
preceding, was born at Aberdeen in January 1753. He accompanied his
father to Edinburgh in 1764, and after going through the usual course of
literary studies at that university, he was for a short time a student
at Christchurch, Oxford. It was there probably that he acquired that
taste for classical learning which afterwards distinguished him. He
studied medicine at Edinburgh, and, after graduating doctor of medicine
in 1774, spent the greater part of the next two years in Holland, France
and Italy. Shortly after his return to Scotland he was appointed in 1776
to the chair his father had formerly held, and in the following year he
also entered on the duties of teacher of clinical medicine in the Royal
Infirmary. On the illness of Dr William Cullen in 1790 he was appointed
joint-professor of the practice of medicine, and he became the head of
the Edinburgh Medical School on the death of Dr Cullen in the same year.
He died on the 2nd of April 1821. As a medical practitioner Gregory was
for the last ten years of his life at the head of the profession in
Scotland. He was at one time president of the Edinburgh College of
Physicians, but his indiscretion in publishing certain private
proceedings of the college led to his suspension on the 13th of May 1809
from all rights and privileges which pertained to the fellowship.
Besides his _Conspectus medicinae theoreticae_, published in 1788 as a
text-book for his lectures on the institutes, Dr Gregory was the
author of "A Theory of the Moods of Verbs," published in the _Edin.
Phil. Trans._ (1787), and of _Literary and Philosophical Essays_,
published in two volumes in 1792.
VI. WILLIAM GREGORY (1803-1858), son of James Gregory (1753-1821), was
born on the 25th of December 1803. In 1837 he became professor of
chemistry at the Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, in 1839 at King's
College, Aberdeen, and in 1844 at Edinburgh University. He died on the
24th of April 1858. Gregory was one of the first in England to advocate
the theories of Justus von Liebig, and translated several of his works.
He is also the author of _Outlines of Chemistry_ (1845), and an
_Elementary Treatise on Chemistry_ (1853).
VII. DUNCAN FARQUHARSON GREGORY (1813-1844), brother of the preceding,
was born on the 13th of April 1813. After studying at the university of
Edinburgh he in 1833 entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was
for a time assistant professor of chemistry, but he devoted his
attention chiefly to mathematics. He died on the 23rd of February 1844.
The _Cambridge Mathematical Journal_ was originated, and for some time
edited, by him; and he also published a _Collection of Examples of
Processes in the Differential and Integral Calculus_ (1841). A
_Treatise on the Application of Analysis to Solid Geometry_, which he
left unfinished, was completed by W. Walton, and published
posthumously in 1846. His _Mathematical Writings_, edited by W.
Walton, with a biographical memoir by Robert Leslie Ellis, appeared in
1865.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] See A. G. Stewart, _The Academic Gregories_.
GREGORY, EDWARD JOHN (1850-1909), British painter, born at Southampton,
began work at the age of fifteen in the engineer's drawing office of the
Peninsular and Oriental Company. Afterwards he studied at South
Kensington, and about 1871 entered on a successful career as an
illustrator and as an admirable painter in oil and water colour. He was
elected associate of the Royal Academy in 1883, academician in 1898, and
president of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1898.
His work is distinguished by remarkable technical qualities, by
exceptional firmness and decision of draughtsmanship and by unusual
certainty of handling. His "Marooned," a water colour, is in the
National Gallery of British Art. Many of his pictures were shown at
Burlington House at the winter exhibition of 1909-1910 after his death
in June 1909.
GREGORY, OLINTHUS GILBERT (1774-1841), English mathematician, was born
on the 29th of January 1774 at Yaxley in Huntingdonshire. Having been
educated by Richard Weston, a Leicester botanist, he published in 1793 a
treatise, Lessons _Astronomical and Philosophical_. Having settled at
Cambridge in 1796, Gregory first acted as sub-editor on the _Cambridge
Intelligencer_, and then opened a bookseller's shop. In 1802 he obtained
an appointment as mathematical master at Woolwich through the influence
of Charles Hutton, to whose notice he had been brought by a manuscript
on the "Use of the Sliding Rule"; and when Hutton resigned in 1807
Gregory succeeded him in the professorship. Failing health obliged him
to retire in 1838, and he died at Woolwich on the 2nd of February 1841.
Gregory wrote _Hints for the Use of Teachers of Elementary
Mathematics_ (1840, new edition 1853), and _Mathematics for Practical
Men_ (1825), which was revised and enlarged by Henry Law in 1848, and
again by J. R. Young in 1862. His _Letters on the Evidences of
Christianity_ (1815) have been several times reprinted, and an
abridgment was published by the Religious Tract Society in 1853. He
will probably be longest remembered for his _Biography of Robert
Hall_, which first appeared in the collected edition of Hall's works,
was published separately in 1833, and has since passed through several
editions. The minor importance of his _Memoir of John Mason Good_
(1828) is due to the narrower fame of the subject. Gregory was one of
the founders of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1802 he was
appointed editor of the _Gentlemen's Diary_, and in 1818 editor of the
_Ladies' Diary_ and superintendent of the almanacs of the Stationers'
Company.
GREIFENBERG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Pomerania,
on the Rega, 45 m. N.E. of Stettin on the railway to Kolberg. Pop.
(1905) 7208. It has two Evangelical churches (among them that of St
Mary, dating from 13th century), two ancient gateways, a powder tower
and a gymnasium. The manufacture of machines, stoves and bricks are the
principal industries. Greifenberg possessed municipal rights as early as
1262, and in the 14th and 15th centuries had a considerable shipping
trade, but it lost much of its prosperity during the Thirty Years' War.
See Riemann, _Geschichte der Stadt Greifenberg_ (1862).
GREIFENHAGEN, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Pomerania,
on the Reglitz, 12 m. S.S.W. of Stettin by rail. Pop. (1905) 6473. Its
prosperity depends chiefly on agriculture and it has a considerable
trade in cattle. There are also felt manufactures and saw mills.
Greifenhagen was built in 1230, and was raised to the rank of a town and
fortified about 1250. In the Thirty Years' War it was taken both by the
imperialists and the Swedes, and in 1675 it was captured by the
Brandenburgers, into whose possession it came finally in 1679.
GREIFSWALD, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Pomerania, on
the navigable Ryk, 3 m. from its mouth on the Baltic at the little port
of Wyk, and 20 m. S.E. from Stralsund by rail. Pop. (1875) 18,022,
(1905) 23,750. It has wide and regular streets, flanked by numerous
gabled houses, and is surrounded by pleasant promenades on the site of
its old ramparts. The three Gothic Protestant churches, the
Marienkirche, the Nikolaikirche and the Jakobikirche, and the town-hall
(Rathaus) are the principal edifices, and these with their lofty spires
are very picturesque. There is a statue of the emperor Frederick III.
and a war memorial in the town. The industries mainly consist in
shipbuilding, fish-curing, and the manufacture of machinery
(particularly for agriculture), and the commerce in the export of corn,
wood and fish. There is a theatre, an orphanage and a municipal library.
Greifswald is, however, best known to fame by reason of its university.
This, founded in 1456, is well endowed and is largely frequented by
students of medicine. Connected with it are a library of 150,000 volumes
and 800 MSS., a chemical laboratory, a zoological museum, a
gynaecological institute, an ophthalmological school, a botanical garden
and at Eldena (a seaside resort on the Baltic) an agricultural school.
In front of the university, which had 775 students and about 100
teachers in 1904, stands a monument commemorating its four hundredth
anniversary.
Greifswald was founded about 1240 by traders from the Netherlands. In
1250 it received a town constitution and Lübeck rights from Duke
Wratislaw of Pomerania. In 1270 it joined the Hanse towns, Stralsund,
Rostock, Wismar and Lübeck, and took part in the wars which they carried
on against the kings of Denmark and Norway. During the Thirty Years' War
it was formed into a fortress by the imperialists, but they vacated it
in 1631 to the Swedes, in whose possession it remained after the peace
of Westphalia. In 1678 it was captured by the elector of Brandenburg,
but was restored to the Swedes in the following year; in 1713 it was
desolated by the Russians; in 1715 it came into the possession of
Denmark; and in 1721 it was again restored to Sweden, under whose
protection it remained till 1815, when, along with the whole of Swedish
Pomerania, it came into the possession of Prussia.
See J. G. L. Kosegarten, _Geschichte der Universität Greifswald_
(1856); C. Gesterding, _Beitrag zur Geschichte der Stadt Greifswald_
(3 vols., 1827-1829); and I. Ziegler, _Geschichte der Stadt
Greifswald_ (Greifswald, 1897).
GREISEN (in French, _hyalomicte_), a modification of granite, consisting
essentially of quartz and white mica, and distinguished from granite by
the absence of felspar and biotite. In the hand specimen the rock has a
silvery glittering appearance from the abundance of lamellar crystals of
muscovite, but many greisens have much of the appearance of granite,
except that they are paler in colour. The commonest accessory minerals
are tourmaline, topaz, apatite, fluorspar and iron oxides; a little
felspar more or less altered may also be present and a brown mica which
is biotite or lithionite. The tourmaline in section is brown, green,
blue or colourless, and often the same crystal shows many different
tints. The white mica forms mostly large plates with imperfect
crystalline outlines. The quartz is rich in fluid enclosures. Apatite
and topaz are both colourless and of irregular form. Felspar if present
may be orthoclase and oligoclase.
Greisen occurs typically in belts or veins intersecting granite. At the
centre of each vein there is usually a fissure which may be open or
filled with quartz. The greisen bands are from 1 in. up to 2 ft. or more
in thickness. At their outer edges they pass gradually into the granite,
for they contain felspar crystals more or less completely altered into
aggregates of white mica and quartz. The transition between the two
rocks is perfectly gradual, a fact which shows that the greisen has been
produced by alteration of the granite. Vapours or fluids rising through
the fissure have been the agents which effected the transmutation. They
must have contained fluorine, boron and probably also lithium, for
topaz, mica and tourmaline, the new minerals of the granite, contain
these elements. The change is a post-volcanic or pneumatolytic one
induced by the vapours set free by the granite magma when it cools.
Probably the rock was at a relatively high temperature at the time. A
similar type of alteration, the development of white mica, quartz and
tourmaline, is found sometimes in sedimentary rocks around granite
masses. Greisen is closely connected with schorl rock both in its
mineralogical composition and in its mode of origin. The latter is a
pneumatolytic product consisting of quartz and tourmaline; it often
contains white mica and thus passes by all stages into greisen. Both of
these rocks carry frequently small percentages of tin oxide
(cassiterite) and may be worked as ores of tin. They are common in
Cornwall, Saxony, Tasmania and other districts which are centres of
tin-mining. Many other greisens occur in which no tin is found. The
analyses show the composition of Cornish granite and greisen. They make
it clear that there has been an introduction of fluorine and boron and a
diminution in the alkalies during the transformation of the granitic
rock into the greisen.
+---------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+
| | SiO2. | Al2O3.|Fe2O3.| FeO. | CaO. | MgO. | K2O. | Na2O.| Fl. |B2O3.|
+---------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+
| Granite | 70.17 | 15.07 | .88 | 1.79 | 1.13 | 1.11 | 5.73 | 2.69 | .15 | tr. |
| Greisen | 69.42 | 15.65 | 1.25 | 3.30 | .63 | 1.02 | 4.06 | .27 | 3.36 | .59 |
+---------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+
(J. S. F.)
GREIZ, a town of Germany, capital of the principality of Reuss-Greiz
(Reuss the Elder), in a pleasant valley on the right bank of the White
Elster, near the borders of Saxony, and 66 m. by rail S. from Leipzig.
Pop. (1875) 12,657; (1905) 23,114. It consists of two parts, the old
town on the right bank and the new town on the left bank of the river;
it is rapidly growing and is regularly laid out. The principal buildings
are the palace of the prince of Reuss-Greiz, surrounded by a fine park,
the old château on a rocky hill overlooking the town, the summer palace
with a fine garden, the old town church dating from 1225 and possessing
a beautiful tower, the town hall, the governmental buildings and statues
of the emperor William I. and of Bismarck. There are classical and
modern schools and a school of textile industry. The industries are
considerable, and include dyeing, tanning and the manufacture of
woollen, cotton, shawls, coverlets and paper. Greiz (formerly _Grewcz_)
is apparently a town of Slav origin. From the 12th century it was
governed by _advocati_ (_Vögte_), but in 1236 it came into the
possession of Gera, and in 1550 of the younger line of the house of
Plauen. It was wholly destroyed by fire in 1494, and almost totally in
1802.
See Wilke, _Greiz und seine Umgebung_ (1875), and _Jahresberichte des
Vereins für Greizer Geschichte_ (1894, seq.)
GRENADA, the southernmost of the Windward Islands, British West Indies.
It lies between 11º 58' and 12º 15' N. and between 61º 35' and 61º 50'
W., being 140 m. S.W. of Barbados and 85 m. N. by W. of Trinidad. In
shape oval, it is 21 m. long, 12 m. broad at its maximum and has an area
of 133 sq. m. It owes much of its beauty to a well-wooded range of
mountains traversing the island from N. to S. and throwing off from the
centre spurs which form picturesque and fertile valleys. These mountains
attain their highest elevation in Mount Catharine (2750 ft.). In the
S.E. and N.W. there are stretches of low or undulating ground, devoted
to fruit growing and cattle raising. The island is of volcanic origin;
the only signs of upheaval are raised limestone beaches in the extreme
N. Red and grey sandstones, hornblende and argillaceous schist are found
in the mountains, porphyry and basaltic rocks also occur; sulphur and
fuller's earth are worked. In the centre, at the height of 1740 ft.
above the sea, is the chief natural curiosity of Grenada, the Grand
Etang, a circular lake, 13 acres in extent, occupying the site of an
ancient crater. Near it is a large sanatorium, much frequented as a
health resort. In the north-east is a larger lake, Lake Antoine, also
occupying a crater, but it lies almost at the sea level. The island is
watered by several short rivers, mainly on the east and south; there are
numerous fresh water springs, as well as hot chalybeate and sulphurous
springs. The south-eastern coast is much indented with bays. The climate
is good, the temperature equable and epidemic diseases are rare. In the
low country the average yearly temperature is 82° F., but it is cooler
in the heights. The rainfall is very heavy, amounting in some parts to
as much as 200 in., a year. The rainy season lasts from May to December,
but refreshing showers frequently occur during other parts of the year.
The average annual rainfall at St Georges is 79.07 in., and at Grand
Etang 164 in. The excellent climate and good sea-bathing have made
Grenada the health resort of the neighbouring islands, especially of
Trinidad. Good roads and byeways intersect it in every direction. The
soil is extraordinarily fertile, the chief products being cocoa and
spices, especially nutmegs. The exports, sent chiefly to Great Britain,
are cocoa, spices, wool, cotton, coffee, live stock, hides, turtles,
turtle shell, kola nuts, vanilla and timber. Barbados is dependent on
Grenada for the majority of its firewood. Sugar is still grown, and rum
and molasses are made, but the consumption of these is confined to the
island.
Elementary education is chiefly in the hands of the various
denominations, whose schools are assisted by government grants-in-aid.
There are, however, a few secular schools conducted by the government,
and government-aided secondary schools for girls and a grammar school
for boys. The schools are controlled by a board of education, the
members of which are nominated by the government, and small fees are
charged in all schools. The governor of the Windward Islands resides in
Grenada and is administrator of it. The Legislative Council consists of
14 members; 7 including the governor are _ex-officio_ members and the
rest are nominated by the Crown. English is universally spoken, but the
negroes use a French _patois_, which, however, is gradually dying out.
Only 2% of the inhabitants are white, the rest being negroes and
mulattoes with a few East Indians. The capital, St George, in the
south-west, is built upon a lava peninsula jutting into the sea and
forming one side of its land-locked harbour. It is surrounded by an
amphitheatre of hills, up the sides of which climb the red-brick houses
of the town. At the extremity of the peninsula is Fort St George, with a
saluting battery. The ridge connecting Fort St George with Hospital Hill
is tunnelled to give access to the two parts of the town lying on either
side. The population in 1901 was 5198. There are four other towns--on
the west coast Gouyave, or Charlotte Town, and 4 m. N. of it Victoria;
on the north coast Sauteurs; and Grenville at the head of a wide bay on
the east. They are all in frequent communication with the capital by
steamer. The population of the entire colony in 1901 was 63,438.
_History._--Grenada was discovered in 1498 by Columbus, who named it
Conception. Neither the Spanish nor the British, to whom it was granted
in 1627, settled on the island. The governor of Martinique, du Parquet,
purchased it in 1650, and the French were well received by the Caribs,
whom they afterwards extirpated with the greatest cruelty. In 1665
Grenada passed into the hands of the French West India Company, and was
administered by it until its dissolution in 1674, when the island passed
to the French Crown. Cocoa, coffee and cotton were introduced in 1714.
During the wars between Great Britain and France, Grenada capitulated to
the British forces in 1762, and was formally ceded next year by the
Treaty of Paris. The French, under Count d'Estaing, re-captured the
island in 1779, but it was restored to Great Britain by the Treaty of
Versailles in 1783. A rebellion against the British rule, instigated and
assisted by the French, occurred in 1795, but was quelled by Sir Ralph
Abercromby in the following year. The emancipation of the slaves took
place in 1837, and by 1877 it was found necessary to introduce East
Indian labour. Grenada, with cocoa as its staple, has not experienced
similar depression to that which overtook the sugar-growing islands of
the West Indies.
See _Grenada Handbook_ (London, 1905).
GRENADE (from the French word for a pomegranate, from a resemblance in
shape to that fruit), a small spherical explosive vessel thrown by hand.
Hand-grenades were used in war in the 16th century, but the word
"grenade" was also from the first used to imply an explosive shell
fired from a gun; this survives to the present day in the German
_Granate_. These weapons were employed after about 1660, by special
troops called "grenadiers" (q.v.), and in the wars of the 17th and 18th
centuries they are continually met with. They became obsolete in the
19th century, but were given a new lease of life in the 20th, owing to
their employment in the siege of Port Arthur in 1904, where
hand-grenades of a modern type, and containing powerful modern
explosives, proved very effective (see AMMUNITION, _shell_).
Hand-grenades filled with chemicals and made of glass are used as a
method of fire-extinction, and similar vessels containing a liquid with
a very strong smell are used to discover defects in a drain or sewer.
GRENADIER, originally a soldier whose special duty it was to throw
hand-grenades. The latter were in use for a considerable time before any
special organization was given to the troops who were to use them. In
1667 four men per company in the French _Régiment du Roi_ were trained
with grenades (siege of Lille), and in 1668-1670 grenadier companies
were formed in this regiment and in about thirty others of the French
line. Evelyn, in his _Diary_, tells us that on the 29th of June 1678 he
saw at Hounslow "a new sort of soldiers called granadiers, who were
dexterous in flinging hand-granades." As in the case of the fusiliers,
the French practice was therefore quickly copied in England. Eventually
each English battalion had a grenadier company (see for illustrations
_Archaeological Journal_, xxiii. 222, and xlvii. 321-324). Besides their
grenades and the firelock, grenadiers carried axes which, with the
grenades, were employed in the assault of fortresses, as we are told in
the celebrated song, "The British Grenadiers."
The grenadier companies were formed always of the most powerful men in
the regiment and, when the grenade ceased to be used, they maintained
their existence as the "crack" companies of their battalions, taking the
right of the line on parade and wearing the distinctive grenadier
headdress. This system was almost universal, and the typical infantry
regiment of the 18th and early 19th century had a grenadier and a light
company besides its "line" companies. In the British and other armies
these _élite_ companies were frequently taken from their regiments and
combined in grenadier and light infantry battalions for special service,
and Napoleon carried this practice still further in the French army by
organizing brigades and divisions of grenadiers (and correspondingly of
_voltigeurs_). Indeed the companies thus detached from the line
practically never returned to it, and this was attended with serious
evils, for the battalion at the outbreak of war lost perhaps a quarter
of its best men, the average men only remaining with the line. This
special organization of grenadiers and light companies lasted in the
British army until about 1858. In the Prussian service the grenadiers
became permanent and independent battalions about 1740, and the gradual
adoption of the four-company battalion by Prussia and other nations
tended still further to place the grenadiers by themselves and apart
from the line. Thus at the present day in Germany, Russia and other
countries, the title of "grenadiers" is borne by line regiments,
indistinguishable, except for details of uniform and often the _esprit
de corps_ inherited from the old _élite_ companies, from the rest. In
the British service the only grenadiers remaining are the Grenadier
Guards, originally the 1st regiment of Foot Guards, which was formed in
1660 on the nucleus of a regiment of English royalists which followed
the fortunes of Charles II. in exile. In Russia a whole army corps
(headquarters Moscow), inclusive of its artillery units, bears the
title.
The special headdress of the grenadier was a pointed cap, with peak and
flaps, of embroidered cloth, or a loose fur cap of similar shape; both
these were light field service caps. The fur cap has in the course of
time developed into the tall "bearskin" worn by British guards and
various corps of other armies; the embroidered field cap survives,
transformed, however, into a heavy brass headdress, in the uniform of
the 1st Prussian Foot Guards, the 1st Prussian Guard Grenadiers and the
Russian Paul (Pavlovsky) Grenadier Guards.
GRENADINES, a chain of islets in the Windward Islands, West Indies. They
stretch for 60 m. between St Vincent and Grenada, following a N.E. to
S.W. direction, and consist of some 600 islets and rocks. Some are a few
square miles in extent, others are merely rocky cones projecting from
the deep. For purposes of administration they are divided between St
Vincent and Grenada. Bequia, the chief island in the St Vincent group,
is long and narrow, with an area 6 sq. m. Owing to a lack of water it is
only slightly cultivated, but game is plentiful. Admiralty Bay, on the
W. side, is a safe and commodious harbour. Carriacou, belonging to
Grenada, is the largest of the group, being 7 m. long, 2 m. wide and 13
sq. m. in extent. A ridge of hills, rising to an altitude of 700 ft.,
traverses the centre from N.E. to S.W.; here admirable building stone is
found. There are two good harbours on the west coast, Hillsborough Bay
on which stands Hillsborough, the chief town, and Tyrell Bay, farther
south. The island is thickly populated, the negro peasantry occupying
small lots and working on the _metayer_ system. Excellent oysters are
found along the coast, and cotton and cattle are the chief exports. Pop.
of the group, mostly on Carriacou (1901) 6497.
GRENOBLE, the ancient capital of the Dauphiné in S.E. France, and now
the chief town of the Isère department, 75 m. by rail from Lyons, 38½ m.
from Chambéry and 85½ m. from Gap. Pop. (1906), town, 58,641; commune,
73,022. It is one of the most beautifully situated, and also one of the
most strongly fortified, cities in Europe. Built at a height of 702 ft.
on both banks of the river Isère just above its junction with the Drac,
the town occupies a considerable plain at the south-western end of the
fertile Graisivaudan valley. To the north rise the mountains of the
Grande Chartreuse, to the east the range of Belledonne, and to the south
those of Taillefer and the Moucherotte, the higher summits of these
ranges being partly covered with snow. From the Jardin de Ville and the
quays of the banks of the Isère the summit of Mont Blanc itself is
visible. The greater part of the town rises on the left bank of the
Isère, which is bordered by broad quays. The older portion has the
tortuous and narrow streets usual in towns that have been confined
within fortifications, but in modern times these hindrances have been
demolished. The newer portion of the town has wide thoroughfares and
buildings of the modern French type, solid but not picturesque. The
original town (of but small extent) was built on the right bank of the
Isère at the southern foot of the Mont Rachais, now covered by a
succession of fortresses that rise picturesquely on the slope of that
hill to a very considerable height (885 ft. above the town).
Grenoble is the seat of a bishopric which was founded in the 4th
century, and now comprises the department of the Isère--formerly a
suffragan of Vienne it now forms part of the ecclesiastical province of
Lyons. The most remarkable building in the town is the Palais de
Justice, erected (late 15th century to 16th century) on the site of the
old palace of the Parlement of the Dauphiné. Opposite is the most
noteworthy church of the city, that of St André (13th century), formerly
the chapel of the dauphins of the Viennois: in it is the 17th century
monument of Bayard (1476-1524), the _chevalier sans peur et sans
reproche_, which was removed hither in 1822; but it is uncertain whose
bones are therein. The cathedral church of Notre Dame is a heavy
building, dating in part from the 11th century. The church of St
Laurent, on the right bank of the Isère, is the oldest in the city (11th
century) and has a remarkable crypt, dating from Merovingian times. The
town hall is a mainly modern building, constructed on the site of the
palace of the dauphins, while the prefecture is entirely modern. The
town library contains a considerable collection of paintings, mainly of
the modern French school, but is more remarkable for its very rich
collection of MSS. (7000) and printed books (250,000 vols.) which in
great part belonged till 1793 to the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse.
The natural history museum houses rich collections of various kinds,
which contain (_inter alia_) numerous geological specimens from the
neighbouring districts of the Dauphiné and Savoy. The university,
revived in modern times after a long abeyance, occupies a modern
building, as does also the hospital, though founded as far back as the
15th century. There are numerous societies in the town, including the
Académie Delphinale (founded in 1772), and many charitable institutions.
The staple industry of Grenoble is the manufacture of kid gloves, most
of the so-called _gants Jouvin_ being made here--they are named after
the reviver of the art, X. Jouvin (1800-1844). There are about 80 glove
factories, which employ 18,500 persons (of whom 15,000 are women), the
annual output being about 800,000 dozen pairs of gloves. Among other
articles produced at Grenoble are artificial cements, liqueurs, straw
hats and carved furniture.
Grenoble occupies the site of Cularo, a village of the Allobroges, which
only became of importance when fortified by Diocletian and Maximian at
the end of the 3rd century. Its present name is a corruption of
Gratianopolis, a title assumed probably in honour of Gratian (4th
century), who raised it to the rank of a _civitas_. After passing under
the power of the Burgundians (c. 440) and the Franks (532) it became
part of the kingdom of Provence (879-1032). On the break-up of that
kingdom a long struggle for supremacy ensued between the bishops of the
city and the counts of Albon, the latter finally winning the day in the
12th century, and taking the title of Dauphins of the Viennois in the
13th century. In 1349 Grenoble was ceded with the rest of the Dauphiné
to France, but retained various municipal privileges which had been
granted by the dauphins to the town, originally by a charter of 1242. In
1562 it was sacked by the Protestants under the baron des Adrets, but in
1572 the firmness of its governor, Bertrand de Gordes, saved it from a
repetition of the Massacre of St Bartholomew. In 1590 Lesdiguières
(1543-1626) took the town in the name of Henry IV., then still a
Protestant, and during his long governorship (which lasted to his death)
did much for it by the construction of fortifications, quays, &c. In
1788 the attempt of the king to weaken the power of the parlement of
Grenoble (which, though strictly a judicial authority, had preserved
traditions of independence, since the suspension of the states-general
of the Dauphiné in 1628) roused the people to arms, and the "day of the
tiles" (7th of June 1788) is memorable for the defeat of the royal
forces. In 1790, on the formation of the department of the Isère,
Grenoble became its capital. Grenoble was the first important town to
open its gates to Napoleon on his return from Elba (7th of March 1815),
but a few months later (July) it was obliged to surrender to the
Austrian army. Owing to its situation Grenoble was formerly much subject
to floods, particularly in the case of the wild Drac. One of the worst
took place in 1219, while that of 1778 was known as the _déluge de la
Saint Crépin_. Among the celebrities who have been born at Grenoble are
Vaucanson (1709-1782), Mably (1709-1785), Condillac (1715-1780), Beyle,
best known as Stendhal, his _nom de guerre_ (1783-1842), Barnave
(1761-1793) and Casimir Perier (1777-1832).
See A. Prudhomme, _Histoire de Grenoble_ (1888); X. Roux, _La
Corporation des gantiers de Grenoble_ (1887); H. Duhamel, _Grenoble
considéré comme centre d'excursions_ (1902); J. Marion, _Cartulaires
de l'église cathédrale de Grenoble_ (Paris, 1869). (W. A. B. C.)
GRENVILLE, SIR BEVIL (1596-1643), Royalist soldier in the English Civil
War (see GREAT REBELLION), was educated at Exeter College, Oxford. As
member of Parliament, first for Cornwall, then for Launceston, Grenville
supported Sir John Eliot and the opposition, and his intimacy with Eliot
was life-long. In 1639, however, he appears as a royalist going to the
Scottish War in the train of Charles I. The reasons of this change of
front are unknown, but Grenville's honour was above suspicion, and he
must have entirely convinced himself that he was doing right. At any
rate he was a very valuable recruit to the royalist cause, being "the
most generally loved man in Cornwall." At the outbreak of the Civil War
he and others of the gentry not only proclaimed the king's Commission of
Array at Launceston assizes, but also persuaded the grand jury of the
county to declare their opponents guilty of riot and unlawful assembly,
whereupon the _Posse comitatus_ was called out to expel them. Under the
command of Sir Ralph Hopton, Sir Bevil took a distinguished part in the
action of Bradock Down, and at Stratton (16 May 1643), where the
parliamentary earl of Stamford was completely routed by the Cornishmen,
led one of the storming parties which captured Chudleigh's lines
(_Clarendon_, vii. 89). A month later, the endeavour of Hopton to unite
with Maurice and Hertford from Oxford brought on the battle of Lansdown,
near Bath. Here Grenville was killed at the head of the Cornish infantry
as it reached the top of the hill. His death was a blow from which the
king's cause in the West never recovered, for he alone knew how to
handle the Cornishmen. Hopton they revered and respected, but Grenville
they loved as peculiarly their own commander, and after his death there
is little more heard of the reckless valour which had won Stratton and
Lansdown. Grenville is the type of all that was best in English
royalism. He was neither rapacious, drunken nor dissolute, but his
loyalty was unselfish, his life pure and his skill no less than his
bravery unquestionable. A monument to him has been erected on the field
of Lansdown.
See Lloyd, _Memoirs of Excellent Personages_ (1668); S. R. Gardiner,
_History of the English Civil War_ (vol. i. _passim_).
GRENVILLE, GEORGE (1712-1770), English statesman, second son of Richard
Grenville and Hester Temple, afterwards Countess Temple, was born on the
14th of October 1712. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church,
Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1735. He entered parliament in 1741
as member for Buckingham, and continued to represent that borough till
his death. In parliament he was a member of the "Boy Patriot" party
which opposed Sir Robert Walpole. In December 1744 he became a lord of
the admiralty in the Pelham administration. He allied himself with his
brother Richard and with William Pitt in forcing their feeble chief to
give them promotion by rebelling against his authority and obstructing
business. In June 1747 he became a lord of the treasury, and in 1754
treasurer of the navy and privy councillor. As treasurer of the navy in
1758 he introduced and carried a bill which established a less unfair
system of paying the wages of the seamen than had existed before. He
remained in office in 1761, when his brother Lord Temple and his
brother-in-law Pitt resigned upon the question of the war with Spain,
and in the administration of Lord Bute he was entrusted with the
leadership of the House of Commons. In May 1762 he was appointed
secretary of state, and in October first lord of the admiralty; and in
April 1763 he became first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the
exchequer. The most prominent measures of his administration were the
prosecution of Wilkes and the passing of the American Stamp Act, which
led to the first symptoms of alienation between America and the mother
country. During the latter period of his term of office he was on a very
unsatisfactory footing with the young king George III., who gradually
came to feel a kind of horror of the interminable persistency of his
conversation, and whom he endeavoured to make use of as the mere puppet
of the ministry. The king made various attempts to induce Pitt to come
to his rescue by forming a ministry, but without success, and at last
had recourse to the marquis of Rockingham, on whose agreeing to accept
office Grenville was dismissed July 1765. He never again held office,
and died on the 13th of November 1770.
The nickname of "gentle shepherd" was given him because he bored the
House by asking over and over again, during the debate on the Cider Bill
of 1763, that somebody should tell him "where" to lay the new tax if it
was not to be put on cider. Pitt whistled the air of the popular tune
"Gentle Shepherd, tell me where," and the House laughed. Though few
excelled him in a knowledge of the forms of the House or in mastery of
administrative details, his tact in dealing with men and with affairs
was so defective that there is perhaps no one who has been at the head
of an English administration to whom a lower place can be assigned as a
statesman.
In 1749 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Wyndham, by whom
he had a large family. His son, the second Earl Temple, was created
marquess, and his grandson duke, of Buckingham. Another son was William,
afterwards Lord Grenville. Another, Thomas Grenville (1755-1846), who
was, with one interval, a member of parliament from 1780 to 1818, and
for a few months during 1806 and 1807 president of the board of control
and first lord of the admiralty, is perhaps more famous as a
book-collector than as a statesman; he bequeathed his large and valuable
library to the British Museum.
_The Grenville Papers, being the Correspondence of Richard Grenville,
Earl Temple, K.G., and the Right Hon. George Grenville, their Friends
and Contemporaries_, were published at London in 1852, and afford the
chief authority for his life. But see also H. Walpole's _Memoirs of
the Reign of George II._ (London, 1845); Lord Stanhope's _History of
England_ (London, 1858); Lecky's _History of England_ (1885); and E.
D. Adams, _The Influence of Grenville on Pitt's Foreign Policy_
(Washington, 1904).
GRENVILLE (or GREYNVILE), SIR RICHARD (c. 1541-1591), British naval
commander, was born of an old Cornish family about 1541. His
grandfather, Sir Richard, had been marshal of Calais in the time of
Henry VIII., and his father commanded and was lost in the "Mary Rose" in
1545. At an early age Grenville is supposed to have served in Hungary
under the emperor Maximilian against the Turks. In the years 1571 and
1584 he sat in parliament for Cornwall, and in 1583 and 1584 he was
commissioner of the works at Dover harbour. He appears to have been a
man of much pride and ambition. Of his bravery there can be no doubt. In
1585 he commanded the fleet of seven vessels by which the colonists sent
out by his cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh, were carried to Roanoke Island in
the present North Carolina. Grenville himself soon returned with the
fleet to England, capturing a Spanish vessel on his way, but in 1586 he
carried provisions to Roanoke, and finding the colony deserted, left a
few men to maintain possession. He then held an important post in charge
of the defences of the western counties of England. When a squadron was
despatched in 1591, under Lord Thomas Howard, to intercept the
homeward-bound treasure-fleet of Spain, Grenville was appointed as
second in command on board the "Revenge," a ship of 500 tons which had
been commanded by Drake against the Armada in 1588. At the end of August
Howard with 16 ships lay at anchor to the north of Flores in the Azores.
On the last day of the month he received news from a pinnace, sent by
the earl of Cumberland, who was then off the Portugal coast, that a
Spanish fleet of 53 vessels was then bearing up to the Azores to meet
the treasure-ships. Not being in a position to fight a fleet more than
three times the size of his own, Howard gave orders to weigh anchor and
stand out to sea. But, either from some misunderstanding of the order,
or from some idea of Grenville's that the Spanish vessels rapidly
approaching were the ships for which they had been waiting, the
"Revenge" was delayed and cut off from her consorts by the Spaniards.
Grenville resolved to try to break through the middle of the Spanish
line. His ship was becalmed under the lee of a huge galleon, and after a
hand-to-hand fight lasting through fifteen hours against fifteen Spanish
ships and a force of five thousand men, the "Revenge" with her hundred
and fifty men was captured. Grenville himself was carried on board the
Spanish flag-ship "San Pablo," and died a few days later. The incident
is commemorated in Tennyson's ballad of "The Revenge."
The spelling of Sir Richard's name has led to much controversy. Four
different families, each of which claim to be descended from him, spell
it Granville, Grenville, Grenfell and Greenfield. The spelling usually
accepted is Grenville, but his own signature, in a bold clear
handwriting, among the Tanner MSS. in the Bodleian library at Oxford, is
Greynvile.
GRENVILLE (or GRANVILLE), SIR RICHARD (1600-1658), English royalist, was
the third son of Sir Bernard Grenville (1559-1636), and a grandson of
the famous seaman, Sir Richard Grenville. Having served in France,
Germany and the Netherlands, Grenville gained the favour of the duke of
Buckingham, took part in the expeditions to Cadiz, to the island of Rhé
and to La Rochelle, was knighted, and in 1628 was chosen member of
parliament for Fowey. Having married Mary Fitz (1596-1671), widow of Sir
Charles Howard (d. 1622) and a lady of fortune, Grenville was made a
baronet in 1630; his violent temper, however, made the marriage an
unhappy one, and he was ruined and imprisoned as the result of two
lawsuits, one with his wife, and the other with her kinsman, the earl of
Suffolk. In 1633 he escaped from prison and went to Germany, returning
to England six years later to join the army which Charles I. was
collecting to march against the Scots. Early in 1641, just after the
outbreak of the Irish rebellion, Sir Richard led some troops to Ireland,
where he won some fame and became governor of Trim; then returning to
England in 1643 he was arrested at Liverpool by an officer of the
parliament, but was soon released and sent to join the parliamentary
army. Having, however, secured men and money, he hurried to Charles I.
at Oxford and was despatched to take part in the siege of Plymouth,
quickly becoming the leader of the forces engaged in this enterprise.
Compelled to raise the siege he retired into Cornwall, where he helped
to resist the advancing Parliamentarians; but he quickly showed signs of
insubordination, and, whilst sharing in the siege of Taunton, he was
wounded and obliged to resign his command. About this time loud
complaints were brought against Grenville. He had behaved, it was said,
in a very arbitrary fashion; he had hanged some men and imprisoned
others; he had extorted money and had used the contributions towards the
cost of the war for his own ends. Many of these charges were undoubtedly
true, but upon his recovery the councillors of the prince of Wales gave
him a position under Lord Goring, whom, however, he refused to obey.
Equally recalcitrant was his attitude towards Goring's successor, Sir
Ralph Hopton, and in January 1646 he was arrested. But he was soon
released; he went to France and Italy, and after visiting England in
disguise passed some time in Holland. He was excepted by parliament from
pardon in 1648, and after the king's execution he was with Charles II.
in France and elsewhere until some unfounded accusation which he brought
against Edward Hyde, afterwards earl of Clarendon, led to his removal
from court. He died in 1658, and was buried at Ghent. In 1644, when
Grenville deserted the parliamentary party, a proclamation was put out
against him; in this there were attached to his name several offensive
epithets, among them being _skellum_, a word probably derived from the
German _Schelm_, a scoundrel. Hence he is often called "skellum
Grenville."
Grenville wrote an account of affairs in the west of England, which
was printed in T. Carte's _Original Letters_ (1739). To this partisan
account Clarendon drew up an answer, the bulk of which he afterwards
incorporated in his _History_. In 1654 Grenville wrote his _Single
defence against all aspersions of all malignant persons_. This is
printed in the _Works_ of George Granville, Lord Lansdowne (London,
1736), where Lansdowne's _Vindication_ of his kinsman, Sir Richard,
against Clarendon's charges is also found. See also Clarendon,
_History of the Rebellion_, edited by W. D. Macray (Oxford, 1888); and
R. Granville, _The King's General in the West_ (1908).
GRENVILLE, WILLIAM WYNDHAM GRENVILLE, BARON (1759-1834), English
statesman, youngest son of George Grenville, was born on the 25th of
October 1759. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, gaining
the chancellor's prize for Latin verse in 1779. In February 1782
Grenville was returned to parliament as member for the borough of
Buckingham, and in the following September he became secretary to the
lord lieutenant of Ireland, who at this time was his brother, Earl
Temple, afterwards marquess of Buckingham. He left office in June 1783,
but in the following December he became paymaster-general of the forces
under his cousin, William Pitt, and in 1786 vice-president of the
committee of trade. In 1787 he was sent on an important mission to the
Hague and Versailles with reference to the affairs of Holland. In
January 1789 he was chosen speaker of the House of Commons, but he
vacated the chair in the same year on being appointed secretary of state
for the home department; about the same time he resigned his other
offices, but he became president of the board of control, and in
November 1790 was created a peer as Baron Grenville. In the House of
Lords he was very active in directing the business of the government,
and in 1791 he was transferred to the foreign office, retaining his post
at the board of control until 1793. He was doubtless regarded by Pitt as
the man best fitted to carry out his policy with reference to France,
but in the succeeding years he and his chief were frequently at variance
on important questions of foreign policy. In spite of his multifarious
duties at the foreign office Grenville continued to take a lively
interest in domestic matters, which he showed by introducing various
bills into the House of Lords. In February 1801 he resigned office with
Pitt because George III. would not consent to the introduction of any
measure of Roman Catholic relief, and in opposition he gradually
separated himself from his former leader. When Pitt returned to power in
1804 Grenville refused to join the ministry unless his political ally,
Fox, was also admitted thereto; this was impossible and he remained out
of office until February 1806, when just after Pitt's death he became
the nominal head of a coalition government. This ministry was very
unfortunate in its conduct of foreign affairs, but it deserves to be
remembered with honour on account of the act passed in 1807 for the
abolition of the slave trade. Its influence, however, was weakened by
the death of Fox, and in consequence of a minute drawn up by Grenville
and some of his colleagues the king demanded from his ministers an
assurance that in future they would not urge upon him any measures for
the relief of Roman Catholics. They refused to give this assurance and
in March 1807 they resigned. Grenville's attitude in this matter was
somewhat aggressive; his colleagues were not unanimous in supporting
him, and Sheridan, one of them, said "he had known many men knock their
heads against a wall, but he had never before heard of any man who
collected the bricks and built the very wall with an intention to knock
out his own brains against it."
Lord Grenville never held office again, although he was requested to do
so on several occasions. He continued, however, to take part in public
life, being one of the chief supporters of Roman Catholic emancipation,
and during the remaining years of his active political career, which
ended in 1823, he generally voted with the Whigs, although in 1815 he
separated himself from his colleague, Charles Grey, and supported the
warlike policy of Lord Liverpool. In 1819, when the marquess of
Lansdowne brought forward his motion for an inquiry into the causes of
the distress and discontent in the manufacturing districts, Grenville
delivered an alarmist speech advocating repressive measures. His
concluding years were spent at Dropmore, Buckinghamshire, where he died
on the 12th of January 1834. His wife, whom he married in 1792, was Anne
(1772-1864), daughter of Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford, but he had no
issue and his title became extinct. In 1809 he was elected chancellor of
Oxford university.
Though Grenville's talents were not of the highest order his
straightforwardness and industry, together with his knowledge of
politics and the moderation of his opinions, secured for him
considerable political influence. He may be enrolled among the band of
English statesmen who have distinguished themselves in literature. He
edited Lord Chatham's letters to his nephew, Thomas Pitt, afterwards
Lord Camelford (London, 1804, and other editions); he wrote a small
volume, _Nugae Metricae_ (1824), being translations into Latin from
English, Greek and Italian, and an _Essay on the Supposed Advantages of
a Sinking Fund_ (1828).
The Dropmore MSS. contain much of Grenville's correspondence, and on
this the Historical Manuscripts Commission has published a report.
GRESHAM, SIR THOMAS (1519-1579), London merchant, the founder of the
Royal Exchange and of Gresham College, London, was descended from an old
Norfolk family; he was the only son of Sir Richard Gresham, a leading
London merchant, who for some time held the office of lord mayor, and
for his services as agent of Henry VIII. in negotiating loans with
foreign merchants received the honour of knighthood. Though his father
intended him to follow his own profession, he nevertheless sent him for
some time to Caius College, Cambridge, but there is no information as to
the duration of his residence. It is uncertain also whether it was
before or after this that he was apprenticed to his uncle Sir John
Gresham, who was also a merchant, but we have his own testimony that he
served an apprenticeship of eight years. In 1543, at the age of
twenty-four, he was admitted a member of the Mercers' Company, and in
the same year he went to the Low Countries, where, either on his own
account or on that of his father or uncle, he both carried on business
as a merchant and acted in various matters as an agent for Henry VIII.
In 1544 he married the widow of William Read, a London merchant, but he
still continued to reside principally in the Low Countries, having his
headquarters at Antwerp. When in 1551 the mismanagement of Sir William
Dansell, "king's merchant" in the Low Countries, had brought the English
government into great financial embarrassment, Gresham was called in to
give his advice, and chosen to carry out his own proposals. Their
leading feature was the adoption of various methods--highly ingenious,
but quite arbitrary and unfair--for raising the value of the pound
sterling on the "bourse" of Antwerp, and it was so successful that in a
few years nearly all King Edward's debts were discharged. The advice of
Gresham was likewise sought by the government in all their money
difficulties, and he was also frequently employed in various diplomatic
missions. He had no stated salary, but in reward of his services
received from Edward various grants of lands, the annual value of which
at that time was ultimately about £400 a year. On the accession of Mary
he was for a short time in disfavour, and was displaced in his post by
Alderman William Dauntsey. But Dauntsey's financial operations were not
very successful and Gresham was soon reinstated; and as he professed his
zealous desire to serve the queen, and manifested great adroitness both
in negotiating loans and in smuggling money, arms and foreign goods, not
only were his services retained throughout her reign, but besides his
salary of twenty shillings _per diem_ he received grants of church lands
to the yearly value of £200. Under Queen Elizabeth, besides continuing
in his post as financial agent of the crown, he acted temporarily as
ambassador at the court of the duchess of Parma, being knighted in 1559
previous to his departure. By the outbreak of the war in the Low
Countries he was compelled to leave Antwerp on the 19th of March 1567;
but, though he spent the remainder of his life in London, he continued
his business as merchant and financial agent of the government in much
the same way as formerly. Elizabeth also found him useful in a great
variety of other ways, among which was that of acting as jailer, to Lady
Mary Grey, who, as a punishment for marrying Thomas Keys the sergeant
porter, remained a prisoner in his house from June 1569 to the end of
1572. In 1565 Gresham made a proposal to the court of aldermen of London
to build at his own expense a bourse or exchange, on condition that they
purchased for this purpose a piece of suitable ground. In this proposal
he seems to have had an eye to his own interest as well as to the
general good of the merchants, for by a yearly rental of £700 obtained
for the shops in the upper part of the building he received a sufficient
return for his trouble and expense. Gresham died suddenly, apparently of
apoplexy, on the 21st of November 1579. His only son predeceased him,
and his illegitimate daughter Anne he married to Sir Nathaniel Bacon,
brother of the great Lord Bacon. With the exception of a number of small
sums bequeathed to the support of various charities, the bulk of his
property, consisting of estates in various parts of England of the
annual value of more than £2300, was bequeathed to his widow and her
heirs with the stipulation that after her decease his residence in
Bishopsgate Street, as well as the rents arising from the Royal
Exchange, should be vested in the hands of the corporation of London and
the Mercers' Company, for the purpose of instituting a college in which
seven professors should read lectures--one each day of the week--on
astronomy, geometry, physic, law, divinity, rhetoric and music. The
lectures were begun in 1597, and were delivered in the original building
until 1768, when, on the ground that the trustees were losers by the
gift, it was made over to the crown for a yearly rent of £500, and
converted into an excise office. From that time a room in the Royal
Exchange was used for the lectures until in 1843 the present building
was erected at a cost of £7000.
A notice of Gresham is contained in Fuller's _Worthies_ and Ward's
_Gresham Professors_; but the fullest account of him, as well as of
the history of the Exchange and Gresham College is that by J. M.
Burgon in his _Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham_ (2 vols., 1839).
See also a _Brief Memoir of Sir Thomas Gresham_ (1833); and _The Life
of Sir Thomas Gresham, Founder of the Royal Exchange_ (1845).
GRESHAM, WALTER QUINTON (1832-1895), American statesman and jurist, was
born near Lanesville, Harrison county, Indiana, on the 17th of March
1832. He spent two years in an academy at Corydon, Indiana, and one year
at the Indiana State University at Bloomington, then studied law, and in
1854 was admitted to the bar. He was active as a campaign speaker for
the Republican ticket in 1856, and in 1860 was elected to the State
House of Representatives as a Republican in a strong Democratic
district. In the House, as chairman of the committee on military
affairs, he did much to prepare the Indiana troops for service in the
Federal army; in 1861 he became colonel of the 53rd Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, and subsequently took part in Grant's Tennessee campaign of
1862, and in the operations against Corinth and Vicksburg, where he
commanded a brigade. In August 1863 he was appointed brigadier-general
of volunteers, and was placed in command of the Federal forces at
Natchez. In 1864 he commanded a division of the 17th Army Corps in
Sherman's Atlanta campaign, and before Atlanta, on the 20th of July, he
received a wound which forced him to retire from active service, and
left him lame for life. In 1865 he was brevetted major-general of
volunteers. After the war he practised law at New Albany, Indiana, and
in 1869 was appointed by President Grant United States District Judge
for Indiana. In April 1883 he succeeded Timothy O. Howe (1816-1883) as
postmaster-general in President Arthur's cabinet, taking an active part
in the suppression of the Louisiana Lottery, and in September 1884
succeeded Charles J. Folger as secretary of the treasury. In the
following month he resigned to accept an appointment as United States
Judge for the Seventh Judicial Circuit. Gresham was a candidate for the
Republican presidential nomination in 1884 and 1888, in the latter year
leading for some time in the balloting. Gradually, however, he grew out
of sympathy with the Republican leaders and policy, and in 1892
advocated the election of the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland,
for the presidency. From the 7th of March 1893 until his death at
Washington on the 28th of May 1895, he was secretary of state in
President Cleveland's cabinet.
GRESHAM'S LAW, in economics, the name suggested in 1857 by H. D. Macleod
for the principle of currency which may be briefly summarized--"bad
money drives out good." Macleod gave it this name, which has been
universally adopted, under the impression that the principle was first
explained by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1558. In reality it had been well set
forth by earlier economic writers, notably Oresme and Copernicus.
Macleod states the law in these terms: the worst form of currency in
circulation regulates the value of the whole currency and drives all
other forms of currency out of circulation. Gresham's law applies where
there is under-weight or debased coin in circulation with full-weight
coin of the same metal; where there are two metals in circulation, and
one is undervalued as compared with the other, and where inconvertible
paper money is put into circulation side by side with a metallic
currency. See further BIMETALLISM; MONEY.
GRESSET, JEAN BAPTISTE LOUIS (1709-1777), French poet and dramatist, was
born at Amiens on the 29th of August 1709. His poem _Vert Vert_ is his
main title to fame. He spent, however, the last twenty-five years of his
life in regretting the frivolity which enabled him to produce this most
charming of poems. He was brought up by the Jesuits of Amiens. He was
accepted as a novice at the age of sixteen, and sent to pursue his
studies at the Collège Louis le Grand in Paris. After completing his
course he was appointed, being then under twenty years of age, to a post
as assistant master in a college at Rouen. He published _Vert Vert_ at
Rouen in 1734. It is a story, in itself exceedingly humorous, showing
how a parrot, the delight of a convent, whose talk was all of prayers
and pious ejaculations, was conveyed to another convent as a visitor to
please the nuns. On the way he falls among bad companions, forgets his
convent language, and shocks the sisters on arrival by profane swearing.
He is sent back in disgrace, punished by solitude and plain bread,
presently repents, reforms and is killed by kindness. The story,
however, is nothing. The treatment of the subject, the atmosphere which
surrounds it, the delicacy in which the little prattling ways of the
nuns, their jealousies, their tiny trifles, are presented, takes the
reader entirely by surprise. The poem stands absolutely unrivalled, even
among French _contes en vers_.
Gresset found himself famous. He left Rouen, went up to Paris, where he
found refuge in the same garret which had sheltered him when a boy at
the Collège Louis le Grand, and there wrote his second poem, _La
Chartreuse_. It was followed by the _Carême impromptu_, the _Lutrin
vivant_ and _Les Ombres_. Then trouble came upon him; complaints were
made to the fathers of the alleged licentiousness of his verses, the
real cause of complaint being the ridicule which _Vert Vert_ seemed to
throw upon the whole race of nuns and the anti-clerical tendency of the
other poems. An example, it was urged, must be made; Gresset was
expelled the order. Men of robust mind would have been glad to get rid
of such a yoke. Gresset, who had never been taught to stand alone, went
forth weeping. He went to Paris in 1740 and there produced _Édouard
III_, a tragedy (1740) and _Sidnei_ (1745), a comedy. These were
followed by _Le Méchant_ which still keeps the stage, and is qualified
by Brunetière as the best verse comedy of the French 18th century
theatre, not excepting even the _Métromanie_ of Alexis Piron. Gresset
was admitted to the Academy in 1748. And then, still young, he retired
to Amiens, where his relapse from the discipline of the church became
the subject of the deepest remorse. He died at Amiens on the 16th of
June 1777.
The best edition of his poems is A. A. Rénouard's (1811). See Jules
Wogue, _J. B. L. Gresset_ (1894).
GRETNA GREEN, or GRAITNEY GREEN, a village in the south-east of
Dumfriesshire, Scotland, about 8 m. E. of Annan, 9 m. N.N.W. of
Carlisle, and ¾ m. from the river Sark, here the dividing-line between
England and Scotland, with a station on the Glasgow & South-Western
railway. The Caledonian and North British railways have a station at
Gretna on the English side of the Border. As the nearest village on the
Scottish side, Gretna Green was notorious as the resort of eloping
couples, who had failed to obtain the consent of parents or guardians to
their union. Up till 1754, when Lord Hardwicke's act abolishing
clandestine marriages came into force, the ceremony had commonly been
performed in the Fleet prison in London. After that date runaway couples
were compelled to seek the hospitality of a country where it sufficed
for them to declare their wish to marry in the presence of witnesses. At
Gretna Green the ceremony was usually performed by the blacksmith, but
the toll-keeper, ferryman or in fact any person might officiate, and the
toll-house, the inn, or, after 1826, Gretna Hall was the scene of many
such weddings, the fees varying from half a guinea to a sum as large as
impudence could extort or extravagance bestow. As many as two hundred
couples were married at the toll-house in a year. The romantic traffic
was practically, though not necessarily, put an end to in 1856, when the
law required one of the contracting parties to reside in Scotland three
weeks previous to the event.
GRÉTRY, ANDRÉ ERNEST MODESTE (1741-1813), French composer, was born at
Liége on the 8th of February 1741, his father being a poor musician. He
was a choir boy at the church of St Denis. In 1753 he became a pupil of
Leclerc and later of Renekin and Moreau. But of greater importance was
the practical tuition he received by attending the performance of an
Italian opera company. Here he heard the operas of Galuppi, Pergolesi
and other masters; and the desire of completing his own studies in Italy
was the immediate result. To find the necessary means he composed in
1759 a mass which he dedicated to the canons of the Liége cathedral, and
it was at the cost of Canon Hurley that he went to Italy in the March of
1759. In Rome he went to the Collège de Liége. Here Grétry resided for
five years, studiously employed in completing his musical education
under Casali. His proficiency in harmony and counterpoint was, however,
according to his own confession, at all times very moderate. His first
great success was achieved by _La Vendemmiatrice_, an Italian intermezzo
or operetta, composed for the Aliberti theatre in Rome and received with
universal applause. It is said that the study of the score of one of
Monsigny's operas, lent to him by a secretary of the French embassy in
Rome, decided Grétry to devote himself to French comic opera. On New
Year's day 1767 he accordingly left Rome, and after a short stay at
Geneva (where he made the acquaintance of Voltaire, and produced another
operetta) went to Paris. There for two years he had to contend with the
difficulties incident to poverty and obscurity. He was, however, not
without friends, and by the intercession of Count Creutz, the Swedish
ambassador, Grétry obtained a libretto from Marmontel, which he set to
music in less than six weeks, and which, on its performance in August
1768, met with unparalleled success. The name of the opera was _Le
Huron_. Two others, _Lucile_ and _Le Tableau parlant_, soon followed,
and thenceforth Grétry's position as the leading composer of comic opera
was safely established. Altogether he composed some fifty operas. His
masterpieces are _Zémire et Azor_ and _Richard Coeur de Lion_,--the
first produced in 1771, the second in 1784. The latter in an indirect
way became connected with a great historic event. In it occurs the
celebrated romance, _O Richard, ô mon roi, l'univers t'abandonne_, which
was sung at the banquet--"fatal as that of Thyestes," remarks
Carlyle--given by the bodyguard to the officers of the Versailles
garrison on October 3, 1789. The _Marseillaise_ not long afterwards
became the reply of the people to the expression of loyalty borrowed
from Grétry's opera. The composer himself was not uninfluenced by the
great events he witnessed, and the titles of some of his operas, such as
_La Rosière républicaine_ and _La Fête de la raison_, sufficiently
indicate the epoch to which they belong; but they are mere _pièces de
circonstance_, and the republican enthusiasm displayed is not genuine.
Little more successful was Grétry in his dealings with classical
subjects. His genuine power lay in the delineation of character and in
the expression of tender and typically French sentiment. The structure
of his concerted pieces on the other hand is frequently flimsy, and his
instrumentation so feeble that the orchestral parts of some of his works
had to be rewritten by other composers, in order to make them acceptable
to modern audiences. During the revolution Grétry lost much of his
property, but the successive governments of France vied in favouring the
composer, regardless of political differences. From the old court he
received distinctions and rewards of all kinds; the republic made him an
inspector of the conservatoire; Napoleon granted him the cross of the
legion of honour and a pension. Grétry died on the 24th of September
1813, at the Hermitage in Montmorency, formerly the house of Rousseau.
Fifteen years after his death Grétry's heart was transferred to his
birthplace, permission having been obtained after a tedious lawsuit. In
1842 a colossal bronze statue of the composer was set up at Liége.
See Michael Brenet, _Vie de Grétry_ (Paris, 1884); Joach. le Breton,
_Notice historique sur la vie et les ouvrages de Grétry_ (Paris,
1814); A. Grétry (his nephew), _Grétry en famille_ (Paris, 1814);
Felix van Hulst, _Grétry_ (Liége, 1842); L. D. S. _Notice biographique
sur Grétry_ (Bruxelles, 1859).
GREUZE, JEAN BAPTISTE (1725-1805), French painter, was born at Tournus,
in Burgundy, on the 21st of August 1725, and is generally said to have
formed his own talent; this is, however, true only in the most limited
sense, for at an early age his inclinations, though thwarted by his
father, were encouraged by a Lyonnese artist named Grandon, or Grondom,
who enjoyed during his lifetime considerable reputation as a
portrait-painter. Grandon not only persuaded the father of Greuze to
give way to his son's wishes, and permit the lad to accompany him as his
pupil to Lyons, but, when at a later date he himself left Lyons for
Paris--where his son-in-law Grétry the celebrated composer enjoyed the
height of favour--Grandon carried young Greuze with him. Settled in
Paris, Greuze worked from the living model in the school of the Royal
Academy, but did not attract the attention of his teachers; and when he
produced his first picture, "Le Père de famille expliquant la Bible à
ses enfants," considerable doubt was felt and shown as to his share in
its production. By other and more remarkable works of the same class
Greuze soon established his claims beyond contest, and won for himself
the notice and support of the well-known connoisseur La Live de Jully,
the brother-in-law of Madame d'Épinay. In 1755 Greuze exhibited his
"Aveugle trompé," upon which, presented by Pigalle the sculptor, he was
immediately _agréé_ by the Academy. Towards the close of the same year
he left France for Italy, in company with the Abbé Louis Gougenot, who
had deserted from the magistrature--although he had obtained the post of
"conseillier au Châtelet"--in order to take the "petit collet." Gougenot
had some acquaintance with the arts, and was highly valued by the
Academicians, who, during his journey with Greuze, elected him an
honorary member of their body on account of his studies in mythology and
allegory; his acquirements in these respects are said to have been
largely utilized by them, but to Greuze they were of doubtful advantage,
and he lost rather than gained by this visit to Italy in Gougenot's
company. He had undertaken it probably in order to silence those who
taxed him with ignorance of "great models of style," but the Italian
subjects which formed the entirety of his contributions to the Salon of
1757 showed that he had been put on a false track, and he speedily
returned to the source of his first inspiration. In 1759, 1761
("L'Accordée de village"--Louvre), and 1763 Greuze exhibited with
ever-increasing success; in 1765 he reached the zenith of his powers and
reputation. In that year he was represented with no less than thirteen
works, amongst which may be cited "La Jeune Fille qui pleure son oiseau
mort," "La Bonne Mère," "Le Mauvais fils puni" (Louvre) and "La
Malédiction paternelle" (Louvre). The Academy took occasion to press
Greuze for his diploma picture, the execution of which had been long
delayed, and forbade him to exhibit on their walls until he had complied
with their regulations. "J'ai vu la lettre," says Diderot, "qui est un
modèle d'honnêteté et d'estime; j'ai vu la réponse de Greuze, qui est un
modèle de vanité et d'impertinence: il fallait appuyer cela d'un
chef-d'oeuvre, et c'est ce que Greuze n'a pas fait." Greuze wished to be
received as a historical painter, and produced a work which he intended
to vindicate his right to despise his qualifications as a _peintre de
genre_. This unfortunate canvas--"Sevère et Caracalla" (Louvre)--was
exhibited in 1769 side by side with Greuze's portrait of Jeaurat
(Louvre) and his admirable "Petite Fille au chien noir." The
Academicians received their new member with all due honours, but at the
close of the ceremonies the Director addressed Greuze in these
words--"Monsieur, l'Académie vous a reçu, mais c'est comme peintre de
genre; elle a eu égard à vos anciennes productions, qui sont
excellentes, et elle a fermé les yeux sur celle-ci, qui n'est digne ni
d'elle ni de vous." Greuze, greatly incensed, quarrelled with his
_confrères_, and ceased to exhibit until, in 1804, the Revolution had
thrown open the doors of the Academy to all the world. In the following
year, on the 4th of March 1805, he died in the Louvre in great poverty.
He had been in receipt of considerable wealth, which he had dissipated
by extravagance and bad management, so that during his closing years he
was forced even to solicit commissions which his enfeebled powers no
longer enabled him to carry out with success. The brilliant reputation
which Greuze acquired seems to have been due, not to his acquirements as
a painter--for his practice is evidently that current in his own
day--but to the character of the subjects which he treated. That return
to nature which inspired Rousseau's attacks upon an artificial
civilization demanded expression in art. Diderot, in _Le Fils naturel et
le père de famille_, tried to turn the vein of domestic drama to account
on the stage; that which he tried and failed to do Greuze, in painting,
achieved with extraordinary success, although his works, like the plays
of Diderot, were affected by that very artificiality against which they
protested. The touch of melodramatic exaggeration, however, which runs
through them finds an apology in the firm and brilliant play of line, in
the freshness and vigour of the flesh tints, in the enticing softness of
expression (often obtained by almost an abuse of _méplats_), by the
alluring air of health and youth, by the sensuous attractions, in short,
with which Greuze invests his lessons of bourgeois morality. As Diderot
said of "La Bonne Mère," "ça prêche la population;" and a certain
piquancy of contrast is the result which never fails to obtain
admirers. "La Jeune Fille à l'agneau" fetched, indeed, at the Pourtalès
sale in 1865, no less than 1,000,200 francs. One of Greuze's pupils,
Madame Le Doux, imitated with success the manner of her master; his
daughter and granddaughter, Madame de Valory, also inherited some
traditions of his talent. Madame de Valory published in 1813 a
comédie-vaudeville, _Greuze, ou l'accordée de village_, to which she
prefixed a notice of her grandfather's life and works, and the _Salons_
of Diderot also contain, besides many other particulars, the story at
full length of Greuze's quarrel with the Academy. Four of the most
distinguished engravers of that date, Massard père, Flipart, Gaillard
and Levasseur, were specially entrusted by Greuze with the reproduction
of his subjects, but there are also excellent prints by other engravers,
notably by Cars and Le Bas.
See also Normand, _J. B. Greuze_ (1892). (E. F. S. D.)
GREVILLE, CHARLES CAVENDISH FULKE (1794-1865), English diarist, a
great-grandson by his father of the 5th earl of Warwick, and son of Lady
Charlotte Bentinck, daughter of the duke of Portland, formerly a leader
of the Whig party, and first minister of the crown, was born on the 2nd
of April 1794. Much of his childhood was spent at his grandfather's
house at Bulstrode. He was one of the pages of George III., and was
educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford; but he left the university
early, having been appointed private secretary to Earl Bathurst before
he was twenty. The interest of the duke of Portland had secured for him
the secretaryship of the island of Jamaica, which was a sinecure office,
the duties being performed by a deputy, and the reversion of the
clerkship of the council. Greville entered upon the discharge of the
duties of clerk of the council in ordinary in 1821, and continued to
perform them for nearly forty years. He therefore served under three
successive sovereigns,--George IV., William IV. and Victoria,--and
although no political or confidential functions are attached to that
office, it is one which brings a man into habitual intercourse with the
chiefs of all the parties in the state. Well-born, well-bred, handsome
and accomplished, Greville led the easy life of a man of fashion, taking
an occasional part in the transactions of his day and much consulted in
the affairs of private life. Until 1855 when he sold his stud he was an
active member of the turf, and he trained successively with Lord George
Bentinck, and with the duke of Portland. But the celebrity which now
attaches to his name is entirely due to the posthumous publication of a
portion of a Journal or Diary which it was his practice to keep during
the greater part of his life. These papers were given by him to his
friend Mr Henry Reeve a short time before his death (which took place on
the 18th of January 1865), with an injunction that they should be
published, as far as was feasible, at not too remote a period after the
writer's death. The journals of the reigns of George IV. and William IV.
(extending from 1820 to 1837) were accordingly so published in obedience
to his directions about ten years after that event. Few publications
have been received with greater interest by the public; five large
editions were sold in little more than a year, and the demand in America
was as great as in England. These journals were regarded as a faithful
record of the impressions made on the mind of a competent observer, at
the time, by the events he witnessed and the persons with whom he
associated. Greville did not stoop to collect or record private scandal.
His object appears to have been to leave behind him some of the
materials of history, by which the men and actions of his own time would
be judged. He records not so much public events as the private causes
which led to them; and perhaps no English memoir-writer has left behind
him a more valuable contribution to the history of the 19th century.
Greville published anonymously, in 1845, a volume on the _Past and
Present Policy of England to Ireland_, in which he advocated the payment
of the Roman Catholic clergy; and he was also the author of several
pamphlets on the events of his day.
His brother, HENRY GREVILLE (1801-1872), attaché to the British embassy
in Paris from 1834 to 1844, also kept a diary, of which part was
published by Viscountess Enfield, _Leaves from the Diary of Henry
Greville_ (London, 1883-1884).
See the preface and notes to the _Greville Memoirs_ by Henry Reeve.
The memoirs appeared in three sets--one from 1817 to 1837 (London,
1875, 3 vols.), and two for the period from 1837 to 1860, three
volumes in 1885 and two in 1887. When the first series appeared in
1875 some passages caused extreme offence. The copies issued were as
far as possible recalled and passages suppressed.
GRÉVIN, JACQUES (c. 1539-1570), French dramatist, was born at Clermont
about 1539. He studied medicine at the university of Paris. He became a
disciple of Ronsard, and was one of the band of dramatists who sought to
introduce the classical drama in France. As Sainte-Beuve points out, the
comedies of Grévin show considerable affinity with the farces and
_soties_ that preceded them. His first play, _La Maubertine_, was lost,
and formed the basis of a new comedy, _La Trésorière_, first performed
at the college of Beauvais in 1558, though it had been originally
composed at the desire of Henry II. to celebrate the marriage of Claude,
duchess of Lorraine. In 1560 followed the tragedy of _Jules César_,
imitated from the Latin of Muret, and a comedy, _Les Ébahis_, the most
important but also the most indecent of his works. Grévin was also the
author of some medical works and of miscellaneous poems, which were
praised by Ronsard until the friends were separated by religious
differences. Grévin became in 1561 physician and counsellor to Margaret
of Savoy, and died at her court in Turin in 1570.
The _Théâtre_ of Jacques Grévin was printed in 1562, and in the
_Ancien Théâtre français_, vol. iv. (1855-1856). See L. Pinvert,
_Jacques Grévin_ (1899).
GRÈVY, FRANÇOIS PAUL JULES (1813-1891). President of the French
Republic, was born at Mont-sous-Vaudrey in the Jura, on the 15th of
August 1813. He became an advocate in 1837, and, having steadily
maintained republican principles under the Orleans monarchy, was elected
by his native department to the Constituent Assembly of 1848. Foreseeing
that Louis Bonaparte would be elected president by the people, he
proposed to vest the chief authority in a president of the Council
elected and removable by the Assembly, or in other words, to suppress
the Presidency of the Republic. After the _coup d'état_ this proposition
gained Grévy a reputation for sagacity, and upon his return to public
life in 1868 he took a prominent place in the republican party. After
the fall of the Empire he was chosen president of the Assembly on the
16th of February 1871, and occupied this position till the 2nd of April
1876, when he resigned on account of the opposition of the Right, which
blamed him for having called one of its members to order in the session
of the previous day. On the 8th of March 1876 he was elected president
of the Chamber of Deputies, a post which he filled with such efficiency
that upon the resignation of Marshal MacMahon he seemed to step
naturally into the Presidency of the Republic (30th January 1879), and
was elected without opposition by the republican parties (see FRANCE:
_History_). Quiet, shrewd, attentive to the public interest and his own,
but without any particular distinction, he would have left an
unblemished reputation if he had not unfortunately accepted a second
term (18th December 1885). Shortly afterwards the traffic of his
son-in-law (Daniel Wilson) in the decorations of the Legion of Honour
came to light. Grévy was not accused of personal participation in these
scandals, but he was somewhat obstinate in refusing to realize that he
was responsible indirectly for the use which his relative had made of
the Élysée, and it had to be unpleasantly impressed upon him that his
resignation was inevitable (2nd December 1887). He died at
Mont-sous-Vaudrey on the 9th of September 1891. He owed both his success
and his failure to the completeness with which he represented the
particular type of the thrifty, generally sensible and patriotic, but
narrow-minded and frequently egoistic _bourgeois_.
See his _Discours politiques et judiciaires, rapports et messages ...
accompagnés de notices historiques et précédés d'une introduction par
L. Delabrousse_ (2 vols., 1888).
GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712), English vegetable anatomist and
physiologist, was the only son of Obadiah Grew (1607-1688),
Nonconformist divine and vicar of St Michael's, Coventry, and was born
in Warwickshire in 1641. He graduated at Cambridge in 1661, and ten
years later took the degree of M.D. at Leiden, his thesis being
_Disputatio medico-physica ... de liquore nervoso_. He began
observations on the anatomy of plants in 1664, and in 1670 his essay,
_The Anatomy of Vegetables begun_, was communicated to the Royal Society
by Bishop Wilkins, on whose recommendation he was in the following year
elected a fellow. In 1672, when the essay was published, he settled in
London, and soon acquired an extensive practice as a physician. In 1673
he published his _Idea of a Phytological History_, which consisted of
papers he had communicated to the Royal Society in the preceding year,
and in 1677 he succeeded Henry Oldenburg as secretary of the society. He
edited the _Philosophical Transactions_ in 1678-1679, and in 1681 he
published "by request" a descriptive catalogue of the rarities preserved
at Gresham College, with which were printed some papers he had read to
the Royal Society on the _Comparative Anatomy of Stomachs and Guts_. In
1682 appeared his great work on the _Anatomy of Plants_, which also was
largely a collection of previous publications. It was divided into four
books, _Anatomy of Vegetables begun_, _Anatomy of Roots_, _Anatomy of
Trunks_ and _Anatomy of Leaves, Flowers, Fruits and Seeds_, and was
illustrated with eighty-two plates, while appended to it were seven
papers mostly of a chemical character. Among his other publications were
_Sea-water made Fresh_ (1684), the _Nature and Use of the Salt contained
in Epsom and such other Waters_ (1697), which was a rendering of his
_Tractatus de salis ... usu_ (1695), and _Cosmologia sacra_ (1701). He
died suddenly on the 25th of March 1712. Linnaeus named a genus of trees
_Grewia_ (nat. ord. Tiliaceae) in his honour.
GREY, CHARLES GREY, 2ND EARL (1764-1845), English statesman, was the
eldest surviving son of General Sir Charles Grey, afterwards 1st Earl
Grey. He was born at his father's residence, Fallodon, near Alnwick, on
the 13th of March 1764. General Grey (1729-1807), who was a younger son
of the house of Grey of Howick, one of the most considerable territorial
families in Northumberland, had already begun a career of active service
which, like the political career of his son, covered nearly half a
century. Before the latter was born, General Grey had served on the
staff of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in the Seven Years' War and had
been wounded at Minden. While the son was making verses at Eton, the
father was serving against the revolted colonists in Pennsylvania and
New Jersey, and while the young member for Northumberland was denouncing
Pitt's war against the Convention, the veteran soldier was destroying
the remnant of the French colonial empire by the capture of Martinique
and Guadeloupe. When Napoleon threatened an invasion, General Grey took
the command of the southern district, and at the peace of Amiens he was
rewarded with a peerage, as Baron Grey of Alnwick, being created in 1806
Earl Grey and Viscount Howick. His elder brother, Sir Henry Grey of
Howick, the head of the family, had supported the government in
parliament. But the political career of young Grey, who was
heir-presumptive to the family estates, took a different complexion.
Young Grey expected to reoccupy the seat which had been his uncle's; and
his early years were spent in preparation for a parliamentary career. He
was sent to Eton, and proceeded thence to Cambridge. William Pitt, a
youth five years older, was then in residence as a master of arts,
studiously paying court to the Whigs of the university; and at the
general election of 1780 he came forward as a candidate for the
academical seat. His name stood last on the poll, but he was brought in
elsewhere, and his first speech proved him a man of the first mark. The
unparalleled successes which followed portended grave changes. Pitt's
elevation to the premiership, his brilliant and hard-fought battle in
the house, and his complete rout of the Whig party at the general
election of 1784, when he came in for Cambridge at the head of the poll,
threatened the great territorial interest with nothing less than
extinction. It was to this interest that Grey belonged; and hence, when
at length returned for Northumberland in 1786, he at once came forward
as a vigorous assailant of the government of Pitt. He was hailed by the
opposition, and associated with Fox, Burke and Sheridan as a manager in
the Hastings impeachment. During the nineteen years which remained of
the career of Fox, he followed the great Whig statesman with absolute
fidelity, and succeeded him as leader of the party. The shortcomings of
Fox's statesmanship were inherited by Grey. Both were equally devoid of
political originality, shunned the severer labours of the politician,
and instinctively feared any deviation from the traditions of their
party. Such men cannot save a party in its decadence, and the history of
Fox and Grey has been aptly termed the history of the decline and fall
of Whiggism.
The stunning blow of 1784 was the first incident in this history. Its
full significance was not at once perceived. An opposition, however weak
in the beginning, generally has a tendency to revive, and Grey's early
successes in the house helped to revive the Foxites. The European
situation became favourable to this revival. The struggle in France for
popular rights, culminating in the great Revolution, was watched by Fox
with interested sympathy. He affected to regard the domination of Pitt
as the domination of the crown, and as leading logically to absolutism,
and saw in that popular sympathy for the French Revolution which
naturally arose in England an instrument which might be employed to
overthrow this domination.
But Pitt gathered the fruits of the windfall. The spread of
"Jacobinism," or "French principles," became the pretext on which the
stronger half of the opposition went over to the government. Burke led
the movement in the Commons, the duke of Portland and Lord Fitzwilliam
in the Lords, and with this second incident in the Whig decline began
the difficulties of Grey's career. The domination of the premier had
already stirred the keenest resentment in the younger and more ambitious
members of the Whig party. Freed from the restraint of the steadier
politicians under Burke and Portland, the residuum under Fox fell into a
series of grave mistakes. Of this residuum Grey became the moving
spirit, for though Fox did not check their activity, he disclaimed the
responsibility of their policy. Fox had refused to condemn "French
principles," and denounced the war with France; but he would take no
part in exciting agitation in England. It was otherwise with the
restless spirits among whom Grey was found. Enraged by the attitude of
Pitt, which was grounded on the support of the constituencies as they
then stood, the residuum plotted an ill-timed agitation for
parliamentary reform.
The demand for parliamentary reform was as yet in a rudimentary stage.
Forty years later it had become the demand of an unenfranchised nation,
disabused by a sudden spread of political and economical knowledge. It
was as yet but the occasional instrument of the scheming politician.
Chatham had employed the cry in this sense. The Middlesex agitators had
done the same; even the premier of the time, after his accession to
power, had sought to strengthen his hands in the same way. But Pitt's
hands were now strengthened abundantly; whereas the opposition had
nothing to lose and much to gain by such a measure. The cry for reform
thus became their natural expedient. Powerless to carry reform in the
House, they sought to overawe parliament by external agitation, and
formed the Society of the Friends of the People, destined to unite the
forces of all the "patriotic" societies which already existed in the
country, and to pour their violence irresistibly on a terrified
parliament. Grey and his friends were enrolled in this portentous
association, and presented in parliament its menacing petitions. Such
petitions, which were in fact violent impeachments of parliament itself,
proceeding from voluntary associations having no corporate existence,
had been hitherto unknown in the English parliament. They had been well
known in the French assembly. They had heralded and furthered the
victory of the Jacobins, the dissolution of the constitution, the
calling of the Convention and the fall of the monarchy.
The Society of the Friends of the People was originally an after-dinner
folly, extemporized at the house of a man who afterwards gained an
earldom by denouncing it as seditious. Fox discountenanced it, though he
did not directly condemn it; but Grey was overborne by the fierce
Jacobinism of Lauderdale, and avowed himself the parliamentary
mouthpiece of this dangerous agitation. But Pitt, strong in his
position, cut the ground from under Grey's feet by suppressing the
agitation with a strong hand. The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act,
the Gagging Acts and the state prosecutions form a painful historical
episode. But the discredit belongs as much to Grey and Lauderdale as to
Pitt. Grey always spoke regretfully of his share in the movement. "One
word from Fox," he said, "would have kept me out of all the mess of the
Friends of the People. But he never spoke it."
It was Grey who moved the impeachment of Pitt, and he next promoted the
equally foolish "Secession." Since the parliament did not properly
represent the nation, and refused to reform itself or to impeach the
minister, nothing remained but to disown it; and the opposition
announced their intention of "seceding," or systematically absenting
themselves from their places in parliament. This futile movement was
originated by Grey, Lauderdale and the duke of Bedford. It obtained a
somewhat wider support. It suited the languor of some dispirited
politicians like Fox, and the avarice of some lawyers in large practice
like Erskine; but sensible politicians at once condemned it. It directly
ignored parliamentary government, and amounted to nothing but a pettish
threat of revolution. "Secession," said Lord Lansdowne, with
characteristic shrewdness, "either means rebellion, or it is nonsense."
Pitt easily dashed this feeble weapon from the hands of his opponents.
He roused jealousy in the absent by praising the parts and the
patriotism of the rest, and thus gradually brought them back. Grey
himself reappeared to protest against the union with Ireland.
When Pitt died in 1806 nothing could prevent the reunited opposition
from coming into power, and thus the Broad-bottom ministry was formed
under Fox. On his death Grenville became premier, and Grey, now Lord
Howick, foreign secretary, and leader of the House of Commons. Disunion,
always the bane of English Liberalism, lurked in the coalition, and the
Foxites and Grenvillites were only ostensibly at one. Grey opposed the
war policy of Grenville; and this policy was not more successful than it
had been in the hands of Pitt. And the change from the leadership of Fox
to that of Grenville was only too perceptible. Both in court and country
Grenville affected the role of Pitt, and assumed a stiff and peremptory
attitude which ill became him. An ill-advised dissolution weakened their
majority; they lost ground by the "delicate investigation" into the
conduct of the princess of Wales; Lord Henry Petty's budget was too
specious to command confidence; and the king, fully aware of their weak
situation, resolved to get rid of them. When they proposed to concede a
portion of the Catholic claims, George refused and demanded of them an
undertaking never to propose such a measure again. This was refused, and
the Grenville-Grey cabinet retired in March 1807. In the same year
Grey's father died, and Grey went to the Upper House. Opposition united
Grey and Grenville for a time, but the parties finally split on the old
war question. When Napoleon returned from Elba in 1815, and once more
seized the government of France, the same question arose which had
arisen in 1792, Was England to go to war for the restoration of the
Bourbons? Grenville followed the traditions of Pitt, and supported the
ministry in at once renewing hostilities. Grey followed those of Fox,
and maintained the right of France to choose her own governors, and the
impossibility of checking the reaction in the emperor's favour. The
victory of Waterloo put an end to the dispute, but the disruption became
permanent. The termination of the war, and the cessation of all action
in common, reduced the power of the opposition to nothing. Grenville
retired from public life, and his adherents reinforced the ministry.
Little remained for the Whigs to do. But the persecution of the queen
afforded an opportunity of showing that the ministry were not
omnipotent; and the part taken on that occasion by Grey won him at once
the increased respect of the nation and the undying aversion of George
IV. It sealed the exclusion of himself and his few friends from office
during the king's life; and when in 1827 Grey came forth to denounce the
ministry of Canning, he declared that he stood alone in the political
world. His words were soon justified, for when Lord Goderich resigned,
the remnant which had hitherto supported Grey, hastened to support the
ministry of the duke of Wellington.
We now reach the principal episode in Grey's career. In 1827 he seemed
to stand forth the solitary and powerless relic of an extinct party. In
1832 we find that party restored to its old numbers and activity,
supreme in parliament, popular in the nation, and Lord Grey at its head.
The duke of Wellington's foolish declaration against parliamentary
reform, made in a season of great popular excitement, suddenly deprived
him of the confidence of the country, and a coalition of the Whigs and
Canningites became inevitable. The Whigs had in 1827 supported the
Canningites; the latter now supported the Whigs, of whom Grey remained
the traditional head. George IV. was dead, and no obstacle existed to
Grey's elevation. Grey was sent for by William IV. in November 1830, and
formed a coalition cabinet, pledged to carry on the work in which the
duke of Wellington had faltered. But Grey himself was the mere
instrument of the times. An old-fashioned Whig, he had little personal
sympathy with the popular cause, though he had sometimes indicated a
certain measure of reform as necessary. When he took office, he guessed
neither the extent to which the Reform Act would go, nor the means by
which it would be carried. That he procured for the country a measure of
constitutional reform for which he had agitated in his youth was little
more than a coincidence. In his youth he had put himself at the head of
a frantic agitation against parliament, because he there found himself
powerless. In his old age the case was reversed. Suddenly raised to a
position of authority in the country, he boldly stood between
parliament, as then constituted, and the formidable agitation which now
threatened it and by a forced reform saved it from revolution. In his
youth he had assailed Pitt's administration because Pitt's
administration threatened with extinction the political monopoly of that
landed interest to which he belonged. In his old age, on the contrary,
unable to check the progress of the wave, he swam with it, and headed
the movement which compelled that landed interest to surrender its
monopoly.
The second reading of the first Reform Bill was carried in the Commons
by a majority of one. This was equivalent to a defeat, and further
failures precipitated a dissolution. The confidence which the bold
action of the ministry had won was soon plainly proved, for the second
reading was carried in the new parliament by a majority of 136. When the
bill had at length passed the Commons after months of debate, it was
Grey's task to introduce it to the Lords. It was rejected by a majority
of 41. The safety of the country now depended on the prudence and
courage of the ministry. The resignation of Grey and his colleagues was
dreaded even by the opposition, and they remained in office with the
intention of introducing a third Reform Bill in the next session. The
last months of 1831 were the beginning of a political crisis such as
England had not seen since 1688. The two extreme parties, the
Ultra-Radicals and the Ultra-Tories, were ready for civil war. Between
them stood the ministry and the majority of intelligent peace-loving
Englishmen; and their course of action was soon decided. The bill must
be passed, and there were but two ways of passing it. One was to declare
the consent of the House of Lords unnecessary to the measure, the other
to create, if necessary, new peers in sufficient number to outvote the
opposition. These two expedients did not in reality differ. To swamp the
house in the way proposed would have been to destroy it. The question
whether the ministry should demand the king's consent to such a
creation, if necessary, was debated in the cabinet in September.
Brougham proposed it, and gradually a majority of the cabinet were won
over. Grey had at first refused to employ even the threat of so
unconstitutional a device as a means to the proposed end. But his
continued refusal would have broken up the ministry, and the breaking up
of the ministry must now have been the signal for revolution. The second
reading in the Commons was passed in December by a majority of 162, and
on New-Year's day 1832 the majority of the cabinet resolved on demanding
power to carry it in the Lords by a creation of peers. Grey carried the
resolution to the king. Some time still remained before the bill could
be committed and read a third time. It was not until the 9th of April
that Grey moved the second reading in the Lords. A sufficient number of
the opposition temporized; and the second reading was allowed to pass by
a majority of nine. Their intention was to mutilate the bill in
committee. The Ultra-Tories, headed by the duke of Wellington, had
entered a protest against the second reading, but they were now
politically powerless. The struggle had become a struggle on the one
hand for the whole bill, to be carried by a creation of peers, and on
the other for some mutilated measure. Grey's instinct divined that the
crisis was approaching. Either the king must consent to swamp the House,
or the ministry must cease to stand in the breach between the peers and
the country. The king, a weak and inexperienced politician, had in the
meantime been wrought upon by the temporizing leaders in the Lords. He
was induced to believe that if the Commons should reject the mutilated
bill when it was returned to them, and the ministry should consequently
retire, the mutilated bill might be reintroduced and passed by a Tory
ministry. He was deaf to all representations of the state of public
opinion; and to the surprise of the ministry, and the terror and
indignation of every man of sense in the country, he rejected their
proposal and accepted their resignation, May 9, 1832. The duke of
Wellington undertook the hopeless task of constructing a ministry which
should pass a restricted or sham Reform Bill. The only man who could
have made the success of such a ministry even probable was Peel, and
Peel's conscience and good sense forbade the attempt. He refused, and
after a week of the profoundest agitation throughout the country, the
king, beaten and mortified, was forced to send for Grey and Brougham. On
being told that his consent to the creation of peers was the only
condition on which they could undertake the government, he angrily and
reluctantly yielded. The chancellor, with cool forethought, demanded
this consent in writing. Grey thought such a demand harsh and
unnecessary. "I wonder," he said to Brougham, when the interview was
over, "you could have had the heart to press it." But Brougham was
inexorable, and the king signed the following paper: "The king grants
permission to Earl Grey, and to his chancellor, Lord Brougham, to create
such a number of peers as will be sufficient to ensure the passing of
the Reform Bill, first calling up peers' eldest sons.--WILLIAM R.,
Windsor, May 17, 1832."
Grey had now won the game. There was no danger that he would have to
resort to the expedient which he was authorized to employ. The
introduction of sixty new peers would have destroyed the opposition, but
it would have been equivalent to the abolition of the House. The king's
consent made known, a sufficient number of peers were sure to withdraw
to enable the bill to pass, and thus the dignity of both king and
peerage would be saved. The duke of Wellington headed this movement on
the part of the opposition; and the third reading of the bill was
carried in the Lords by a majority of 84.
It is well known that in after years both Grey and Brougham disclaimed
any intention of executing their threat. If this were so, they must have
merely pretended to brave a danger which they secretly feared to face,
and intended to avoid; and the credit of rescuing the country would
belong to the duke of Wellington and the peers who seceded with him. To
argue such cowardice in them from statements made when the crisis was
long past, and when they were naturally willing to palliate the rough
policy which they were forced to adopt, would be to set up a needless
and unjustifiable paradox. Nothing else in the career of either Grey or
Brougham leads us to suppose them capable of the moral baseness of
yielding up the helm of state, in an hour of darkness and peril, to
reckless and unskilled hands. Such would have been the result if they
had lacked the determination to carry out their programme to the end.
The influence of every statesman in the country would then have been
extinguished, and the United Kingdom would have been absolutely in the
hands of O'Connell and Orator Hunt.
Grey took but little part in directing the legislation of the reformed
parliament. Never anxious for power, he had executed the arduous task
of 1831-1832 rather as a matter of duty than of inclination, and wished
for an opportunity of retiring. Such an opportunity very shortly
presented itself. The Irish policy of the ministry had not conciliated
the Irish people, and O'Connell denounced them with the greatest
bitterness. On the renewal of the customary Coercion Bill, the ministry
was divided on the question whether to continue to the lord-lieutenant
the power of suppressing public meetings. Littleton, the Irish
secretary, was for abolishing it; and with the view of conciliating
O'Connell, he informed him that the ministry intended to abandon it. But
the result proved him to have been mistaken, and O'Connell, with some
reason supposing himself to have been duped, called on Littleton to
resign his secretaryship. It had also transpired in the discussion that
Lord Althorp, the leader of the House of Commons, was privately opposed
to retaining those clauses which it was his duty to push through the
house. Lord Althorp therefore resigned, and Grey, who had lately passed
his seventieth year, took the opportunity of resigning also. It was his
opinion, it appeared, which had overborne the cabinet in favour of the
public meeting clauses; and his voluntary withdrawal enabled Lord
Althorp to return to his post and to proceed with the bill in its milder
form. Grey was succeeded by Lord Melbourne; but no other change was made
in the cabinet. Grey took no further part in politics. During most of
his remaining years he continued to live in retirement at Howick, where
he died on the 17th of July 1845, in his eighty-second year. By his wife
Mary Elizabeth, only daughter of the first Lord Ponsonby, whom he
married on the 18th of November 1794, he became the father of ten sons
and five daughters. Grey's eldest son Henry (q.v.) became the 3rd earl,
and among his other sons were General Charles Grey (1804-1870) and
Admiral Frederick Grey (1805-1878).
In public life, Grey could always be upon occasion bold, strenuous and
self-sacrificing; but he was little disposed for the active work of the
politician. He was not one of those who took the statesman's duty "as a
pleasure he was to enjoy." A certain stiffness and reserve ever seemed
in the popular eye to hedge him in; nor was his oratory of the kind
which stirs enthusiasm and delight. A tall, stately figure, fine voice
and calm aristocratic bearing reminded the listener of Pitt rather than
of Fox, and his speeches were constructed on the Attic rather than the
Asiatic model. Though simple and straightforward, they never lacked
either point or dignity; and they were admirably adapted to the audience
to which they were addressed. The scrupulous uprightness of Grey's
political and private character completed the ascendancy which he
gained; and no politician could be named who, without being a statesman
of the highest class, has left a name more enviably placed in English
history. (E. J. P.)
GREY, SIR EDWARD, 3rd Bart. (1862- ), English statesman, was educated
at Winchester and at Balliol College, Oxford, and succeeded his
grandfather, the 2nd baronet, at the age of twenty. He entered the House
of Commons as Liberal member for Berwick-on-Tweed in 1885, but he was
best known as a country gentleman with a taste for sport, and as amateur
champion tennis-player. His interest in politics was rather languid, but
he was a disciple of Lord Rosebery, and in the 1892-1895 Liberal
ministry he was under-secretary for foreign affairs. In this position he
earned a reputation as a politician of thorough straightforwardness and
grit, and as one who would maintain British interests independently of
party; and he shared with Mr Asquith the reputation of being the ablest
of the Imperialists who followed Lord Rosebery. Though outside foreign
affairs he played but a small part in the period of Liberal opposition
between 1895 and 1905, he retained public confidence as one who was
indispensable to a Liberal administration. When Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet was formed in December 1905 he became
foreign minister, and he retained this office when in April 1908 Mr
Asquith became prime minister.
GREY, SIR GEORGE (1812-1898), British colonial governor and statesman,
only son of Lieutenant-Colonel Grey of the 30th Foot, was born in Lisbon
on the 14th of April 1812, eight days after the death of his father at
the storming of Badajoz. He passed through Sandhurst with credit, and
received his commission in 1829. His lieutenancy was dated 1833, and his
captaincy 1839, in which year he sold out and left the army. In the
early 'thirties he was quartered in Ireland, where the wretchedness of
the poorer classes left a deep impression on his mind. In 1836 the Royal
Geographical Society accepted his offer to explore the north-west region
of West Australia, and accordingly he landed at Hanover Bay at the end
of 1837. The surrounding country he found broken and difficult, and his
hardships were aggravated by the tropical heat and his ignorance of the
continent. In a skirmish with the natives, in which he was speared near
the hip, he showed great courage, and put the assailants to flight,
shooting the chief, who had wounded him. After a brave endeavour to
continue his journey his wound forced him to retreat to the coast,
whence he sailed to Mauritius to recruit. Next year he again essayed
exploration, this time on the coast to the north and south of Shark's
Bay. He had three whale-boats and an ample supply of provisions, but by
a series of disasters his stores were spoilt by storms, his boats
wrecked in the surf, and the party had to tramp on foot from Gantheaume
Bay to Perth, where Grey, in the end, walked in alone, so changed by
suffering that friends did not know him. In 1839 he was appointed
governor-resident at Albany, and during his stay there married Harriett,
daughter of Admiral Spencer, and also prepared for publication an
account, in two volumes, of his expeditions. In 1840 he returned to
England, to be immediately appointed by Lord John Russell to succeed
Colonel Gawler as governor of South Australia. Reaching the colony in
May 1841, he found it in the depths of a depression caused by
mismanagement and insane land speculation. By rigorously reducing public
expenditure, and forcing the settlers to quit the town and betake
themselves to tilling their lands, and with the opportune help of
valuable copper discoveries, Grey was able to aid the infant colony to
emerge from the slough. So striking were his energy and determination
that when, in 1845, the little settlements in New Zealand were found to
be involved in a native war, and on the verge of ruin, he was sent to
save them. The Maori chiefs in open rebellion were defeated, and made
their submission. Another powerful leader suspected of fomenting
discontent was arrested, and friendly chieftains were subsidized and
honoured. Bands of the natives were employed in making government roads,
and were paid good wages. The governor gained the veneration of the
Maori tribes, in whose welfare he took a close personal interest, and of
whose legends and myths he made a valuable and scholarly collection,
published in New Zealand in 1855 and reprinted thirty years afterwards.
With peace prosperity came to New Zealand, and the colonial office
desired to give the growing settlements full self-government. Grey,
arguing that this would renew war with the Maori, returned the
constitution to Downing Street. But though the colonial office sustained
him, he became involved in harassing disputes with the colonists, who
organized an active agitation for autonomy. In the end a second
constitution, partly framed by Grey himself, was granted them, and Grey,
after eight years of despotic but successful rule, was transferred to
Cape Colony. He had been knighted for his services, and had undoubtedly
shown strength, dexterity and humanity in dealing with the whites and
natives. In South Africa his success continued. He thwarted a formidable
Kaffir rebellion in the Eastern Provinces, and pushed on the work of
settlement by bringing out men from the German Legion and providing them
with homes. He gained the respect of the British, the confidence of the
Boers, the admiration and the trust of the natives. The Dutch of the
Free State and the Basuto chose him as arbitrator of their quarrels.
When the news of the Indian Mutiny reached Cape Town he strained every
nerve to help Lord Canning, despatching men, horses, stores and £60,000
in specie to Bombay. He persuaded a detachment, then on its way round
the Cape as a reinforcement for Lord Elgin in China, to divert its
voyage to Calcutta. Finally, in 1859, Grey almost reached what would
have been the culminating point of his career by federating South
Africa. Persuaded by him, the Orange Free State passed resolutions in
favour of this great step, and their action was welcomed by Cape Town.
But the colonial office disapproved of the change, and when Grey
attempted to persevere with it Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton recalled him. A
change of ministry during his voyage to England displaced Sir Edward
Bulwer Lytton. But though the duke of Newcastle reinstated Grey, it was
with instructions to let federation drop. In 1861 the colonial office
sent him, for the fourth time in succession, to take up a post of
exceptional difficulty by again entrusting him with the governorship of
New Zealand, where an inglorious native war in Taranaki had just been
succeeded by an armed truce. Grey did his best to make terms with the
rebels and to re-establish friendship with the Maori king and the land
league of tribes formed to stop further sales of land to the whites. But
the Maori had got guns and powder, and were suspicious and truculent. In
vain Grey, supported by Bishop Selwyn and by Fox and the peace party
among the settlers, strove to avert war. It came in 1863, and spread
from province to province. Ten thousand regulars and as many colonial
riflemen were employed to put it down. The imperial troops were badly
handled, and Grey, losing patience, became involved in bitter disputes
with their commanders. As an example to the former he himself attacked
and captured Weraroa, the strongest of the Maori stockades, with a
handful of militia, a feat which delighted the colonists, but made him
as much disliked at the war office as he now was at Downing Street.
Moreover, Grey had no longer real control over the islands. New Zealand
had become a self-governing colony, and though he vindicated the
colonists generally when libellous imputations of cruelty and
land-grabbing were freely made against them in London, he crossed swords
with his ministers when the latter confiscated three million acres of
tribal land belonging to the insurgent Maori. Yet through all these
troubles progress was made; many successes were gained in 1866, chiefly
by the colonial militia, and a condition of something like tranquillity
had been reached in 1867, when he received a curt intimation from the
duke of Buckingham that he was about to be superseded. The colonists,
who believed he was sacrificed for upholding their interests and good
name, bade farewell to him in 1868 in an outburst of gratitude and
sympathy; but his career as a colonial governor was at an end. Returning
to England, he tried to enter public life, delivered many able speeches
advocating what later came to be termed Imperialism, and stood for
Newark. Discouraged, however, by the official Liberals, he withdrew and
turned again to New Zealand. In 1872 he was given a pension of £1000 a
year, and settled down on the island of Kawau, not far from Auckland,
which he bought, and where he passed his leisure in planting, gardening
and collecting books. In 1875, on the invitation of the Auckland
settlers, he became superintendent of their province, and entered the
New Zealand House of Representatives to resist the abolition of the
provincial councils of the colony, a change then being urged on by Sir
Julius Vogel in alliance with the Centralist Party. In this he failed,
but his eloquence and courage drew round him a strong Radical following,
and gave him the premiership in 1877. Manhood suffrage, triennial
parliaments, a land-tax, the purchase of large estates and the popular
election of the governor, were leading points of his policy. All these
reforms, except the last, he lived to see carried; none of them were
passed by him. A commercial depression in 1879 shook his popularity, and
on the fall of his ministry in 1879 he was deposed, and for the next
fifteen years remained a solitary and pathetic figure in the New Zealand
parliament, respectfully treated, courteously listened to, but never
again invited to lead. In 1891 he came before Australia as one of the
New Zealand delegates to the federal convention at Sydney, and
characteristically made his mark by standing out almost alone for "one
man one vote" as the federal franchise. This point he carried, and the
Australians thronged to hear him, so that his visits to Victoria and
South Australia were personal triumphs. When, too, in 1894, he quitted
New Zealand for London, some reparation was at last made him by the
imperial government; he was called to the privy council, and graciously
received by Queen Victoria on his visit to Windsor. Thereafter he lived
in London, and died on the 20th of September 1898. He was given a public
funeral at St Paul's. Grey was all his life a collector of books and
manuscripts. After leaving Cape Colony, he gave his library to Cape Town
in 1862; his subsequent collection, which numbered 12,000 volumes, he
presented to the citizens of Auckland in 1887. In gratitude the people
of Cape Town erected a statue of him opposite their library building.
_Lives_ of Sir George Grey have been written by W. L. and L. Rees
(1892), Professor G. C. Henderson (1907) and J. Collier (1909).
(W. P. R.)
GREY, HENRY GREY, 3RD EARL (1802-1894), English statesman, was born on
the 28th of December 1802, the son of the 2nd Earl Grey, prime minister
at the time of the Reform Bill of 1832. He entered parliament in 1826,
under the title of Viscount Howick, as member for Winchelsea, which
constituency he left in 1831 for Northumberland. On the accession of the
Whigs to power in 1830 he was made under-secretary for the colonies, and
laid the foundation of his intimate acquaintance with colonial
questions. He belonged at the time to the more advanced party of
colonial reformers, sharing the views of Edward Gibbon Wakefield on
questions of land and emigration, and resigned in 1834 from
dissatisfaction that slave emancipation was made gradual instead of
immediate. In 1835 he entered Lord Melbourne's cabinet as secretary at
war, and effected some valuable administrative reforms, especially by
suppressing malpractices detrimental to the troops in India. After the
partial reconstruction of the ministry in 1839 he again resigned,
disapproving of the more advanced views of some of his colleagues. These
repeated resignations gave him a reputation for crotchetiness, which he
did not decrease by his disposition to embarrass his old colleagues by
his action on free trade questions in the session of 1841. During the
exile of the Liberals from power he went still farther on the path of
free trade, and anticipated Lord John Russell's declaration against the
corn laws. When, on Sir Robert Peel's resignation in December 1845, Lord
John Russell was called upon to form a ministry, Howick, who had become
Earl Grey by the death of his father in the preceding July, refused to
enter the new cabinet if Lord Palmerston were foreign secretary (see J.
R. Thursfield in vol. i. and Hon. F. H. Baring in vol. xxiii. of the
_English Historical Review_). He was greatly censured for perverseness,
and particularly when in the following July he accepted Lord Palmerston
as a colleague without remonstrance. His conduct, nevertheless, afforded
Lord John Russell an escape from an embarrassing situation. Becoming
colonial secretary in 1846, he found himself everywhere confronted with
arduous problems, which in the main he encountered with success. His
administration formed an epoch. He was the first minister to proclaim
that the colonies were to be governed for their own benefit and not for
the mother-country's; the first systematically to accord them
self-government so far as then seemed possible; the first to introduce
free trade into their relations with Great Britain and Ireland. The
concession by which colonies were allowed to tax imports from the
mother-country _ad libitum_ was not his; he protested against it, but
was overruled. In the West Indies he suppressed, if he could not
overcome, discontent; in Ceylon he put down rebellion; in New Zealand he
suspended the constitution he had himself accorded, and yielded
everything into the masterful hands of Sir George Grey. The least
successful part of his administration was his treatment of the convict
question at the Cape of Good Hope, which seemed an exception to his rule
that the colonies were to be governed for their own benefit and in
accordance with their own wishes, and subjected him to a humiliating
defeat. After his retirement he wrote a history and defence of his
colonial policy in the form of letters to Lord John Russell, a dry but
instructive book (_Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's
Administration_, 1853). He resigned with his colleagues in 1852. No room
was found for him in the Coalition Cabinet of 1853, and although during
the Crimean struggle public opinion pointed to him as the fittest man as
minister for war, he never again held office. During the remainder of
his long life he exercised a vigilant criticism on public affairs. In
1858 he wrote a work (republished in 1864) on parliamentary reform; in
1888 he wrote another on the state of Ireland; and in 1892 one on the
United States tariff. In his latter years he was a frequent contributor
of weighty letters to _The Times_ on land, tithes, currency and other
public questions. His principal parliamentary appearances were when he
moved for a committee on Irish affairs in 1866, and when in 1878 he
passionately opposed the policy of the Beaconsfield cabinet in India. He
nevertheless supported Lord Beaconsfield at the dissolution, regarding
Mr Gladstone's accession to power with much greater alarm. He was a
determined opponent of Mr Gladstone's Home Rule policy. He died on the
9th of October 1894. None ever doubted his capacity or his
conscientiousness, but he was generally deemed impracticable and
disagreeable. Prince Albert, however, who expressed himself as ready to
subscribe to all Grey's principles, and applauded him for having
principles, told Stockmar that, although dogmatic, he was amenable to
argument; and Sir Henry Taylor credits him with "more freedom from
littlenesses of feeling than I have met before in any public man." His
chief defect was perceived and expressed by his original tutor and
subsequent adversary in colonial affairs, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who
wrote, "With more than a common talent for understanding principles, he
has no originality of thought, which compels him to take all his ideas
from somebody; and no power of working out theory in practice, which
compels him to be always in somebody's hands as respects decision and
action."
The earl had no sons, and he was followed as 4th earl by his nephew
Albert Henry George (b. 1851), who in 1904 became governor-general of
Canada.
GREY, LADY JANE (1537-1554), a lady remarkable no less for her
accomplishments than for her misfortunes, was the great-granddaughter of
Henry VII. of England. Her descent from that king was traced through a
line of females. His second daughter Mary, after being left a widow by
Louis XII. of France, married Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, who was
a favourite with her brother King Henry VIII. Of this marriage came two
daughters, the elder of whom, Lady Frances Brandon, was married to Henry
Grey, marquess of Dorset; and their issue, again, consisted of daughters
only. Lady Jane, the subject of this article, was the eldest of three
whom the marquess had by Lady Frances. Thus it will appear that even if
the crown of England had ever fallen into the female line of descent
from Henry VII., she could not have put in a rightful claim unless the
issue of his elder daughter, Margaret, had become extinct. But Margaret
had married James IV. of Scotland; and, though her descendant, James
VI., was ultimately called to the English throne, Henry VIII. had placed
her family after that of his second sister in the succession; so that,
failing the lawful issue of Henry himself, Lady Jane would, according to
this arrangement, have succeeded. It was to these circumstances that she
owed her exceptional position in history, and became the victim of an
ambition which was not her own.
She was born at her father's seat named Bradgate in Leicestershire about
the year 1537. Her parents, though severe disciplinarians, bestowed more
than ordinary care upon her education, and she herself was so teachable
and delighted so much in study that she became the marvel of the age for
her acquirements. She not only excelled in needlework and in music, both
vocal and instrumental, but while still very young she had thoroughly
mastered Latin, Greek, French and Italian. She was able to speak and
write both Greek and Latin with an accuracy that satisfied even such
critics as Ascham and her tutor Dr Aylmer, afterwards bishop of London.
She also acquired some knowledge of at least three Oriental tongues,
Hebrew, Chaldee and Arabic. In Ascham's _Schoolmaster_ is given a
touching account of the devotion with which she pursued her studies and
the harshness she experienced from her parents. The love of learning was
her solace; in reading Demosthenes and Plato she found a refuge from
domestic unhappiness. When about ten years old she was placed for a time
in the household of Thomas, Lord Seymour, who, having obtained her
wardship, induced her parents to let her stay with him, even after the
death of his wife, Queen Catherine Parr, by promising to marry her to
his nephew, King Edward VI. Lord Seymour, however, was attainted of high
treason and beheaded in 1549, and his brother, the duke of Somerset,
made some overtures to the marquess of Dorset to marry her to his son
the earl of Hertford. These projects, however, came to nothing. The duke
of Somerset in his turn fell a victim to the ambition of Dudley, duke of
Northumberland, and was beheaded three years after his brother.
Meanwhile, the dukedom of Suffolk having become extinct by the deaths of
Charles Brandon and his two sons, the title was conferred upon the
marquess of Dorset, Lady Jane's father. Northumberland, who was now
all-powerful, fearing a great reverse of fortune in case of the king's
death, as his health began visibly to decline, endeavoured to strengthen
himself by marriages between his family and those of other powerful
noblemen, especially of the new-made duke of Suffolk. His three eldest
sons being already married, the fourth, who was named Lord Guilford
Dudley, was accordingly wedded to Lady Jane Grey about the end of May
1553. The match received the full approval of the king, who furnished
the wedding apparel of the parties by royal warrant. But Edward's state
of health warned Northumberland that he must lose no time in putting the
rest of his project into execution. He persuaded the king that if the
crown should descend to his sister Mary the work of the Reformation
would be undone and the liberties of the kingdom would be in danger.
Besides, both Mary and her sister Elizabeth had been declared
illegitimate by separate acts of parliament, and the objections to Mary
queen of Scots did not require to be pointed out. Edward was easily
persuaded to break through his father's will and make a new settlement
of the crown by deed. The document was witnessed by the signatures of
all the council and of all but one of the judges; but those of the
latter body were obtained only with difficulty by threats and
intimidation.
Edward VI. died on the 6th July 1553, and it was announced to Lady Jane
that she was queen. She was then but sixteen years of age. The news came
upon her as a most unwelcome surprise, and for some time she resisted
all persuasions to accept the fatal dignity; but at length she yielded
to the entreaties of her father, her father-in-law and her husband. The
better to mature their plans the cabal had kept the king's death secret
for some days, but they proclaimed Queen Jane in the city on the 10th.
The people received the announcement with manifest coldness, and a
vintner's boy was even so bold as to raise a cry for Queen Mary, for
which he next day had his ears nailed to the pillory and afterwards cut
off. Mary, however, had received early intimation of her brother's
death, and, retiring from Hunsdon into Norfolk, gathered round her the
nobility and commons of those parts. Northumberland was despatched
thither with an army to oppose her; but after reaching Newmarket he
complained that the council had not sent him forces in sufficient
numbers and his followers began to desert. News also came that the earl
of Oxford had declared for Queen Mary; and as most of the council
themselves were only seeking an opportunity to wash their hands of
rebellion, they procured a meeting at Baynard's Castle, revoked their
former acts as done under coercion, and caused the lord mayor to
proclaim Queen Mary, which he did amid the shouts of the citizens. The
duke of Suffolk was obliged to tell his daughter that she must lay aside
her royal dignity and become a private person once more. She replied
that she relinquished most willingly a crown that she had only accepted
out of obedience to him and her mother, and her nine days' reign was
over.
The leading actors in the conspiracy were now called to answer for their
deeds. Northumberland was brought up to London a prisoner, tried and
sent to the block, along with some of his partisans. The duke of Suffolk
and Lady Jane were also committed to the Tower; but the former, by the
influence of his duchess, procured a pardon. Lady Jane and her husband
Lord Guilford Dudley were also tried, and received sentence of death for
treason. This, however, was not immediately carried out; on the
contrary, the queen seems to have wished to spare their lives and
mitigated the rigour of their confinement. Unfortunately, owing to the
general dislike of the queen's marriage with Philip of Spain, Sir Thomas
Wyat soon after raised a rebellion in which the duke of Suffolk and his
brothers took part, and on its suppression the queen was persuaded that
it was unsafe to spare the lives of Lady Jane and her husband any
longer. On hearing that they were to die, Lady Jane declined a parting
interview with her husband lest it should increase their pain, and
prepared to meet her fate with Christian fortitude. She and her husband
were executed on the same day, on the 12th of February 1554, her husband
on Tower Hill, and herself within the Tower an hour afterwards, amidst
universal sympathy and compassion.
See Ascham's _Schoolmaster_; Burnet's _History of the Reformation_;
Howard's _Lady Jane Grey_; Nicolas's Literary _Remains of Lady Jane
Grey_; Tytler's _England under Edward VI. and Mary_; _The Chronicles
of Queen Jane_, ed. J. G. Nichols; _The Accession of Queen Mary_
(Guaras's narrative), ed. R. Garnett (1892); Foxe's _Acts and
Monuments_.
GREY DE WILTON and GREY DE RUTHYN. The first Baron Grey de Wilton was
Reginald de Grey, who was summoned to parliament as a baron in 1295 and
who died in 1308. Reginald's son John, the 2nd baron (1268-1323), was
one of the lords ordainers in 1310 and was a prominent figure in English
politics during the reign of Edward II. The later barons Grey de Wilton
were descended from John's eldest son Henry (d. 1342), while a younger
son Roger (d. 1353) was the ancestor of the barons Grey de Ruthyn.
WILLIAM, 13TH LORD GREY DE WILTON (d. 1562), who succeeded to the title
on the death of his brother Richard, about 1520, won great fame as a
soldier by his conduct in France during the concluding years of Henry
VIII.'s reign, and was one of the leaders of the victorious English army
at the battle of Pinkie in 1547. He was then employed on the Scottish
marches and in Scotland, and in 1549 he rendered good service in
suppressing the rebellion in Oxfordshire and in the west of England; in
1551 he was imprisoned as a friend of the fallen protector, the duke of
Somerset, and he was concerned in the attempt made by John Dudley, duke
of Northumberland, to place Lady Jane Grey on the English throne In
1553. However, he was pardoned by Queen Mary and was entrusted with the
defence of Guînes. Although indifferently supported he defended the town
with great gallantry, but in January 1558 he was forced to surrender and
for some time he remained a prisoner in France. Under Elizabeth, Grey
was again employed on the Scottish border, and he was responsible for
the pertinacious but unavailing attempt to capture Leith in May 1560. He
died at Cheshunt in Hertfordshire on the 14th/25th of December 1562.
He was described by William Cecil as "a noble, valiant, painful and
careful gentleman," and his son and successor, Arthur, wrote _A
Commentary of the Services and Charges of William, Lord Grey of
Wilton, K.G._ This has been edited by Sir P. de M. Grey Egerton for
the Camden Society (1847).
Grey's elder son ARTHUR, 14TH LORD GREY DE WILTON (1536-1593), was
during early life with his father in France and in Scotland; he fought
at the battle of St Quentin and helped to defend Guînes and to assault
Leith. In July 1580 he was appointed lord deputy of Ireland, and after
an initial defeat in Wicklow was successful in reducing many of the
rebels to a temporary submission. Perhaps the most noteworthy event
during his tenure of this office was the massacre of 600 Italians and
Spaniards at Smerwick in November 1580, an action for which he was
responsible. Having incurred a heavy burden of debt Grey frequently
implored the queen to recall him, and in August 1582 he was allowed to
return to England (see E. Spenser, _View of the State of Ireland_,
edited by H. Morley, 1890, and R. Bagwell, _Ireland under the Tudors_,
vol. iii., 1890). While in Ireland Grey was served as secretary by
Edmund Spenser, and in book v. of the _Faerie Queene_ the poet
represents his patron as a knight of very noble qualities named
Artegall. As one of the commissioners who tried Mary queen of Scots,
Grey defended the action of Elizabeth's secretary, William Davison, with
regard to this matter, and he took part in the preparations for the
defence of England against the Spaniards in 1588. His account of the
defence of Guînes was used by Holinshed in his _Chronicles_.
When he died on the 14th of October 1593 he was succeeded as 15th baron
by his son THOMAS (d. 1614), who while serving in Ireland incurred the
enmity of Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, and of Henry Wriothesley, earl
of Southampton; and after fighting against Spain in the Netherlands he
was a member of the court which sentenced these two noblemen to death in
1601. On the accession of James I. he was arrested for his share in the
"Bye" plot, an attempt made by William Watson and others to seize the
king. He was tried and sentenced to death, but the sentence was not
carried out and he remained in prison until his death on the 9th of July
1614. He displayed both ability and courage at his trial, remarking
after sentence had been passed, "the house of Wilton hath spent many
lives in their prince's service and Grey cannot beg his." Like his
father Grey was a strong Puritan. He left no children and his barony
became extinct.
In 1784 Sir Thomas Egerton, Bart., a descendant in the female line of
the 14th baron, was created Baron Grey de Wilton. He died without sons
in September 1814, when his barony became extinct; but the titles of
Viscount Grey de Wilton and earl of Wilton, which had been conferred
upon him in 1801, passed to Thomas Grosvenor (1799-1882), the second
son of his daughter Eleanor (d. 1846); and her husband Robert
Grosvenor, 1st marquess of Westminster. Thomas took the name of
Egerton and his descendants still hold the titles.
ROGER GREY, 1ST BARON GREY DE RUTHYN, who was summoned to parliament as
a baron in 1324, saw much service as a soldier before his death on the
6th of March 1353. The second baron was his son Reginald, whose son
REGINALD (c. 1362-1440) succeeded to the title on his father's death in
July 1388. In 1410 after a long dispute the younger Reginald won the
right to bear the arms of the Hastings family. He enjoyed the favour
both of Richard II. and Henry IV., and his chief military exploits were
against the Welsh, who took him prisoner in 1402 and only released him
upon payment of a heavy ransom. Grey was a member of the council which
governed England during the absence of Henry V. in France in 1415; he
fought in the French wars in 1420 and 1421 and died on the 30th of
September 1440. His eldest son, Sir John Grey, K.G. (d. 1439), who
predeceased his father, fought at Agincourt and was deputy of Ireland in
1427. He was the father of EDMUND GREY (d. 1489), who succeeded his
grandfather as Lord Grey de Ruthyn in 1440 and was created earl of Kent
in 1465.
One of Reginald Grey's younger sons, Edward (1415-1457), succeeded his
maternal grandfather as Baron Ferrers of Groby in 1445. He was the
ancestor of the earls of Stamford and also of the Greys, marquesses of
Dorset and dukes of Suffolk.
The barony of Grey de Ruthyn was merged in the earldom of Kent until
the death of Henry, the 8th earl, in November 1639. It then devolved
upon Kent's nephew Charles Longueville (1612-1643), through whose
daughter Susan (d. 1676) it came to the family of Yelverton, who were
earls of Sussex from 1717 to 1799. The next holder was Henry Edward
Gould (1780-1810), a grandson of Henry Yelverton, earl of Sussex; and
through Gould's daughter Barbara, marchioness of Hastings (d. 1858),
it passed to the last marquess of Hastings, on whose death in 1868 the
barony fell into abeyance, this being terminated in 1885 in favour of
Hastings's sister Bertha (d. 1887), the wife of Augustus Wykeham
Clifton. Their son, Rawdon George Grey Clifton (b. 1858), succeeded
his mother as 24th holder of the barony.
GREYMOUTH, a seaport of New Zealand, the principal port on the west
coast of South Island, in Grey county. Pop. (1906) 4569. It stands on
the small estuary of the Grey or Mawhera river, has a good harbour, and
railway communication with Hokitika, Reefton, &c., while the
construction of a line to connect with Christchurch and Nelson was begun
in 1887. The district is both auriferous and coal-bearing. Gold-dredging
is a rich industry, and the coal-mines have attendant industries in
coke, bricks and fire-clay. The timber trade is also well developed. The
neighbouring scenery is picturesque, especially among the hills
surrounding Lake Brunner (15 m. S.E.).
GREYTOWN (SAN JUAN DEL NORTE), the principal seaport on the Caribbean
coast of Nicaragua, in the extreme south-eastern corner of the republic,
and at the mouth of the northern channel of the San Juan river delta.
Pop. (1905) about 2500. The town occupies the seaward side of a narrow
peninsula, formed by the windings of the river. Most of its houses are
raised on piles 2 or 3 ft. above the ground. The neighbourhood is
unhealthy and unsuited for agriculture, so that almost all food-stuffs
must be imported, and the cost of living is high. Greytown has suffered
severely from the accumulation of sand in its once fine harbour. Between
1832 and 1848 Point Arenas, the seaward end of the peninsula, was
enlarged by a sandbank more than 1 m. long; between 1850 and 1875 the
depth of water over the bar decreased from about 25 ft. to 5 ft., and
the entrance channel, which had been nearly ½ m. wide, was almost
closed. Subsequent attempts to improve the harbour by dredging and
building jetties have only had partial success; but Greytown remains the
headquarters of Nicaraguan commerce with Europe and eastern America. The
village called America, 1 m. N., was built as the eastern terminus of a
proposed interoceanic canal.
The harbour of San Juan, discovered by Columbus, was brought into
further notice by Captain Diego Machuca, who in 1529 sailed down the
river from Lake Nicaragua. The date of the first Spanish settlement on
the spot is not known, but in the 17th century there were fortifications
at the mouth of the river. In 1796 San Juan was made a port of entry by
royal charter, and new defences were erected in 1821. In virtue of the
protectorate claimed by Great Britain over the Mosquito Coast (q.v.),
the Mosquito Indians, aided by a British force, seized the town in 1848
and occupied it until 1860, when Great Britain ceded its protectorate to
Nicaragua by the treaty of Managua. This treaty secured religious
liberty and trial by jury for all civil and criminal charges in
Greytown; its seventh article declared the port free, but was never
enforced.
GREYWACKE, or GRAUWACKE (a German word signifying a grey earthy rock),
the designation, formerly more generally used by English geologists than
at the present day, for impure, highly composite, gritty rocks belonging
to the Palaeozoic systems. They correspond to the sandstones, grits and
fine conglomerates of the later periods. Greywackes are mostly grey,
brown, yellow or black, dull-coloured, sandy rocks which may occur in
thick or thin beds along with slates, limestones, &c., and are abundant
in Wales, the south of Scotland and the Lake district of England. They
contain a very great variety of minerals, of which the principal are
quartz, orthoclase and plagioclase, calcite, iron oxides and graphitic
carbonaceous matters, together with (in the coarser kinds) fragments of
such rocks as felsite, chert, slate, gneiss, various schists, quartzite.
Among other minerals found in them are biotite and chlorite, tourmaline,
epidote, apatite, garnet, hornblende and augite, sphene, pyrites. The
cementing material may be siliceous or argillaceous, and is sometimes
calcareous. As a rule greywackes are not fossiliferous, but organic
remains may be common in the finer beds associated with them. Their
component particles are usually not much rounded by attrition, and the
rocks have often been considerably indurated by pressure and mineral
changes, such as the introduction of interstitial silica. In some
districts the greywackes are cleaved, but they show phenomena of this
kind much less perfectly than the slates. Although the group is so
diverse that it is difficult to characterize mineralogically, it has a
well-established place in petrographical classifications, because these
peculiar composite arenaceous deposits are very frequent among Silurian
and Cambrian rocks, and rarely occur in Secondary or Tertiary systems.
Their essential features are their gritty character and their complex
composition. By increasing metamorphism greywackes frequently pass into
mica-schists, chloride schists and sedimentary gneisses. (J. S. F.)
GRIBEAUVAL, JEAN BAPTISTE DE (1715-1789), French artillery general, was
the son of a magistrate of Amiens and was born there on the 15th of
September 1715. He entered the French royal artillery in 1732 as a
volunteer, and became an officer in 1735. For nearly twenty years
regimental duty and scientific work occupied him, and in 1752 he became
captain of a company of miners. A few years later he was employed in a
military mission in Prussia. In 1757, being then a lieutenant-colonel,
he was lent to the Austrian army on the outbreak of the Seven Years'
War, and served as a general officer of artillery. The siege of Glatz
and the defence of Schweidnitz were his principal exploits. The empress
Maria Theresa rewarded him for his work with the rank of lieutenant
field-marshal and the cross of the Maria Theresa order. On his return to
France he was made _maréchal de camp_, in 1764 inspector of artillery,
and in 1765 lieutenant-general and commander of the order of St Louis.
For some years after this he was in disfavour at court, and he became
first inspector of artillery only in 1776, in which year also he
received the grand cross of the St Louis order. He was now able to carry
out the reforms in the artillery arm which are his chief title to fame.
See ARTILLERY; and for full details Gribeauval's own _Table des
constructions des principaux attirails de l'artillerie ... de M. de
Gribeauval_, and the _règlement_ for the French artillery issued in
1776. He died in 1789.
See Puységur in _Journal de Paris_, supplement of the 8th of July
1789; Chevalier de Passac, _Précis sur M. de Gribeauval_ (Paris,
1816); Veyrines, _Gribeauval_ (Paris, 1889), and Hennébert,
_Gribeauval, lieutenant-général des armées du roy_ (Paris, 1896).
GRIBOYEDOV, ALEXANDER SERGUEEVICH (1795-1829), Russian dramatic author,
was born in 1795 at Moscow, where he studied at the university from 1810
to 1812. He then obtained a commission in a hussar regiment, but
resigned it in 1816. Next year he entered the civil service, and in 1818
was appointed secretary of the Russian legation in Persia, whence he was
transferred to Georgia. He had commenced writing early, and had produced
on the stage at St Petersburg in 1816 a comedy in verse, translated from
the French, called _The Young Spouses_, which was followed by other
pieces of the same kind. But neither these nor the essays and verses
which he wrote would have been long remembered but for the immense
success gained by his comedy in verse, _Goré ot uma_, or "Misfortune
from Intelligence" (Eng. trans. by N. Benardaky, 1857). A satire upon
Russian society, or, as a high official styled it, "A pasquinade on
Moscow," its plot is slight, its merits consisting in its accurate
representation of certain social and official types--such as Famousoff,
the lover of old abuses, the hater of reforms; his secretary, Molchanin,
servile fawner upon all in office; the aristocratic young liberal and
Anglomaniac, Repetiloff; contrasted with whom is the hero of the piece,
Tchatsky, the ironical satirist, just returned from the west of Europe,
who exposes and ridicules the weaknesses of the rest, his words echoing
that outcry of the young generation of 1820 which reached its climax in
the military insurrection of 1825, and was then sternly silenced by
Nicholas. Griboyedov spent the summer of 1823 in Russia, completed his
play and took it to St Petersburg. There it was rejected by the
censorship. Many copies were made and privately circulated, but
Griboyedov never saw it published. The first edition was printed in
1833, four years after his death. Only once did he see it on the stage,
when it was acted by the officers of the garrison at Erivan. Soured by
disappointment he returned to Georgia, made himself useful by his
linguistic knowledge to his relative Count Paskievitch-Erivansky during
a campaign against Persia, and was sent to St Petersburg with the treaty
of 1828. Brilliantly received there, he thought of devoting himself to
literature, and commenced a romantic drama, _A Georgian Night_. But he
was suddenly sent to Persia as minister-plenipotentiary. Soon after his
arrival at Teheran a tumult arose, caused by the anger of the populace
against some Georgian and Armenian captives--Russian subjects--who had
taken refuge in the Russian embassy. It was stormed, Griboyedov was
killed (February 11, 1829), and his body was for three days so
ill-treated by the mob that it was at last recognized only by an old
scar on the hand, due to a wound received in a duel. It was taken to
Tiflis, and buried in the monastery of St David. There a monument was
erected to his memory by his widow, to whom he had been but a few months
married.
GRIEG, EDVARD HAGERUP (1843-1907), Norwegian musical composer, was born
on the 15th of June 1843 in Bergen, where his father, Alexander Grieg
(_sic_), was English consul. The Grieg family were of Scottish origin,
but the composer's grandfather, a supporter of the Pretender, left his
home at Aberdeen after Charles Edward's defeat at Culloden, and went to
Bergen, where he carried on business. The composer's mother, Gesine
Hagerup, belonged to a pure Norwegian peasant family; and it is from the
mother rather than from the father that Edvard Grieg derived his musical
talent. She had been educated as a pianist and began to give her son
lessons on the pianoforte when he was six years of age. His first
composition, "Variations on a German melody," was written at the age of
nine. A summer holiday in Norway with his father in 1858 seems to have
exercised a powerful influence on the child's musical imagination, which
was easily kindled at the sight of mountain and fjord. In the autumn of
the same year, at the recommendation of Ole Bull, young Grieg entered
the Leipzig Conservatorium, where he passed, like all his
contemporaries, under the influence of the Mendelssohn and Schumann
school of romantics. But the curriculum of academic study was too narrow
for him. He dreamed half his time away and overworked during the other
half. In 1862 he completed his Leipzig studies, and appeared as pianist
and composer before his fellow-citizens of Bergen. In 1863 he studied in
Copenhagen for a short time with Gade and Emil Hartmann, both composers
representing a sentimental strain of Scandinavian temperament, from
which Grieg emancipated himself in favour of the harder inspiration of
Richard Nordraak. "The scales fell from my eyes," says Grieg of his
acquaintance with Nordraak. "For the first time I learned through him to
know the northern folk tunes and my own nature. We made a pact to combat
the effeminate Gade-Mendelssohn mixture of Scandinavism, and boldly
entered upon the new path along which the northern school at present
pursues its course." Grieg now made a kind of crusade in favour of
national music. In the winter of 1864-1865 he founded the Copenhagen
concert-society Euterpe, which was intended to produce the works of
young Norwegian composers. During the winters of 1865-1866 and 1869-1870
Grieg was in Rome. In the autumn of 1866 he settled in Christiania,
where from 1867 till 1880 he conducted a musical union. From 1880 to
1882 he directed the concerts of the Harmonic Society in Bergen. In 1872
the Royal Musical Academy of Sweden made Grieg a member; in 1874 the
Norwegian Storthing granted him an annual stipend of 1600 kronen. He had
already been decorated with the Olaf order in 1873. In 1888 he played
his pianoforte concerto and conducted his "two melodies for strings" at
a Philharmonic concert in London, and visited England again in 1891,
1894 and 1896, receiving the degree of Mus.D. from the university of
Cambridge in 1894. He died at Bergen on the 4th of September 1907.
As a composer Grieg's distinguishing quality is lyrical. Whether his
orchestral works or his songs or his best pianoforte works are submitted
to examination, it is almost always the note of song that tells.
Sometimes, as in the music to Ibsen's _Peer Gynt_, or in the suite for
stringed orchestra, _Aus Holbergs Zeit_, this characteristic is combined
with a strong power for raising pictures in the listener's mind, and the
romantic "programme" tendency in Grieg's music becomes clearer the
farther writers like Richard Strauss carry this movement. Grieg's songs
may be said to be generally the more spontaneous the more closely they
conform to the simple model of the _Volkslied_; yet the much sung "Ich
liebe dich" is a song of a different kind, which has hardly ever been
surpassed for the perfection with which it depicts a strong momentary
emotion, and it is difficult to ascribe greater merits to songs of Grieg
even so characteristic as "Solvejg's Lied" and "Ein Schwan." The
pianoforte concerto is brilliant and spontaneous; it has been performed
by most pianists of the first rank, but its essential qualities and the
pure nationality of its themes have been brought out to their perfection
by one player only--the Norwegian pianist Knudsen. The first and second
of Grieg's violin sonatas are agreeable, so free and artless is the flow
of their melody. In his numerous piano pieces and in those of his songs
which are devoid of a definitely national inspiration the impression
made is less permanent. Bülow called Grieg the "Chopin of the North."
The phrase is an exaggeration rather than an expression of the truth,
for the range of the appeal in Chopin is far wider, nor has the
national movement inaugurated by Grieg shown promise of great
development. He is rather to be regarded as the pioneer of a musical
mission which has been perfectly carried out by himself alone.
See La Mara, _Edvard Grieg_ (Leipzig, 1898).
GRIESBACH, JOHANN JAKOB (1745-1812), German biblical critic, was born at
Butzbach, a small town of Hesse-Darmstadt, where his father, Konrad
Kaspar (1705-1777), was pastor, on the 4th of January 1745. He was
educated at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and at the universities of Tübingen,
Leipzig and Halle, where he became one of J. S. Semler's most ardent
disciples. It was Semler who induced him to turn his attention to the
textual criticism of the New Testament. At the close of his
undergraduate career he undertook a literary tour through Germany,
Holland, France and England. On his return to Halle, he acted for some
time as _Privatdozent_, but in 1773 was appointed to a professorial
chair; in 1775 he was translated to Jena, where the rest of his life was
spent (though he received calls to other universities). He died on the
24th of March 1812. Griesbach's fame rests upon his work in New
Testament criticism, in which he inaugurated a new epoch.
His critical edition of the New Testament first appeared at Halle, in
three volumes, in 1774-1775. The first volume contained the first
three Gospels, synoptically arranged; the second, the Epistles and the
book of Revelation. All the historical books were reprinted in one
volume in 1777, the synoptical arrangement of the Gospels having been
abandoned as inconvenient. Of the second edition, considerably
enlarged and improved, the first volume appeared in 1796 and the
second in 1806 (Halle and London). Of a third edition, edited by David
Schulz, only the first volume, containing the four Gospels, appeared
(1827).
For the construction of his critical text Griesbach took as his basis
the Elzevir edition. Where he differed from it he placed the Elzevir
reading on the inner margin along with other readings he thought
worthy of special consideration (these last, however, being printed in
smaller type). To all the readings on this margin he attached special
marks indicating the precise degree of probability in his opinion
attaching to each. In weighing these probabilities he proceeded upon a
particular theory which in its leading features he had derived from J.
A. Bengel and J. S. Semler, dividing all the MSS. into three main
groups--the Alexandrian, the Western and the Byzantine (see BIBLE:
_New Testament_, "Textual Criticism"). A reading supported by only one
recension he considered as having only one witness in its favour;
those readings which were supported by all the three recensions, or
even by two of them, especially if these two were the Alexandrian and
the Western, he unhesitatingly accepted as genuine. Only when each of
the three recensions gives a different reading does he proceed to
discuss the question on other grounds. See his _Symbolae criticae ad
supplendas et corrigendas variarum N.T. lectionum collectiones_
(Halle, 1785, 1793), and his _Commentarius criticus in textum Graecum
N.T._, which extends to the end of Mark, and discusses the more
important various readings with great care and thoroughness (Jena,
1794 ff.). Among the other works of Griesbach (which are comparatively
unimportant) may be mentioned his university thesis _De codicibus
quatuor evangelistarum Origenianis_ (Halle, 1771) and a work upon
systematic theology (_Anleitung zur Kenntniss der populären Dogmatik_,
Jena, 1779). His _Opuscula_, consisting chiefly of university
"Programs" and addresses, were edited by Gabler (2 vols., Jena, 1824).
See the article in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopädie_, and the
_Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_.
GRIESBACH, a watering-place in the grand duchy of Baden, in the valley
of the Rench, 1550 ft. above the sea, 6 m. W. from Freudenstadt in
Württemberg. It is celebrated for its saline chalybeate waters (twelve
springs), which are specific in cases of anaemia, feminine disorders and
diseases of the nervous system, and were used in the 16th century. The
annual number of visitors is nearly 2000. Pop. (1900) 800. From 1665 to
1805 Griesbach was part of the bishopric of Strassburg.
See Haberer, _Die Renchbäder Petersthal und Griesbach_ (Würzburg,
1866).
GRIFFE (French for "claw"), an architectural term for the spur, an
ornament carved at the angle of the square base of columns.
GRIFFENFELDT, PEDER, COUNT (_Peder Schumacher_) (1635-1699), Danish
statesman, was born at Copenhagen on the 24th of August 1635, of a
wealthy trading family connected with the leading civic, clerical and
learned circles in the Danish capital. His tutor, Jens Vorde, who
prepared him in his eleventh year for the university, praises his
extraordinary gifts, his mastery of the classical languages and his
almost disquieting diligence. The brilliant way in which he sustained
his preliminary examination won him the friendship of the examiner,
Bishop Jasper Brokman, at whose palace he first met Frederick III. The
king was struck with the lad's bright grey eyes and pleasant humorous
face; and Brokman, proud of his pupil, made him translate a chapter from
a Hebrew Bible first into Latin and then into Danish, for the
entertainment of the scholarly monarch. In 1654 young Schumacher went
abroad for eight years, to complete his education. From Germany he
proceeded to the Netherlands, staying at Leiden, Utrecht and Amsterdam,
and passing in 1657 to Queen's College, Oxford, where he lived three
years. The epoch-making events which occurred in England, while he was
at Oxford, profoundly interested him, and coinciding with the Revolution
in Denmark, which threw open a career to the middle classes, convinced
him that his proper sphere was politics. In the autumn of 1660
Schumacher visited Paris, shortly after Mazarin's death, when the young
Louis XIV. first seized the reins of power. Schumacher seems to have
been profoundly impressed by the administrative superiority of a strong
centralised monarchy in the hands of an energetic monarch who knew his
own mind; and, in politics, as in manners, France ever afterwards was
his model. The last year of his travels was spent in Spain, where he
obtained a thorough knowledge of the Castilian language and literature.
His travels, however, if they enriched his mind, relaxed his character,
and he brought home easy morals as well as exquisite manners.
On his return to Copenhagen, in 1662, Schumacher found the monarchy
established on the ruins of the aristocracy, and eager to buy the
services of every man of the middle classes who had superior talents to
offer. Determined to make his way in this "new Promised Land," the young
adventurer contrived to secure the protection of Kristoffer Gabel, the
king's confidant, and in 1663 was appointed the royal librarian. A
romantic friendship with the king's bastard, Count Ulric Frederick
Gyldenlöve, consolidated his position. In 1665 Schumacher obtained his
first political post as the king's secretary, and the same year composed
the memorable _Kongelov_ (see DENMARK: _History_). He was now a
personage at court, where he won all hearts by his amiability and
gaiety; and in political matters also his influence was beginning to be
felt.
On the death of Frederick III. (February 9th, 1670) Schumacher was the
most trusted of all the royal counsellors. He alone was aware of the
existence of the new throne of walrus ivory embellished with three
silver life-size lions, and of the new regalia, both of which treasures
he had, by the king's command, concealed in a vault beneath the royal
castle. Frederick III. had also confided to him a sealed packet
containing the _Kongelov_, which was to be delivered to his successor
alone. Schumacher had been recommended to his son by Frederick III. on
his death-bed. "Make him a great man, but do it slowly!" said Frederick,
who thoroughly understood the characters of his son and of his minister.
Christian V. was, moreover, deeply impressed by the confidence which his
father had ever shown to Schumacher. When, on the 9th of February 1670,
Schumacher delivered the _Kongelov_ to Christian V., the king bade all
those about him withdraw, and after being closeted a good hour with
Schumacher, appointed him his "Obergeheimesekreter." His promotion was
now almost disquietingly rapid. In May 1670 he received the titles of
excellency and privy councillor; in July of the same year he was
ennobled under the name of Griffenfeldt, deriving his title from the
gold griffin with outspread wings which surmounted his escutcheon; in
November 1673 he was created a count, a knight of the Elephant and,
finally, imperial chancellor. In the course of the next few months he
gathered into his hands every branch of the government: he had reached
the apogee of his short-lived greatness.
But if his offices were manifold, so also were his talents. Seldom has
any man united so many and such various gifts in his own person and
carried them so easily--a playful wit, a vivid imagination, oratorical
and literary eloquence and, above all, a profound knowledge of human
nature both male and female, of every class and rank, from the king to
the meanest citizen. He had captivated the accomplished Frederick III.
by his literary graces and ingenious speculations; he won the obtuse and
ignorant Christian V. by saving him trouble, by acting and thinking for
him, and at the same time making him believe that he was thinking and
acting for himself. Moreover, his commanding qualities were coupled with
an organizing talent which made itself felt in every department of the
state, and with a marvellous adaptability which made him an ideal
diplomatist.
On the 25th of May 1671 the dignities of count and baron were introduced
into Denmark "to give lustre to the court"; a few months later the order
of the Danebrog was instituted as a fresh means of winning adherents by
marks of favour. Griffenfeldt was the originator of these new
institutions. To him monarchy was the ideal form of government. But he
had also a political object. The aristocracy of birth, despite its
reverses, still remained the élite of society; and Griffenfeldt, the son
of a burgess as well as the protagonist of monarchy, was its most
determined enemy. The new baronies and countships, owing their existence
entirely to the crown, introduced a strong solvent into aristocratic
circles. Griffenfeldt saw that, in future, the first at court would be
the first everywhere. Much was also done to promote trade and industry,
notably by the revival of the _Kammer Kollegium_, or board of trade, and
the abolition of some of the most harmful monopolies. Both the higher
and the provincial administrations were thoroughly reformed with the
view of making them more centralized and efficient; and the positions
and duties of the various magistrates, who now also received fixed
salaries, were for the first time exactly defined. But what Griffenfeldt
could create, Griffenfeldt could dispense with, and it was not long
before he began to encroach upon the jurisdiction of the new departments
of state by private conferences with their chiefs. Nevertheless it is
indisputable that, under the single direction of this master-mind, the
Danish state was now able, for a time, to utilize all its resources as
it had never done before.
In the last three years of his administration, Griffenfeldt gave himself
entirely to the conduct of the foreign policy of Denmark. It is
difficult to form a clear idea of this, first, because his influence was
perpetually traversed by opposite tendencies; in the second place,
because the force of circumstances compelled him, again and again, to
shift his standpoint; and finally because personal considerations
largely intermingled with his foreign policy, and made it more elusive
and ambiguous than it need have been. Briefly, Griffenfeldt aimed at
restoring Denmark to the rank of a great power. He proposed to
accomplish this by carefully nursing her resources, and in the meantime
securing and enriching her by alliances, which would bring in large
subsidies while imposing a minimum of obligations. Such a conditional
and tentative policy, on the part of a second-rate power, in a period of
universal tension and turmoil, was most difficult; but Griffenfeldt did
not regard it as impossible. The first postulate of such a policy was
peace, especially peace with Denmark's most dangerous neighbour, Sweden.
The second postulate was a sound financial basis, which he expected the
wealth of France to supply in the shape of subsidies to be spent on
armaments. Above all things Denmark was to beware of making enemies of
France and Sweden at the same time. An alliance, on fairly equal terms,
between the three powers, would, in these circumstances, be the
consummation of Griffenfeldt's "system"; an alliance with France to the
exclusion of Sweden would be the next best policy; but an alliance
between France and Sweden, without the admission of Denmark, was to be
avoided at all hazards. Had Griffenfeldt's policy succeeded, Denmark
might have recovered her ancient possessions to the south and east
comparatively cheaply. But again and again he was overruled. Despite his
open protests and subterraneous counter-mining, war was actually
declared against Sweden in 1675, and his subsequent policy seemed so
obscure and hazardous to those who did not possess the clue to the
perhaps purposely tangled skein, that the numerous enemies whom his
arrogance and superciliousness had raised up against him, resolved to
destroy him.
On the 11th of March 1676, while on his way to the royal apartments,
Griffenfeldt was arrested in the king's name and conducted to the
citadel, a prisoner of state. A minute scrutiny of his papers, lasting
nearly six weeks, revealed nothing treasonable; but it provided the
enemies of the fallen statesman with a deadly weapon against him in the
shape of an entry in his private diary, in which he had imprudently
noted that on one occasion Christian V. in a conversation with a foreign
ambassador had "spoken like a child." On the 3rd of May Griffenfeldt was
tried not by the usual tribunal, in such cases the _Höjesteret_, or
supreme court, but by an extraordinary tribunal of 10 dignitaries, none
of whom was particularly well disposed towards the accused.
Griffenfeldt, who was charged with simony, bribery, oath-breaking,
malversation and _lèse-majesté_, conducted his own defence under every
imaginable difficulty. For forty-six days before his trial he had been
closely confined in a dungeon without lights, books or writing
materials. Every legal assistance was illegally denied him. Nevertheless
he proved more than a match for the forensic ability arrayed against
him, and his first plea in defence is in a high degree dignified and
manly. Finally, he was condemned to degradation and decapitation; though
one of the ten judges not only refused to sign the sentence, but
remonstrated in private with the king against its injustice. And indeed
its injustice was flagrant. The primary offence of the ex-chancellor was
the taking of bribes, which no twisting of the law could convert into a
capital offence, while the charge of treason had not been substantiated.
Griffenfeldt was pardoned on the scaffold, at the very moment when the
axe was about to descend. On hearing that the sentence was commuted to
life-long imprisonment, he declared that the pardon was harder than the
punishment, and vainly petitioned for leave to serve his king for the
rest of his life as a common soldier. For the next two and twenty years
Denmark's greatest statesman lingered out his life in a lonely
state-prison, first in the fortress of Copenhagen, and finally at
Munkholm on Trondhjem fiord. He died at Trondhjem on the 12th of March
1699. Griffenfeldt married Kitty Nansen, the granddaughter of the great
Burgomaster Hans Nansen, who brought him half a million rix-dollars. She
died in 1672, after bearing him a daughter.
See _Danmark's Riges Histoire_, vol. v. (Copenhagen, 1897-1905);
Jörgenson, _Peter Schumacher-Griffenfeldt_ (Copenhagen, 1893-1894); O.
Vaupell, _Rigskansler Grev Griffenfeldt_ (Copenhagen, 1880-1882);
Bain, _Scandinavia_, cap. x. (Cambridge, 1905). (R. N. B.)
GRIFFIN [O'GRIOBTA, O'GREEVA], GERALD (1803-1840), Irish novelist and
dramatic writer, was born at Limerick of good family, on the 12th of
December 1803. His parents emigrated in 1820 to America, but he was left
with an elder brother, who was a medical practitioner at Adare. As early
as his eighteenth year he undertook for a short time the editorship of a
newspaper in Limerick. Having written a tragedy, _Aguire_, which was
highly praised by his friends, he set out in 1823 for London with the
purpose of "revolutionizing the dramatic taste of the time by writing
for the stage." In spite of the recommendations of John Banim, he had a
hard struggle with poverty. It was only by degrees that his literary
work obtained any favour. _The Noyades_, an opera entirely in
recitative, was produced at the English Opera House in 1826; and the
success of _Holland Tide Tales_ (1827) led to _Tales of the Munster
Festivals_ (3 vols., 1827), which were still more popular. In 1829
appeared his fine novel, _The Collegians_, afterwards successfully
adapted for the stage by Dion Boucicault under the title of _The Colleen
Bawn_. He followed up this success with _The Invasion_ (1832), _Tales of
my Neighbourhood_ (1835), _The Duke of Monmouth_ (1836), and _Talis
Qualis, or Tales of the Jury-room_ (1842). He also wrote a number of
lyrics touched with his native melancholy. But he became doubtful as to
the moral influence of his writings, and ultimately he came to the
conclusion that his true sphere of duty was to be found within the
Church. He was admitted into a society of the Christian Brothers at
Dublin, in September 1838, under the name of Brother Joseph, and in the
following summer he removed to Cork, where he died of typhus fever on
the 12th of June 1840. Before adopting the monastic habit he burned all
his manuscripts; but _Gisippus_, a tragedy which he had composed before
he was twenty, accidentally escaped destruction, and in 1842 was put on
the Drury Lane stage by Macready with great success.
The collected works of Gerald Griffin were published in 1842-1843 in
eight volumes, with a _Life_ by his brother William Griffin, M.D.; an
edition of his _Poetical and Dramatic Works_ (Dublin, 1895) by C. G.
Duffy; and a selection of his lyrics, with a notice by George
Sigerson, is included in the _Treasury of Irish Poetry_, edited by
Stopford A. Brooke and T. W. Rolleston (London, 1900).
GRIFFIN, a city and the county-seat of Spalding county, Georgia, U.S.A.,
43 m. S. of Atlanta, and about 970 ft. above the sea. Pop. (1890) 4503;
(1900) 6857 (3258 negroes); (1910) 7478. It is served by the Southern
and the Central of Georgia railways, and is the southern terminus of the
Griffin & Chattanooga Division of the latter. The city is situated in a
rich agricultural region, and just outside the corporate limits is an
agricultural experiment station, established by the state but maintained
by the Federal government. Griffin has a large trade in cotton and
fruit. The principal industry is the manufacture of cotton and
cotton-seed oil. Buggies, wagons, chairs and harness are among the other
manufactures. The municipality owns and operates the water and
electric-lighting systems. Griffin was founded in 1840 and was chartered
as a city in 1846.
GRIFFIN, GRIFFON or GRYPHON (from Fr. _griffon_, Lat. _gryphus_, Gr.
[Greek: gryps]), in the natural history of the ancients, the name of an
imaginary rapacious creature of the eagle species, represented with four
legs, wings and a beak,--the fore part resembling an eagle and the
hinder a lion. In addition, some writers describe the tail as a serpent.
This animal, which was supposed to watch over gold mines and hidden
treasures, and to be the enemy of the horse, was consecrated to the Sun;
and the ancient painters represented the chariot of the Sun as drawn by
griffins. According to Spanheim, those of Jupiter and Nemesis were
similarly provided. The griffin of Scripture is probably the osprey, and
the name is now given to a species of vulture. The griffin was said to
inhabit Asiatic Scythia, where gold and precious stones were abundant;
and when strangers approached to gather these the creatures leapt upon
them and tore them in pieces, thus chastising human avarice and greed.
The one-eyed Arimaspi waged constant war with them, according to
Herodotus (iii. 16). Sir John de Mandeville, in his _Travels_, described
a griffin as eight times larger than a lion.
The griffin is frequently seen as a charge in heraldry (see HERALDRY,
fig. 163); and in architectural decoration is usually represented as a
four-footed beast with wings and the head of a leopard or tiger with
horns, or with the head and beak of an eagle; in the latter case, but
very rarely, with two legs. To what extent it owes its origin to Persian
sculpture is not known, the capitals at Persepolis have sometimes
leopard or lion heads with horns, and four-footed beasts with the beaks
of eagles are represented in bas-reliefs. In the temple of Apollo
Branchidae near Miletus in Asia Minor, the winged griffin of the
capitals has leopards' heads with horns. In the capitals of the
so-called lesser propylaea at Eleusis conventional eagles with two feet
support the angles of the abacus. The greater number of those in Rome
have eagles' beaks, as in the frieze of the temple of Antoninus and
Faustina, and their tails develop into conventional foliage. A similar
device was found in the Forum of Trajan. The best decorative employment
of the griffin is found in the vertical supports of tables, of which
there are two or three examples in Pompeii and others in the Vatican and
the museums in Rome. In some of these cases the head is that of a lion
at one end of the support and an eagle at the other end, and there is
only one strongly developed paw; the wings circling round at the top
form conspicuous features on the sides of these supports, the surfaces
below being filled with conventional Greek foliage.
GRIFFITH, SIR RICHARD JOHN (1784-1878), Irish geologist, was born in
Dublin on the 20th of September 1784. He obtained in 1799 a commission
in the Royal Irish Artillery, but a year later, when the corps was
incorporated with that of England, he retired, and devoted his attention
to civil engineering and mining. He studied chemistry, mineralogy and
mining for two years in London under William Nicholson (editor of the
_Journal of Nat. Phil._), and afterwards examined the mining districts
in various parts of England, Wales and Scotland. While in Cornwall he
discovered ores of nickel and cobalt in material that had been rejected
as worthless. He completed his studies under Robert Jameson and others
at Edinburgh, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in
1807, a member of the newly established Geological Society of London in
1808, and in the same year he returned to Ireland. In 1809 he was
appointed by the commissioners to inquire into the nature and extent of
the bogs in Ireland, and the means of improving them. In 1812 he was
elected professor of geology and mining engineer to the Royal Dublin
Society. During subsequent years he made many surveys and issued many
reports on mineral districts in Ireland, and these formed the foundation
of his first geological map of the country (1815). In 1822 Griffith
became engineer of public works in Cork, Kerry and Limerick, and was
occupied until 1830 in repairing old roads and in laying out many miles
of new roads. Meanwhile in 1825 he was appointed to carry out the
perambulation or boundary survey of Ireland, the object of which was to
ascertain and mark the boundaries of every county, barony, parish and
townland in preparation for the ordnance survey. This work was finished
in 1844. He was also called upon to assist in preparing a bill for the
general valuation of Ireland; the act was passed in 1826, and he was
appointed commissioner of valuation, in which capacity he continued to
act until 1868. On "Griffith's valuation" the various local and public
assessments were made. His extensive investigations furnished him with
ample material for improving his geological map, and the second edition
was published in 1835. A third edition on a larger scale (1 in. to 4 m.)
was issued under the Board of Ordnance in 1839, and it was further
revised in 1855. For this great work and his other services to science
he was awarded the Wollaston medal by the Geological Society in 1854. In
1850 he was made chairman of the Irish Board of Works, and in 1858 he
was created a baronet. He died in Dublin on the 22nd of September 1878.
Among his many geological works the following may be mentioned:
_Outline of the Geology of Ireland_ (1838); _Notice respecting the
Fossils of the Mountain Limestone of Ireland, as compared with those
of Great Britain, and also with the Devonian System_ (1842); _A
Synopsis of the Characters of the Carboniferous Limestone Fossils of
Ireland_ (1844) (with F. McCoy); _A Synopsis of the Silurian Fossils
of Ireland_ (1846) (with F. McCoy). See memoirs in _Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc._ xxxv. 39; and _Geol. Mag._, 1878, p. 524, with
bibliography.
GRILLE, a French term for an enclosure in either iron or bronze; there
is no equivalent in English, "grating" applying more to a horizontal
frame of bars over a sunk area, and "grate" to the iron bars of an open
fireplace. The finest examples of the grille are those known as the
_rejas_, which in Spanish churches form the enclosures of the chapels,
such as the _reja_ in the Capilla Real at Granada in wrought iron partly
gilt (1522). Similar grilles are employed to protect the ground-floor
windows of mansions not only in Spain but in Italy and Germany. In
England the most beautiful example is that in front of Queen Eleanor's
tomb in Westminster Abbey, in wrought iron. The finest grilles in Italy
are the enclosures of the tombs of the Della Scalas at Verona (end of
13th century), in Germany the grille of the cenotaph of Maximilian at
Innsbruck (early 16th century) and in France those which enclose the
Place Stanislaus, the Place de la Carrière and the churches of Nancy,
which were wrought by Jean Lamour in the middle of the 18th century.
Generally, however, throughout Germany the wrought iron grilles are fine
examples of forging, and they are employed for the enclosures of the
numerous fountains, in the tympana of gateways, and for the protection
of windows. At Danzig in the Marienkirche are some fine examples in
brass.
GRILLPARZER, FRANZ (1791-1872), the greatest dramatic poet of Austria,
was born in Vienna, on the 15th of January 1791. His father, severe,
pedantic, a staunch upholder of the liberal traditions of the reign of
Joseph II., was an advocate of some standing; his mother, a nervous,
finely-strung woman, belonged to the well-known musical family of
Sonnleithner. After a desultory education, Grillparzer entered in 1807
the university of Vienna as a student of jurisprudence; but two years
later his father died, leaving the family in straitened circumstances,
and Franz, the eldest son, was obliged to turn to private tutoring. In
1813 he received an appointment in the court library, but as this was
unpaid, he accepted after some months a clerkship that offered more
solid prospects, in the Lower Austrian revenue administration. Through
the influence of Graf Stadion, the minister of finance, he was in 1818
appointed poet to the Hofburgtheater, and promoted to the _Hofkammer_
(exchequer); in 1832 he became director of the archives of that
department, and in 1856 retired from the civil service with the title of
_Hofrat_. Grillparzer had little capacity for an official career and
regarded his office merely as a means of independence.
In 1817 the first representation of his tragedy _Die Ahnfrau_ made him
famous, but before this he had written a long tragedy in iambics,
_Bianca von Castilien_ (1807-1809), which was obviously modelled on
Schiller's _Don Carlos_; and even more promising were the dramatic
fragments _Spartacus_ and _Alfred der Grosse_ (1809). _Die Ahnfrau_ is a
gruesome "fate-tragedy" in the trochaic measure of the Spanish drama,
already made popular by Adolf Müllner in his _Schuld_; but Grillparzer's
work is a play of real poetic beauties, and reveals an instinct for
dramatic as opposed to merely theatrical effect, which distinguishes it
from other "fate-dramas" of the day. Unfortunately its success led to
the poet's being classed for the best part of his life with playwrights
like Müllner and Houwald. _Die Ahnfrau_ was followed by _Sappho_ (1818),
a drama of a very different type; in the classic spirit of Goethe's
_Tasso_, Grillparzer unrolled the tragedy of poetic genius, the
renunciation of earthly happiness imposed upon the poet by his higher
mission. In 1821 appeared _Das goldene Vliess_, a trilogy which had been
interrupted in 1819 by the death of the poet's mother--in a fit of
depression she had taken her own life--and a subsequent visit to Italy.
Opening with a powerful dramatic prelude in one act, _Der Gastfreund_,
Grillparzer depicts in _Die Argonauten_ Jason's adventures in his quest
for the Fleece; while _Medea_, a tragedy of noble classic proportions,
contains the culminating events of the story which had been so often
dramatized before. The theme is similar to that of _Sappho_, but the
scale on which it is represented is larger; it is again the tragedy of
the heart's desire, the conflict of the simple happy life with that
sinister power--be it genius, or ambition--which upsets the equilibrium
of life. The end is bitter disillusionment, the only consolation
renunciation. Medea, her revenge stilled, her children dead, bears the
fatal Fleece back to Delphi, while Jason is left to realize the
nothingness of human striving and earthly happiness.
For his historical tragedy _König Ottokars Glück und Ende_ (1823, but
owing to difficulties with the censor, not performed until 1825),
Grillparzer chose one of the most picturesque events in Austrian
domestic history, the conflict of Ottokar of Bohemia with Rudolph von
Habsburg. With an almost modern realism he reproduced the motley world
of the old chronicler, at the same time not losing sight of the needs of
the theatre; the fall of Ottokar is but another text from which the poet
preached the futility of endeavour and the vanity of worldly greatness.
A second historical tragedy, _Ein treuer Diener seines Herrn_ (1826,
performed 1828), attempts to embody a more heroic gospel; but the
subject--the superhuman self-effacement of Bankbanus before Duke Otto of
Meran--proved too uncompromising an illustration of Kant's categorical
imperative of duty to be palatable in the theatre. With these historical
tragedies began the darkest ten years in the poet's life. They brought
him into conflict with the Austrian censor--a conflict which grated on
Grillparzer's sensitive soul, and was aggravated by his own position as
a servant of the state; in 1826 he paid a visit to Goethe in Weimar, and
was able to compare the enlightened conditions which prevailed in the
little Saxon duchy with the intellectual thraldom of Vienna. To these
troubles were added more serious personal worries. In the winter of
1820-1821 he had met for the first time Katharina Fröhlich (1801-1879),
and the acquaintance rapidly ripened into love on both sides; but
whether owing to a presentiment of mutual incompatibility, or merely
owing to Grillparzer's conviction that life had no happiness in store
for him, he shrank from marriage. Whatever the cause may have been, the
poet was plunged into an abyss of misery and despair to which his diary
bears heart-rending witness; his sufferings found poetic expression in
the fine cycle of poems bearing the significant title _Tristia ex Ponto_
(1835).
Yet to these years we owe the completion of two of Grillparzer's
greatest dramas, _Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen_ (1831) and _Der
Traum, ein Leben_ (1834). In the former tragedy, a dramatization of the
story of Hero and Leander, he returned to the Hellenic world of
_Sappho_, and produced what is perhaps the finest of all German
love-tragedies. His mastery of dramatic technique is here combined with
a ripeness of poetic expression and with an insight into motive which
suggests the modern psychological drama of Hebbel and Ibsen; the old
Greek love-story of Musaeus is, moreover, endowed with something of that
ineffable poetic grace which the poet had borrowed from the great
Spanish poets, Lope de Vega and Calderon. _Der Traum, ein Leben_,
Grillparzer's technical masterpiece, is in form perhaps even more
Spanish; it is also more of what Goethe called a "confession." The
aspirations of Rustan, an ambitious young peasant, are shadowed forth in
the hero's dream, which takes up nearly three acts of the play;
ultimately Rustan awakens from his nightmare to realize the truth of
Grillparzer's own pessimistic doctrine that all earthly ambitions and
aspirations are vanity; the only true happiness is contentment with
one's lot, "des Innern stiller Frieden und die schuldbefreite Brust."
_Der Traum, ein Leben_ was the first of Grillparzer's dramas which did
not end tragically, and in 1838 he produced his only comedy, _Weh' dem,
der lügt_. But _Weh' dem, der lügt_, in spite of its humour of
situation, its sparkling dialogue and the originality of its
idea--namely, that the hero gains his end by invariably telling the
truth, where his enemies as invariably expect him to be lying--was too
strange to meet with approval in its day. Its failure was a blow to the
poet, who turned his back for ever on the German theatre. In 1836
Grillparzer paid a visit to Paris and London, in 1843 to Athens and
Constantinople. Then came the Revolution which struck off the
intellectual fetters under which Grillparzer and his contemporaries had
groaned in Austria, but the liberation came too late for him. Honours
were heaped upon him; he was made a member of the Academy of Sciences;
Heinrich Laube, as director of the Burgtheater, reinstated his plays on
the repertory; he was in 1861 elected to the Austrian _Herrenhaus_; his
eightieth birthday was a national festival, and when he died in Vienna,
on the 21st of January 1872, the mourning of the Austrian people was
universal. With the exception of a beautiful fragment, _Esther_ (1861),
Grillparzer published no more dramatic poetry after the fiasco of _Weh'
dem, der lügt_, but at his death three completed tragedies were found
among his papers. Of these, _Die Jüdin von Toledo_, an admirable
adaptation from the Spanish, has won a permanent place in the German
classical repertory; _Ein Bruderzwist im Hause Habsburg_ is a powerful
historical tragedy and _Libussa_ is perhaps the ripest, as it is
certainly the deepest, of all Grillparzer's dramas; the latter two plays
prove how much was lost by the poet's divorce from the theatre.
Although Grillparzer was essentially a dramatist, his lyric poetry is in
the intensity of its personal note hardly inferior to Lenau's; and the
bitterness of his later years found vent in biting and stinging epigrams
that spared few of his greater contemporaries. As a prose writer, he has
left one powerful short story, _Der arme Spielmann_ (1848), and a volume
of critical studies on the Spanish drama, which shows how completely he
had succeeded in identifying himself with the Spanish point of view.
Grillparzer's brooding, unbalanced temperament, his lack of will-power,
his pessimistic renunciation and the bitterness which his self-imposed
martyrdom produced in him, made him peculiarly adapted to express the
mood of Austria in the epoch of intellectual thraldom that lay between
the Napoleonic wars and the Revolution of 1848; his poetry reflects
exactly the spirit of his people under the Metternich régime, and there
is a deep truth behind the description of _Der Traum, ein Leben_ as the
Austrian _Faust_. His fame was in accordance with the general tenor of
his life; even in Austria a true understanding for his genius was late
in coming, and not until the centenary of 1891 did the German-speaking
world realize that it possessed in him a dramatic poet of the first
rank; in other words, that Grillparzer was no mere "Epigone" of the
classic period, but a poet who, by a rare assimilation of the strength
of the Greeks, the imaginative depth of German classicism and the
delicacy and grace of the Spaniards, had opened up new paths for the
higher dramatic poetry of Europe.
Grillparzer's _Sämtliche Werke_ are edited by A. Sauer, in 20 vols.,
5th edition (Stuttgart, 1892-1894); also, since the expiry of the
copyright in 1901, innumerable cheap reprints. _Briefe und
Tagebücher_, edited by C. Glossy and A. Sauer (2 vols., Stuttgart,
1903). _Jahrbuch der Grillparzer-Gesellschaft_, edited by K. Glossy
(the publication of the Grillparzer Society) (Vienna, 1891 ff.). See
also H. Laube, _Franz Grillparzers Lebensgeschichte_ (Stuttgart,
1884); J. Volkelt, _Franz Grillparzer als Dichter des Tragischen_
(Nördlingen, 1888); E. Reich, _Franz Grillparzers Dramen_ (Dresden,
1894); A. Ehrhard, _Franz Grillparzer_ (Paris, 1900) (German
translation by M. Necker, Munich, 1902); H. Sittenberger,
_Grillparzer, sein Leben und Wirken_ (Berlin, 1904); Gustav Pollak,
_F. Grillparzer and the Austrian Drama_ (New York, 1907). Of
Grillparzer's works, translations have appeared in English of _Sappho_
(1820, by J. Bramsen; 1846, by E. B. Lee; 1855, by L. C. Cumming;
1876, by E. Frothingham); and of _Medea_ (1879, by F. W. Thurstan and
J. A. Wittmann). Byron's warm admiration of _Sappho_ (_Letters and
Journals_, v. 171) is well known, while Carlyle's criticism, in his
essay on _German Playwrights_ (1829), is interesting as expressing the
generally accepted estimate of Grillparzer in the first half of the
19th century. See the bibliography in K. Goedeke's _Grundriss zur
Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung_, 2nd ed., vol. viii. (1905).
(J. G. R.)
GRIMALD (or GRIMOALD), NICHOLAS (1519-1562), English poet, was born in
Huntingdonshire, the son probably of Giovanni Baptista Grimaldi, who had
been a clerk in the service of Empson and Dudley in the reign of Henry
VII. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he took his
B.A. degree in 1540. He then removed to Oxford, becoming a
probationer-fellow of Merton College in 1541. In 1547 he was lecturing
on rhetoric at Christ Church, and shortly afterwards became chaplain to
Bishop Ridley, who, when he was in prison, desired Grimald to translate
Laurentius Valla's book against the alleged _Donation of Constantine_,
and the _De gestis Basiliensis Concilii_ of Aeneas Sylvius (Pius II.).
His connexion with Ridley brought him under suspicion, and he was
imprisoned in the Marshalsea. It is said that he escaped the penalties
of heresy by recanting his errors, and was despised accordingly by his
Protestant contemporaries. Grimald contributed to the original edition
(June 1557) of _Songes and Sonettes_ (commonly known as _Tottel's
Miscellany_), forty poems, only ten of which are retained in the second
edition published in the next month. He translated (1553) Cicero's _De
officiis as Marcus Tullius Ciceroes thre bokes of duties_ (2nd ed.,
1556); a Latin paraphrase of Virgil's _Georgics_ (printed 1591) is
attributed to him, but most of the works assigned to him by Bale are
lost. Two Latin tragedies are extant; _Archipropheta sive Johannes
Baptista_, printed at Cologne in 1548, probably performed at Oxford the
year before, and _Christus redivivus_ (Cologne, 1543), edited by Prof.
J. M. Hart (for the Modern Language Association of America, 1886,
separately issued 1899). It cannot be determined whether Grimald was
familiar with Buchanan's _Baptistes_ (1543), or with J. Schoeppe's
_Johannes decollatus vel Ectrachelistes_ (1546). Grimald provides a
purely romantic motive for the catastrophe in the passionate attachment
of Herodias to Herod, and constantly resorts to lyrical methods. As a
poet Grimald is memorable as the earliest follower of Surrey in the
production of blank verse. He writes sometimes simply enough, as in the
lines on his own childhood addressed to his mother, but in general his
style is more artificial, and his metaphors more studied than is the
case with the other contributors to the _Miscellany_. His classical
reading shows itself in the comparative terseness and smartness of his
verses. His epitaph was written by Barnabe Googe in May 1562.
See C. H. Herford, _Studies in the Literary Relations of England and
Germany_ (pp. 113-119, 1886). _A Catalogue of printed books ... by
writers bearing the name of Grimaldi_ (ed. A. B. Grimaldi), printed
1883; and Arber's reprint oí _Tottel's Miscellany_.
GRIMALDI, GIOVANNI FRANCESCO (1606-1680), Italian architect and painter,
named Il Bolognese from the place of his birth, was a relative of the
Caracci family, under whom it is presumed he studied first. He was
afterwards a pupil of Albani. He went to Rome, and was appointed
architect to Pope Paul V., and was also patronized by succeeding popes.
Towards 1648 he was invited to France by Cardinal Mazarin, and for about
two years was employed in buildings for that minister and for Louis
XIV., and in fresco-painting in the Louvre. His colour was strong,
somewhat excessive in the use of green; his touch light. He painted
history, portraits and landscapes--the last with predilection,
especially in his advanced years--and executed engravings and etchings
from his own landscapes and from those of Titian and the Caracci.
Returning to Rome, he was made president of the Academy of St Luke; and
in that city he died on the 28th of November 1680, in high repute not
only for his artistic skill but for his upright and charitable deeds.
His son Alessandro assisted him both in painting and in engraving.
Paintings by Grimaldi are preserved in the Quirinal and Vatican palaces,
and in the church of S. Martino a'Monti; there is also a series of his
landscapes in the Colonna Gallery.
GRIMALDI, JOSEPH (1779-1837), the most celebrated of English clowns, was
born in London on the 18th of December 1779, the son of an Italian
actor. When less than two years old he was brought upon the stage at
Drury Lane; at the age of three he began to appear at Sadler's Wells;
and he did not finally retire until 1828. As the clown of pantomime he
was considered without an equal, his greatest success being in _Mother
Goose_, at Covent Garden (1806 and often revived). Grimaldi died on the
31st of May 1837.
His _Memoirs_ in two volumes (1838) were edited by Charles Dickens.
GRIMKÉ, SARAH MOORE (1792-1873) and ANGELINA EMILY (1805-1879), American
reformers, born in Charleston, South Carolina--Sarah on the 6th of
November 1792, and Angelina on the 20th of February 1805--were daughters
of John Fachereau Grimké (1752-1819), an artillery officer in the
Continental army, a jurist of some distinction, a man of wealth and
culture and a slave-holder.
Their older brother, THOMAS SMITH GRIMKÉ (1786-1834), was born in
Charleston; graduated at Yale in 1807; was a successful lawyer, and in
1826-1830 was a member of the state Senate, in which he, almost alone of
the prominent lawyers of the state, opposed nullification; he strongly
advocated spelling-reform, temperance and absolute non-resistance, and
published _Addresses on Science, Education and Literature_ (1831). His
early intellectual influence on Sarah was strong.
In her thirteenth year Sarah was godmother to her sister Angelina. Sarah
in 1821 revisited Philadelphia, whither she had accompanied her father
on his last illness, and there, having been already dissatisfied with
the Episcopal Church and with the Presbyterian, she became a Quaker; so,
too, did Angelina, who joined her in 1829. Both sisters (Angelina first)
soon grew into a belief in immediate abolition, strongly censured by
many Quakers, who were even more shocked by a sympathetic letter dated
"8th Month, 30th, 1835" written by Angelina to W. L. Garrison, followed
in 1836 by her _Appeal to the Christian Women of the South_, and at the
end of that year, by an _Epistle to the Clergy of the Southern States_,
written by Sarah, who now thoroughly agreed with her younger sister. In
the same year, at the invitation of Elizur Wright (1804-1885),
corresponding secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Angelina,
accompanied by Sarah, began giving talks on slavery, first in private
and then in public, so that in 1837, when they set to work in
Massachusetts, they had to secure the use of large halls. Their speaking
from public platforms resulted in a letter issued by some members of the
General Association of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts,
calling on the clergy to close their churches to women exhorters;
Garrison denounced the attack on the Grimké sisters and Whittier
ridiculed it in his poem "The Pastoral Letter." Angelina pointedly
answered _Miss Beecher on the Slave Question_ (1837) in letters in the
_Liberator_. Sarah, who had never forgotten that her studies had been
curtailed because she was a girl, contributed to the Boston _Spectator_
papers on "The Province of Woman" and published _Letters on the
Condition of Women and the Equality of the Sexes_ (1838)--the real
beginning of the "woman's rights" movement in America, and at the time a
cause of anxiety to Whittier and others, who urged upon the sisters the
prior importance of the anti-slavery cause. In 1838 Angelina married
Theodore Dwight Weld (1803-1895), a reformer and abolition orator and
pamphleteer, who had taken part in the famous Lane Seminary debates in
1834, had left the Seminary for the lecture platform when the
anti-slavery society was broken up by the Lane trustees, but had lost
his voice in 1836 and had become editor of the publications of the
American Anti-Slavery Society.[1] They lived, with Sarah, at Fort Lee,
New Jersey, in 1838-1840, then on a farm at Belleville, New Jersey, and
then conducted a school for black and white alike at Eagleswood, near
Perth Amboy, New Jersey, from 1854 to 1864. Removing to Hyde Park,
Massachusetts, the three were employed in Dr Lewis's school. There Sarah
died on the 23rd of December 1873, and Angelina on the 26th of October
1879. Both sisters indulged in various "fads"--Graham's diet,
bloomer-wearing, absolute non-resistance. Angelina did no public
speaking after her marriage, save at Pennsylvania Hall (Philadelphia),
destroyed by a mob immediately after her address there; but besides her
domestic and school duties she was full of tender charity. Sarah at the
age of 62 was still eager to study law or medicine, or to do something
to aid her sex; at 75 she translated and abridged Lamartine's life of
Joan of Arc.
See Catherine H. Birney, _The Grimké Sisters_ (Boston, 1885).
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Weld was the author of several anti-slavery books which had
considerable influence at the time. Among them are _The Bible against
Slavery_ (1837), _American Slavery as It Is_ (1839), a collection of
extracts from Southern papers, and _Slavery and the Internal Slave
Trade in the U.S._ (1841).
GRIMM, FRIEDRICH MELCHIOR, BARON VON (1723-1807), French author, the son
of a German pastor, was born at Ratisbon on the 26th of December 1723.
He studied at the University of Leipzig, where he came under the
influence of Gottsched and of J. A. Ernesti, to whom he was largely
indebted for his critical appreciation of classical literature. When
nineteen he produced a tragedy, _Banise_, which met with some success.
After two years of study he returned to Ratisbon, where he was attached
to the household of Count Schönberg. In 1748 he accompanied August
Heinrich, Count Friesen, to Paris as secretary, and he is said by
Rousseau to have acted for some time as reader to Frederick, the young
hereditary prince of Saxe-Gotha. His acquaintance with Rousseau, through
a mutual sympathy in regard to musical matters, soon ripened into
intimate friendship, and led to a close association with the
encyclopaedists. He rapidly obtained a thorough knowledge of the French
language, and acquired so perfectly the tone and sentiments of the
society in which he moved that all marks of his foreign origin and
training seemed effaced. A witty pamphlet entitled _Le Petit Prophète de
Boehmischbroda_ (1753), written by him in defence of Italian as against
French opera, established his literary reputation. It is possible that
the origin of the pamphlet is partly to be accounted for by his vehement
passion[1] for Mlle Fel, the _prima donna_ of the Italian company. In
1753 Grimm, following the example of the abbé Raynal, began a literary
correspondence with various German sovereigns. Raynal's letters,
_Nouvelles littéraires_, ceased early in 1755. With the aid of friends,
especially of Diderot and Mme d'Épinay, during his temporary absences
from France, Grimm himself carried on the correspondence, which
consisted of two letters a month, until 1773, and eventually counted
among his subscribers Catherine II. of Russia, Stanislas Poniatowski,
king of Poland, and many princes of the smaller German States. It was
probably in 1754 that Grimm was introduced by Rousseau to Madame
d'Épinay, with whom he soon formed a _liaison_ which led to an
irreconcilable rupture between him and Rousseau. Rousseau was induced by
his resentment to give in his _Confessions_ a wholly mendacious portrait
of Grimm's character. In 1755, after the death of Count Friesen, who was
a nephew of Marshal Saxe and an officer in the French army, Grimm became
_secrétaire des commandements_ to the duke of Orleans, and in this
capacity he accompanied Marshal d'Estrées on the campaign of Westphalia
in 1756-57. He was named envoy of the town of Frankfort at the court of
France in 1759, but was deprived of his office for criticizing the comte
de Broglie in a despatch intercepted by Louis XV. He was made a baron of
the Holy Roman Empire in 1775. His introduction to Catherine II. of
Russia took place at St Petersburg in 1773, when he was in the suite of
Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt on the occasion of her marriage to the
czarevitch Paul. He became minister of Saxe-Gotha at the court of France
in 1776, but in 1777 he again left Paris on a visit to St Petersburg,
where he remained for nearly a year in daily intercourse with Catherine.
He acted as Paris agent for the empress in the purchase of works of art,
and executed many confidential commissions for her. In 1783 and the
following years he lost his two most intimate friends, Mme d'Épinay and
Diderot. In 1792 he emigrated, and in the next year settled in Gotha,
where his poverty was relieved by Catherine, who in 1796 appointed him
minister of Russia at Hamburg. On the death of the empress Catherine he
took refuge with Mme d'Épinay's granddaughter, Émilie de Belsunce,
comtesse de Bueil. Grimm had always interested himself in her, and had
procured her dowry from the empress Catherine. She now received him with
the utmost kindness. He died at Gotha on the 19th of December 1807.
The correspondence of Grimm was strictly confidential, and was not
divulged during his lifetime. It embraces nearly the whole period from
1750 to 1790, but the later volumes, 1773 to 1790, were chiefly the work
of his secretary, Jakob Heinrich Meister. At first he contented himself
with enumerating the chief current views in literature and art and
indicating very slightly the contents of the principal new books, but
gradually his criticisms became more extended and trenchant, and he
touched on nearly every subject--political, literary, artistic, social
and religious--which interested the Parisian society of the time. His
notices of contemporaries are somewhat severe, and he exhibits the
foibles and selfishness of the society in which he moved; but he was
unbiassed in his literary judgments, and time has only served to confirm
his criticisms. In style and manner of expression he is thoroughly
French. He is generally somewhat cold in his appreciation, but his
literary taste is delicate and subtle; and it was the opinion of
Sainte-Beuve that the quality of his thought in his best moments will
compare not unfavourably even with that of Voltaire. His religious and
philosophical opinions were entirely negative.
Grimm's _Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique ...,
depuis 1753 jusqu'en 1769_, was edited, with many excisions, by J. B.
A. Suard and published at Paris in 1812, in 6 vols. 8vo; _deuxième
partie, de 1771 à 1782_, in 1812 in 5 vols. 8vo; and _troisième
partie, pendant une partie des années 1775 et 1776, et pendant les
années 1782 à 1790 inclusivement_, in 1813 in 5 vols. 8vo. A
supplementary volume appeared in 1814; the whole correspondence was
collected and published by M. Jules Taschereau, with the assistance of
A. Chaudé, in a _Nouvelle Edition, revue et mise dans un meilleur
ordre, avec des notes et des éclaircissements, et où se trouvent
rétablies pour la première fois les phrases supprimées par la censure
impériale_ (Paris, 1829, 15 vols. 8vo); and the _Correspondance
inédite, et recueil de lettres, poésies, morceaux, et fragments
retranchés par la censure impériale en 1812 et 1813_ was published in
1829. The standard edition is that of M. Tourneux (16 vols.,
1877-1882). Grimm's _Mémoire historique sur l'origine et les suites de
mon attachement pour l'impératrice Catherine II jusqu'au décès de sa
majesté impériale_, and Catherine's correspondence with Grimm
(1774-1796) were published by J. Grot in 1880, in the _Collection_ of
the Russian Imperial Historical Society. She treats him very
familiarly, and calls him Héraclite, Georges Dandin, &c. At the time
of the Revolution she begged him to destroy her letters, but he
refused, and after his death they were returned to St Petersburg.
Grimm's side of the correspondence, however, is only partially
preserved. He signs himself "Pleureur." Some of Grimm's letters,
besides the official correspondence, are included in the edition of M.
Tourneux; others are contained in the _Erinnerungen einer
Urgrossmutter_ of K. von Bechtolsheim, edited (Berlin, 1902) by Count
C. Oberndorff. See also Mme d'Épinay's _Mémoires_; Rousseau's
_Confessions_; the notices contained in the editions quoted; E.
Scherer, _Melchior Grimm_ (1887); Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_,
vol. vii. For further works bearing on the subject, see K. A. Georges,
_Friedrich Melchior Grimm_ (Hanover and Leipzig, 1904).
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Rousseau's account of this affair (_Confessions_, 2nd part, 8th
book) must be received with caution.
GRIMM, JACOB LUDWIG CARL (1785-1863), German philologist and
mythologist, was born on the 4th of January 1785 at Hanau, in
Hesse-Cassel. His father, who was a lawyer, died while he was a child,
and the mother was left with very small means; but her sister, who was
lady of the chamber to the landgravine of Hesse, helped to support and
educate her numerous family. Jacob, with his younger brother Wilhelm
(born on the 24th of February 1786), was sent in 1798 to the public
school at Cassel. In 1802 he proceeded to the university of Marburg,
where he studied law, a profession for which he had been destined by his
father. His brother joined him at Marburg a year later, having just
recovered from a long and severe illness, and likewise began the study
of law. Up to this time Jacob Grimm had been actuated only by a general
thirst for knowledge and his energies had not found any aim beyond the
practical one of making himself a position in life. The first definite
impulse came from the lectures of Savigny, the celebrated investigator
of Roman law, who, as Grimm himself says (in the preface to the
_Deutsche Grammatik_), first taught him to realize what it meant to
study any science. Savigny's lectures also awakened in him that love for
historical and antiquarian investigation which forms the basis of all
his work. Then followed personal acquaintance, and it was in Savigny's
well-provided library that Grimm first turned over the leaves of
Bodmer's edition of the Old German minnesingers and other early texts,
and felt an eager desire to penetrate further into the obscurities and
half-revealed mysteries of their language. In the beginning of 1805 he
received an invitation from Savigny, who had removed to Paris, to help
him in his literary work. Grimm passed a very happy time in Paris,
strengthening his taste for the literatures of the middle ages by his
studies in the Paris libraries. Towards the close of the year he
returned to Cassel, where his mother and Wilhelm had settled, the latter
having finished his studies. The next year he obtained a situation in
the war office with the very small salary of 100 thalers. One of his
grievances was that he had to exchange his stylish Paris suit for a
stiff uniform and pigtail. But he had full leisure for the prosecution
of his studies. In 1808, soon after the death of his mother, he was
appointed superintendent of the private library of Jerome Buonaparte,
king of Westphalia, into which Hesse-Cassel had been incorporated by
Napoleon. Jerome appointed him an auditor to the state council, while he
retained his other post. His salary was increased in a short interval
from 2000 to 4000 francs, and his official duties were hardly more than
nominal. After the expulsion of Jerome and the reinstalment of an
elector, Grimm was appointed in 1813 secretary of legation, to accompany
the Hessian minister to the headquarters of the allied army. In 1814 he
was sent to Paris to demand restitution of the books carried off by the
French, and in 1814-1815 he attended the congress of Vienna as secretary
of legation. On his return he was again sent to Paris on the same errand
as before. Meanwhile Wilhelm had received an appointment in the Cassel
library, and in 1816 Jacob was made second librarian under Völkel. On
the death of Völkel in 1828 the brothers expected to be advanced to the
first and second librarianships respectively, and were much dissatisfied
when the first place was given to Rommel, keeper of the archives. So
they removed next year to Göttingen, where Jacob received the
appointment of professor and librarian, Wilhelm that of under-librarian.
Jacob Grimm lectured on legal antiquities, historical grammar, literary
history, and diplomatics, explained Old German poems, and commented on
the _Germania_ of Tacitus. At this period he is described as small and
lively in figure, with a harsh voice, speaking a broad Hessian dialect.
His powerful memory enabled him to dispense with the manuscript which
most German professors rely on, and he spoke extempore, referring only
occasionally to a few names and dates written on a slip of paper. He
himself regretted that he had begun the work of teaching so late in
life; and as a lecturer he was not successful: he had no idea of
digesting his facts and suiting them to the comprehension of his
hearers; and even the brilliant, terse and eloquent passages which
abound in his writings lost much of their effect when jerked out in the
midst of a long array of dry facts. In 1837, being one of the seven
professors who signed a protest against the king of Hanover's abrogation
of the constitution established some years before, he was dismissed from
his professorship, and banished from the kingdom of Hanover. He returned
to Cassel together with his brother, who had also signed the protest,
and remained there till, in 1840, they accepted an invitation from the
king of Prussia to remove to Berlin, where they both received
professorships, and were elected members of the Academy of Sciences. Not
being under any obligation to lecture, Jacob seldom did so, but together
with his brother worked at the great dictionary. During their stay at
Cassel Jacob regularly attended the meetings of the academy, where he
read papers on the most varied subjects. The best known of these are
those on Lachmann, Schiller, and his brother Wilhelm (who died in 1859),
on old age, and on the origin of language. He also described his
impressions of Italian and Scandinavian travel, interspersing his more
general observations with linguistic details, as is the case in all his
works.
Grimm died in 1863, working up to the last. He was never ill, and worked
on all day, without haste and without pause. He was not at all impatient
of interruption, but seemed rather to be refreshed by it, returning to
his work without effort. He wrote for the press with great rapidity, and
hardly ever made corrections. He never revised what he had written,
remarking with a certain wonder of his brother, "Wilhelm reads his
manuscripts over again before sending them to press!" His temperament
was uniformly cheerful, and he was easily amused. Outside his own
special work he had a marked taste for botany. The spirit which animated
his work is best described by himself at the end of his autobiography.
"Nearly all my labours have been devoted, either directly or indirectly,
to the investigation of our earlier language, poetry and laws. These
studies may have appeared to many, and may still appear, useless; to me
they have always seemed a noble and earnest task, definitely and
inseparably connected with our common fatherland, and calculated to
foster the love of it. My principle has always been in these
investigations to under-value nothing, but to utilize the small for the
illustration of the great, the popular tradition for the elucidation of
the written monuments."
The purely scientific side of Grimm's character developed slowly. He
seems to have felt the want of definite principles of etymology without
being able to discover them, and indeed even in the first edition of his
grammar (1819) he seems to be often groping in the dark. As early as
1815 we find A. W. Schlegel reviewing the _Altdeutsche Wälder_ (a
periodical published by the two brothers) very severely, condemning the
lawless etymological combinations it contained, and insisting on the
necessity of strict philological method and a fundamental investigation
of the laws of language, especially in the correspondence of sounds.
This criticism is said to have had a considerable influence on the
direction of Grimm's studies.
The first work he published, _Über den altdeutschen Meistergesang_
(1811), was of a purely literary character. Yet even in this essay Grimm
showed that _Minnesang_ and _Meistersang_ were really one form of
poetry, of which they merely represented different stages of
development, and also announced his important discovery of the
invariable division of the _Lied_ into three strophic parts.
His text-editions were mostly prepared in common with his brother. In
1812 they published the two ancient fragments of the _Hildebrandslied_
and the _Weissenbrunner Gebet_, Jacob having discovered what till then
had never been suspected--the alliteration in these poems. However,
Jacob had little taste for text-editing, and, as he himself confessed,
the evolving of a critical text gave him little pleasure. He therefore
left this department to others, especially Lachmann, who soon turned his
brilliant critical genius, trained in the severe school of classical
philology, to Old and Middle High German poetry and metre. Both brothers
were attracted from the beginning by all national poetry, whether in the
form of epics, ballads or popular tales. They published in 1816-1818 an
analysis and critical sifting of the oldest epic traditions of the
Germanic races under the title of _Deutsche Sagen_. At the same time
they collected all the popular tales they could find, partly from the
mouths of the people, partly from manuscripts and books, and published
in 1812-1815 the first edition of those _Kinder- und Hausmärchen_ which
have carried the name of the brothers Grimm into every household of the
civilized world, and founded the science of folk-lore. The closely
allied subject of the satirical beast epic of the middle ages also had a
great charm for Jacob Grimm, and he published an edition of the
_Reinhart Fuchs_ in 1834. His first contribution to mythology was the
first volume of an edition of the Eddaic songs, undertaken conjointly
with his brother, published in 1815, which, however, was not followed by
any more. The first edition of his _Deutsche Mythologie_ appeared in
1835. This great work covers the whole range of the subject, tracing the
mythology and superstitions of the old Teutons back to the very dawn of
direct evidence, and following their decay and loss down to the popular
traditions, tales and expressions in which they still linger.
Although by the introduction of the Code Napoléon into Westphalia
Grimm's legal studies were made practically barren, he never lost his
interest in the scientific study of law and national institutions, as
the truest exponents of the life and character of a people. By the
publication (in 1828) of his _Rechtsalterthümer_ he laid the foundations
of that historical study of the old Teutonic laws and constitutions
which was continued with brilliant success by Georg L. Maurer and
others. In this work Grimm showed the importance of a linguistic study
of the old laws, and the light that can be thrown on many a dark passage
in them by a comparison of the corresponding words and expressions in
the other old cognate dialects. He also knew how--and this is perhaps
the most original and valuable part of his work--to trace the spirit of
the laws in countless allusions and sayings which occur in the old poems
and sagas, or even survive in modern colloquialisms.
Of all his more general works the boldest and most far-reaching is his
_Geschichte der deutschen Sprache_, where at the same time the
linguistic element is most distinctly brought forward. The subject of
the work is, indeed, nothing less than the history which lies hidden in
the words of the German language--the oldest national history of the
Teutonic tribes determined by means of language. For this purpose he
laboriously collects the scattered words and allusions to be found in
classical writers, and endeavours to determine the relations in which
the German language stood to those of the Getae, Thracians, Scythians,
and many other nations whose languages are known only by doubtfully
identified, often extremely corrupted remains preserved by Greek and
Latin authors. Grimm's results have been greatly modified by the wider
range of comparison and improved methods of investigation which now
characterize linguistic science, and many of the questions raised by him
will probably for ever remain obscure; but his book will always be one
of the most fruitful and suggestive that have ever been written.
Grimm's famous _Deutsche Grammatik_ was the outcome of his purely
philological work. The labours of past generations--from the humanists
onwards--had collected an enormous mass of materials in the shape of
text-editions, dictionaries and grammars, although most of it was
uncritical and often untrustworthy. Something had even been done in the
way of comparison and the determination of general laws, and the
conception of a comparative Teutonic grammar had been clearly grasped by
the illustrious Englishman George Hickes, at the beginning of the 18th
century, and partly carried out by him in his _Thesaurus_. Ten Kate in
Holland had afterwards made valuable contributions to the history and
comparison of the Teutonic languages. Even Grimm himself did not at
first intend to include all the languages in his grammar; but he soon
found that Old High German postulated Gothic, that the later stages of
German could not be understood without the help of the Low German
dialects, including English, and that the rich literature of Scandinavia
could as little be ignored. The first edition of the first part of the
_Grammar_, which appeared in 1819, and is now extremely rare, treated of
the inflections of all these languages, together with a general
introduction, in which he vindicated the importance of an historical
study of the German language against the a priori, quasi-philosophical
methods then in vogue.
In 1822 this volume appeared in a second edition--really a new work,
for, as Grimm himself says in the preface, it cost him little reflection
to mow down the first crop to the ground. The wide distance between the
two stages of Grimm's development in these two editions is significantly
shown by the fact that while the first edition gives only the
inflections, in the second volume phonology takes up no fewer than 600
pages, more than half of the whole volume. Grimm had, at last, awakened
to the full conviction that all sound philology must be based on
rigorous adhesion to the laws of sound-change, and he never afterwards
swerved from this principle, which gave to all his investigations, even
in their boldest flights, that iron-bound consistency, and that force of
conviction which distinguish science from dilettanteism; up to Grimm's
time philology was nothing but a more or less laborious and
conscientious dilettanteism, with occasional flashes of scientific
inspiration; he made it into a science. His advance must be attributed
mainly to the influence of his contemporary R. Rask. Rask was born two
years later than Grimm, but his remarkable precocity gave him somewhat
the start. Even in Grimm's first editions his Icelandic paradigms are
based entirely on Rask's grammar, and in his second edition he relied
almost entirely on Rask for Old English. His debt to Rask can only be
estimated at its true value by comparing his treatment of Old English in
the two editions; the difference is very great. Thus in the first
edition he declines _dæg_, _dæges_, plural _dægas_, not having observed
the law of vowel-change pointed out by Rask. There can be little doubt
that the appearance of Rask's Old English grammar was a main inducement
for him to recast his work from the beginning. To Rask also belongs the
merit of having first distinctly formulated the laws of
sound-correspondence in the different languages, especially in the
vowels, those more fleeting elements of speech which had hitherto been
ignored by etymologists.
This leads to a question which has been the subject of much
controversy,--Who discovered what is known as _Grimm's law_? This law of
the correspondence of consonants in the older Indo-germanic, Low and
High German languages respectively was first fully stated by Grimm in
the second edition of the first part of his grammar. The correspondence
of single consonants had been more or less clearly recognized by several
of his predecessors; but the one who came nearest to the discovery of
the complete law was the Swede J. Ihre, who established a considerable
number of "literarum permutationes," such as _b_ for _f_, with the
examples _bæra = ferre_, _befwer = fiber_. Rask, in his essay on the
origin of the Icelandic language, gives the same comparisons, with a few
additions and corrections, and even the very same examples in most
cases. As Grimm in the preface to his first edition expressly mentions
this essay of Rask, there is every probability that it gave the first
impulse to his own investigations. But there is a wide difference
between the isolated permutations of his predecessors and the
comprehensive generalizations under which he himself ranged them. The
extension of the law to High German is also entirely his own. The only
fact that can be adduced in support of the assertion that Grimm wished
to deprive Rask of his claims to priority is that he does not expressly
mention Rask's results in his second edition. But this is part of the
plan of his work, viz. to refrain from all controversy or reference to
the works of others. In his first edition he expressly calls attention
to Rask's essay, and praises it most ungrudgingly. Rask himself refers
as little to Ihre, merely alluding in a general way to Ihre's
permutations, although his own debt to Ihre is infinitely greater than
that of Grimm to Rask or any one else. It is true that a certain
bitterness of feeling afterwards sprang up between Grimm and Rask, but
this was the fault of the latter, who, impatient of contradiction and
irritable in controversy, refused to acknowledge the value of Grimm's
views when they involved modification of his own. The importance of
Grimm's generalization in the history of philology cannot be
overestimated, and even the mystic completeness and symmetry of its
formulation, although it has proved a hindrance to the correct
explanation of the causes of the changes, was well calculated to strike
the popular mind, and give it a vivid idea of the paramount importance
of law, and the necessity of disregarding mere superficial resemblance.
The most lawless etymologist bows down to the authority of Grimm's law,
even if he honours it almost as much in the breach as in the observance.
The grammar was continued in three volumes, treating principally of
derivation, composition and syntax, which last was left unfinished.
Grimm then began a third edition, of which only one part, comprising the
vowels, appeared in 1840, his time being afterwards taken up mainly by
the dictionary. The grammar stands alone in the annals of science for
comprehensiveness, method and fullness of detail. Every law, every
letter, every syllable of inflection in the different languages is
illustrated by an almost exhaustive mass of material. It has served as a
model for all succeeding investigators. Diez's grammar of the Romance
languages is founded entirely on its methods, which have also exerted a
profound influence on the wider study of the Indo-Germanic languages in
general.
In the great German dictionary Grimm undertook a task for which he was
hardly suited. His exclusively historical tendencies made it impossible
for him to do justice to the individuality of a living language; and the
disconnected statement of the facts of language in an ordinary
alphabetical dictionary fatally mars its scientific character. It was
also undertaken on so large a scale as to make it impossible for him and
his brother to complete it themselves. The dictionary, as far as it was
worked out by Grimm himself, may be described as a collection of
disconnected antiquarian essays of high value.
Grimm's scientific character is notable for its combination of breadth
and unity. He was as far removed from the narrowness of the specialist
who has no ideas, no sympathies beyond some one author, period or corner
of science, as from the shallow dabbler who feverishly attempts to
master the details of half-a-dozen discordant pursuits. Even within his
own special studies there is the same wise concentration; no
Mezzofanti-like parrot display of useless polyglottism. The very
foundations of his nature were harmonious; his patriotism and love of
historical investigation received their fullest satisfaction in the
study of the language, traditions, mythology, laws and literature of his
own countrymen and their nearest kindred. But from this centre his
investigations were pursued in every direction as far as his unerring
instinct of healthy limitation would allow. He was equally fortunate in
the harmony that subsisted between his intellectual and moral nature. He
made cheerfully the heavy sacrifices that science demands from its
disciples, without feeling any of that envy and bitterness which often
torment weaker natures; and although he lived apart from his fellow men,
he was full of human sympathies, and no man has ever exercised a
profounder influence on the destinies of mankind. His was the very ideal
of the noblest type of German character.
The following is a complete list of his separately published works,
those which he published in common with his brother being marked with
a star. For a list of his essays in periodicals, &c., see vol. v. of
his _Kleinere Schriften_, from which the present list is taken. His
life is best studied in his own "Selbstbiographie," in vol. i. of the
_Kleinere Schriften_. There is also a brief memoir by K. Gödeke in
_Göttinger Professoren_ (Gotha (Perthes), 1872): _Über den
altdeutschen Meistergesang_ (Göttingen, 1811); *_Kinder- und
Hausmärchen_ (Berlin, 1812-1815) (many editions); *_Das Lied von
Hildebrand und das Weissenbrunner Gebet_ (Cassel, 1812); _Altdeutsche
Wälder_ (Cassel, Frankfort, 1813-1816, 3 vols.); *_Der arme Heinrich
von Hartmann von der Aue_ (Berlin, 1815); *_Irmenstrasse und
Irmensäule_ (Vienna, 1815); *_Die Lieder der allen Edda_ (Berlin,
1815), _Silva de romances viejos_ (Vienna, 1815); *_Deutsche Sagen_
(Berlin, 1816-1818, 2nd ed., Berlin, 1865-1866); _Deutsche Grammatik_
(Göttingen, 1819, 2nd ed., Göttingen, 1822-1840) (reprinted 1870 by W.
Scherer, Berlin); _Wuk Stephanovitsch's kleine serbische Grammatik,
verdeutscht mit einer Vorrede_ (Leipzig and Berlin, 1824); _Zur
Recension der deutschen Grammatik_ (Cassel, 1826); *_Irische
Elfenmärchen, aus dem Englischen_ (Leipzig, 1826); _Deutsche
Rechtsaltertümer_ (Göttingen, 1828, 2nd ed., 1854); _Hymnorum veteris
ecclesiae XXVI. interpretatio theodisca_ (Göttingen, 1830); _Reinhart
Fuchs_ (Berlin, 1834); _Deutsche Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1835, 3rd
ed., 1854, 2 vols.); _Taciti Germania edidit_ (Göttingen, 1835); _Über
meine Entlassung_ (Basel, 1838); (together with Schmeller)
_Lateinische Gedichte des X. und XI. Jahrhunderts_ (Göttingen, 1838);
_Sendschreiben an Karl Lachmann über Reinhart Fuchs_ (Berlin, 1840);
_Weistümer_, Th. i. (Göttingen, 1840) (continued, partly by others, in
5 parts, 1840-1869); _Andreas und Elene_ (Cassel, 1840); _Frau
Aventure_ (Berlin, 1842); _Geschichte der deutschen Sprache_ (Leipzig,
1848, 3rd ed., 1868, 2 vols.); _Das Wort des Besitzes_ (Berlin, 1850);
*_Deutsches Wörterbuch_, Bd. i. (Leipzig, 1854); _Rede auf Wilhelm
Grimm und Rede über das Alter_ (Berlin, 1868, 3rd ed., 1865);
_Kleinere Schriften_ (Berlin, 1864-1870, 5 vols.). (H. Sw.)
GRIMM, WILHELM CARL (1786-1859). For the chief events in the life of
Wilhelm Grimm see article on Jacob Grimm above. As Jacob himself said in
his celebrated address to the Berlin Academy on the death of his
brother, the whole of their lives were passed together. In their
schooldays they had one bed and one table in common, as students they
had two beds and two tables in the same room, and they always lived
under one roof, and had their books and property in common. Nor did
Wilhelm's marriage in any way disturb their harmony. As Cleasby said
("Life of Cleasby," prefixed to his _Icelandic Dictionary_, p. lxix.),
"they both live in the same house, and in such harmony and community
that one might almost imagine the children were common property."
Wilhelm's character was a complete contrast to that of his brother. As a
boy he was strong and healthy, but as he grew up he was attacked by a
long and severe illness, which left him weak all his life. His was a
less comprehensive and energetic mind than that of his brother, and he
had less of the spirit of investigation, preferring to confine himself
to some limited and definitely bounded field of work; he utilized
everything that bore directly on his own studies, and ignored the rest.
These studies were almost always of a literary nature. It is
characteristic of his more aesthetic nature that he took great delight
in music, for which his brother had but a moderate liking, and had a
remarkable gift of story-telling. Cleasby, in the account of his visit
to the brothers, quoted above, tells that "Wilhelm read a sort of farce
written in the Frankfort dialect, depicting the 'malheurs' of a rich
Frankfort tradesman on a holiday jaunt on Sunday. It was very droll, and
he read it admirably." Cleasby describes him as "an uncommonly animated,
jovial fellow." He was, accordingly, much sought in society, which he
frequented much more than his brother.
His first work was a spirited translation of the Danish _Kæmpeviser,
Altdänische Heldenlieder_, published in 1811-1813, which made his name
at first more widely known than that of his brother. The most
important of his text editions are--_Ruolandslied_ (Göttingen, 1838);
_Konrad von Würzburg's Goldene Schmiede_ (Berlin, 1840); _Grave
Ruodolf_ (Göttingen, 1844, 2nd ed.); _Athis und Prophilias_ (Berlin,
1846); _Altdeutsche Gespräche_ (Berlin, 1851); _Freidank_ (Göttingen,
1860, 2nd ed.). Of his other works the most important is _Deutsche
Heldensage_ (Berlin, 1868, 2nd ed.). His _Deutsche Runen_ (Göttingen,
1821) has now only an historical interest. (H. Sw.)
GRIMMA, a town in the kingdom of Saxony, on the left bank of the Mulde,
19 m. S.E. of Leipzig on the railway Döbeln-Dresden. Pop. (1905) 11,182.
It has a Roman Catholic and three Evangelical churches, and among other
principal buildings are the Schloss built in the 12th century, and long
a residence of the margraves of Meissen and the electors of Saxony; the
town-hall, dating from 1442, and the famous school Fürstenschule
(_Illustre Moldanum_), erected by the elector Maurice on the site of the
former Augustinian monastery in 1550, having provision for 104 free
scholars and a library numbering 10,000 volumes. There are also a modern
school, a teachers' seminary, a commercial school and a school of
brewing. Among the industries of the town are ironfounding, machine
building and dyeworks, while paper and gloves are manufactured there.
Gardening and agriculture generally are also important branches of
industry. In the immediate neighbourhood are the ruins of the Cistercian
nunnery from which Catherine von Bora fled in 1523, and the village of
Döben, with an old castle. Grimma is of Sorbian origin, and is first
mentioned in 1203. It passed then into possession of Saxony and has
remained since part of that country.
See Lorenz, _Die Stadt Grimma, historisch beschrieben_ (Leipzig,
1871); Rössler, _Geschichte der königlich sächsischen Fürsten- und
Landesschule Grimma_ (Leipzig, 1891); L. Schmidt, _Urkundenbuch der
Stadt Grimma_ (Leipzig, 1895); and Fraustadt, _Grimmenser Stammbuch_
(Grimma, 1900).
GRIMMELSHAUSEN, HANS JAKOB CHRISTOFFEL VON (c. 1625-1676), German
author, was born at Gelnhausen in or about 1625. At the age of ten he
was kidnapped by Hessian soldiery, and in their midst tasted the
adventures of military life in the Thirty Years' War. At its close,
Grimmelshausen entered the service of Franz Egon von Fürstenberg, bishop
of Strassburg and in 1665 was made _Schultheiss_ (magistrate) at Renchen
in Baden. On obtaining this appointment, he devoted himself to literary
pursuits, and in 1669 published _Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus,
Teutsch, d.h. die Beschreibung des Lebens eines seltsamen Vaganten,
genannt Melchior Sternfels von Fuchsheim_, the greatest German novel of
the 17th century. For this work he took as his model the picaresque
romances of Spain, already to some extent known in Germany.
_Simplicissimus_ is in great measure its author's autobiography; he
begins with the childhood of his hero, and describes the latter's
adventures amid the stirring scenes of the Thirty Years' War. The
realistic detail with which these pictures are presented makes the book
one of the most valuable documents of its time. In the later parts
Grimmelshausen, however, over-indulges in allegory, and finally loses
himself in a Robinson Crusoe story. Among his other works the most
important are the so-called _Simplicianische Schriften: Die
Erzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche_ (c. 1669); _Der seltsame
Springinsfeld_ (1670) and _Das wunderbarliche Vogelnest_ (1672). His
satires, such as _Der teutsche Michel_ (1670), and "gallant" novels,
like _Dietwald und Amelinde_ (1670) are of inferior interest. He died at
Renchen on the 17th of August 1676, where a monument was erected to him
in 1879.
Editions of _Simplicissimus_ and the _Simplicianische Schriften_ have
been published by A. von Keller (1854), H. Kurz (1863-1864), J.
Tittmann (1877) and F. Bobertag (1882). A reprint of the first edition
of the novel was edited by R. Kögel for the series of _Neudrucke des
16. und 17. Jahrhunderts_ (1880). See the introductions to these
editions; also F. Antoine, _Étude sur le Simplicissimus de
Grimmelshausen_ (1882) and E. Schmidt in his _Charakteristiken_, vol.
i. (1886).
GRIMOARD, PHILIPPE HENRI, COMTE DE (1753-1815), French soldier and
military writer, entered the royal army at the age of sixteen, and in
1775 published his _Essai théorique et practique sur les batailles_.
Shortly afterwards Louis XVI. placed him in his own military cabinet and
employed him especially in connexion with schemes of army reform. By the
year of the Revolution he had become one of Louis's most valued
counsellors, in political as well as military matters, and was marked
out, though only a colonel, as the next Minister of War. In 1791
Grimoard was entrusted with the preparation of the scheme of defence for
France, which proved two years later of great assistance to the
Committee of Public Safety. The events of 1792 put an end to his
military career, and the remainder of his life was spent in writing
military books.
The following works by him, besides his first essay, have retained
some importance: _Histoire des dernières campagnes de Turenne_ (Paris,
1780), _Lettres et mémoires de Turenne_ (Paris, 1780), _Troupes
légères et leur emploi_ (Paris, 1782), _Conquêtes de Gustave-Adolphe_
(Stockholm and Neufchatel, 1782-1791); _Mémoires de Gustave Adolphe_
(Paris, 1790), Correspondence of Marshal Richelieu (Paris, 1789), St
Germain (1789), and Bernis (1790), _Vie et règne de Frédéric le Grand_
(London, 1788), _Lettres et mémoires du maréchal de Saxe_ (Paris,
1794), _L'Expédition de Minorque en 1756_ (Paris, 1798), _Recherches
sur la force de l'armée française depuis Henri IV jusqu'en 1805_
(Paris, 1806), _Mémoires du maréchal de Tessé_ (Paris, 1806), _Lettres
de Bolingbroke_ (Paris, 1808), _Traité, sur le service d'état-major_
(Paris, 1809), and (with Servan) _Tableau historique de la guerre de
la Révolution 1792-1794_ (Paris, 1808).
GRIMSBY, or GREAT GRIMSBY, a municipal, county and parliamentary borough
of Lincolnshire, England; an important seaport near the mouth of the
Humber on the south shore. Pop. (1901) 63,138. It is 155 m. N. by E.
from London by the Great Northern railway, and is also served by the
Great Central railway. The church of St James, situated in the older
part of the town, is a cruciform Early English building, retaining, in
spite of injudicious restoration, many beautiful details. The chief
buildings are that containing the town hall and the grammar school (a
foundation of 1547), the exchange, a theatre, and the customs house and
dock offices. A sailors' and fishermen's Harbour of Refuge, free
library, constitutional club and technical school are maintained. The
duke of York public gardens were opened in 1894. Adjacent to Grimsby on
the east is the coastal watering-place of Cleethorpes.
The dock railway station lies a mile from the town station. In 1849 the
Great Central (then the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire) railway
initiated a scheme of reclamation and dock-construction. This was
completed in 1854, and subsequent extensions were made. There are two
large fish-docks, and, for general traffic, the Royal dock,
communicating with the Humber through a tidal basin, the small Union
dock, and the extensive Alexandra dock, together with graving docks,
timber yards, a patent slip, &c. These docks have an area of about 104
acres, but were found insufficient for the growing traffic of the port,
and in 1906 the construction of a large new dock, of about 40 acres'
area and 30 to 35 ft. depth, was undertaken by the Great Central Company
at Immingham, 5 m. above Grimsby on the Humber. The principal imports
are butter, woollens, timber, cereals, eggs, glass, cottons, preserved
meat, wool, sugar and bacon. The exports consist chiefly of woollen
yarn, woollens, cotton goods, cotton yarn, machinery, &c. and coal. It
is as a fishing port, however, that Grimsby is chiefly famous. Two of
the docks are for the accommodation of the fishing fleet, which,
consisting principally of steam trawlers, numbers upwards of 500
vessels. Regular passenger steamers run from Grimsby to Dutch and south
Swedish ports, and to Esbjerg (Denmark), chiefly those of the Wilson
line and the Great Central railway. The chief industries of Grimsby are
shipbuilding, brewing, tanning, manufactures of ship tackle, ropes, ice
for preserving fish, turnery, flour, linseed cake, artificial manure;
and there are saw mills, bone and corn mills, and creosote works. The
municipal borough is under a mayor, 12 aldermen and 36 councillors.
Area, 2852 acres.
Grimsby (_Grimesbi_) is supposed to have been the landing-place of the
Danes on their first invasion of Britain towards the close of the 8th
century. It was a borough by prescription as early as 1201, in which
year King John granted the burgesses a charter of liberties according to
the custom of the burgesses of Northampton. Henry III. in 1227 granted
to "the mayor and good men" of Grimsby, that they should hold the town
for a yearly rent of £111, and confirmed the same in 1271. These
charters were confirmed by later sovereigns. A governing charter, under
the title of mayor and burgesses, was given by James II. in 1688, and
under this the appointment of officers and other of the corporation,
arrangements are to a great extent regulated. In 1201 King John granted
the burgesses an annual fair for fifteen days, beginning on the 25th of
May. Two annual fairs are now held, namely on the first Monday in April
and the second Monday in October. No early grant of a market can be
found, but in 1792 the market-day was Wednesday. In 1888 it had ceased
to exist. Grimsby returned two members to the parliament of 1298, but in
1833 the number was reduced to one.
In the time of Edward III. Grimsby was an important seaport, but the
haven became obstructed by sand and mud deposited by the Humber, and so
the access of large vessels was prevented. At the beginning of the 19th
century a subscription was raised by the proprietors of land in the
neighbourhood for improving the harbour, and an act was obtained by
which they were incorporated under the title "The Grimsby Haven Co." The
fishing trade had become so important by 1800 that it was necessary to
construct a new dock.
GRIMSTON, SIR HARBOTTLE (1603-1685), English politician, second son of
Sir Harbottle Grimston, Bart. (d. 1648), was born at Bradfield Hall,
near Manningtree, on the 27th of January 1603. Educated at Emmanuel
College, Cambridge, he became a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, then
recorder of Harwich and recorder of Colchester. As member for
Colchester, Grimston sat in the Short Parliament of 1640, and he
represented the same borough during the Long Parliament, speedily
becoming a leading member of the popular party. He attacked Archbishop
Laud with great vigour; was a member of the important committees of the
parliament, including the one appointed in consequence of the attempted
seizure of the five members; and became deputy-lieutenant of Essex after
the passing of the militia ordinance in January 1642. He disliked taking
up arms against the king, but remained nominally an adherent of the
parliamentary party during the Civil War. In the words of Clarendon, he
"continued rather than concurred with them." Grimston does not appear to
have taken the Solemn League and Covenant, but after the conclusion of
the first period of the war he again became more active. He was
president of the committee which investigated the escape of the king
from Hampton Court in 1647, and was one of those who negotiated with
Charles at Newport in 1648, when, according to Burnet, he fell upon his
knees and urged the king to come to terms. From this time Grimston's
sympathies appear to have been with the Royalists. Turned out of the
House of Commons when the assembly was "purged" by colonel Pride, he was
imprisoned; but was released after promising to do nothing detrimental
to the parliament or the army, and spent the next few years in
retirement. Before this time, his elder brother having already died, he
had succeeded his father as 2nd baronet. In 1656 Sir Harbottle was
returned to Cromwell's second parliament as member for Essex; but he was
not allowed to take his seat; and with 97 others who were similarly
treated he issued a remonstrance to the public. He was among the
secluded members who re-entered the Long Parliament in February 1660,
was then a member of the council of state, and was chosen Speaker of the
House of Commons in the Convention Parliament of 1660. As Speaker he
visited Charles II. at Breda, and addressed him in very flattering terms
on his return to London; but he refused to accede to the king's demand
that he should dismiss Burnet from his position as chaplain to the
Master of the Rolls, and in parliament he strongly denounced any
relaxation of the laws against papists. Grimston did not retain the
office of Speaker after the dissolution of the Convention Parliament,
but he was a member of the commission which tried the regicides, and in
November 1660 he was appointed Master of the Rolls. Report says he paid
Clarendon £8000 for the office, while Burnet declares he obtained it
"without any application of his own." He died on the 2nd of January
1685. His friend and chaplain, Burnet, speaks very highly of his piety
and impartiality, while not omitting the undoubted fact that he was
"much sharpened against popery." He translated the law reports of his
father-in-law, the judge, Sir George Croke (1560-1642), which were
written in Norman-French, and five editions of this work have appeared.
Seven of his parliamentary speeches were published, and he also wrote
_Strena Christiana_ (London, 1644, and other editions). Grimston's first
wife, Croke's daughter Mary, bore him six sons and two daughters; and by
his second wife, Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Nathaniel Bacon,
K.B., a grandson of Sir Nicholas Bacon, he had one daughter.
Of his sons one only, Samuel (1643-1700), survived his father, and when
he died in October 1700 the baronetcy became extinct. Sir Harbottle's
eldest daughter, Mary, married Sir Capel Luckyn, Bart., and their
grandson, William Luckyn, succeeded to the estates of his great-uncle,
Sir Samuel Grimston, and took the name of Grimston in 1700. This William
Luckyn Grimston (1683-1756) was created Baron Dunboyne and Viscount
Grimston in the peerage of Ireland in 1719. He was succeeded as 2nd
viscount by his son James (1711-1773), whose son James Bucknall
(1747-1808) was made an English peer as baron Verulam of Gorhambury in
1790. Then in 1815 his son James Walter (1775-1845), 2nd baron Verulam,
was created earl of Verulam, and the present peer is his direct
descendant. Sir Harbottle Grimston bought Sir Nicholas Bacon's estate
at Gorhambury, which is still the residence of his descendants.
See G. Burnet, _History of My Own Time_, edited by O. Airy (Oxford,
1900).
GRIMTHORPE, EDMUND BECKETT, 1ST BARON (1816-1905), son of Sir Edmund
Beckett Denison, was born on the 12th of May 1816. He was educated at
Doncaster and Eton, whence he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge,
and graduated thirtieth wrangler in 1838. He was called to the bar at
Lincoln's Inn in 1841. Upon succeeding to the baronetcy in 1874 he
dropped the name of Denison, which his father had assumed in 1816. From
1877 to 1900 he was chancellor and vicar-general of York, and he was
raised to the peerage in 1886. He was made a Q.C. in 1854, and was for
many years a leader of the Parliamentary Bar. He devoted himself to the
study of astronomy, horology and architecture, more especially Gothic
ecclesiastical architecture. As early as 1850 he had become a recognized
authority on clocks, watches and bells, and in particular on the
construction of turret clocks, for he had designed Dent's Great
Exhibition clock, and his _Rudimentary Treatise_ had gone through many
editions. In 1851 he was called upon, in conjunction with the astronomer
royal (Mr, afterwards Sir, G. B. Airy) and Mr Dent, to design a suitable
clock for the new Houses of Parliament. The present tower clock,
popularly known as "Big Ben," was constructed after Lord Grimthorpe's
designs. In a number of burning questions during his time Lord
Grimthorpe took a prominent part. It is, however, in connexion with the
restoration of St Albans Abbey that he is most widely known. The St
Albans Abbey Reparation Committee, which had been in existence since
1871, and for which Sir Gilbert Scott had carried out some admirable
repairs, obtained a faculty from the Diocesan Court in 1877 to repair
and restore the church and fit it for cathedral and parochial services.
Very soon, however, the committee found itself unable to raise the
necessary funds, and it was at this juncture that a new faculty was
granted to Lord Grimthorpe (then Sir Edmund Beckett) to "restore, repair
and refit" the abbey at his own expense. Lord Grimthorpe made it an
express stipulation that the work should be done according to his own
designs and under his own supervision. His public spirit in undertaking
the task was undeniable, but his treatment of the roof, the new west
front, and the windows inserted in the terminations of the transepts,
excited a storm of adverse criticism, and was the subject of vigorous
protests from the professional world of architecture. He died on the
29th of April 1905, being succeeded as 2nd baron by his nephew, E. W.
Beckett (b. 1856), who had sat in parliament as conservative member for
the Whitby division of Yorkshire from 1885.
GRINDAL, EDMUND (c. 1519-1583), successively bishop of London,
archbishop of York and archbishop of Canterbury, born about 1519, was
son of William Grindal, a farmer of Hensingham, in the parish of St
Bees, Cumberland. He was educated at Magdalene and Christ's Colleges and
then at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. and was
elected fellow in 1538. He proceeded M.A. in 1541, was ordained deacon
in 1544 and was proctor and Lady Margaret preacher in 1548-1549.
Probably through the influence of Ridley, who had been master of
Pembroke Hall, Grindal was selected as one of the Protestant disputants
during the visitation of 1549. He had a considerable talent for this
work and was often employed on similar occasions. When Ridley became
bishop of London, he made Grindal one of his chaplains and gave him the
precentorship of St Paul's. He was soon promoted to be one of Edward
VI.'s chaplains and prebendary of Westminster, and in October 1552 was
one of the six divines to whom the Forty-two articles were submitted for
examination before being sanctioned by the Privy Council. According to
Knox, Grindal distinguished himself from most of the court preachers in
1553 by denouncing the worldliness of the courtiers and foretelling the
evils to follow on the king's death.
That event frustrated Grindal's proposed elevation to the episcopal
bench and he did not consider himself bound to await the evils which he
had foretold. He abandoned his preferments on Mary's accession and made
his way to Strassburg. Thence, like so many of the Marian exiles, he
proceeded to Frankfurt, where he endeavoured to compose the disputes
between the "Coxians" (see COX, RICHARD), who regarded the 1552 Prayer
Book as the perfection of reform, and the Knoxians, who wanted further
simplification. He returned to England in January 1559, was appointed
one of the committee to revise the liturgy, and one of the Protestant
representatives at the Westminster conference. In July he was also
elected Master of Pembroke Hall in succession to the recusant Dr Thomas
Young (1514-1580) and Bishop of London in succession to Bonner.
Grindal himself was, however, inclined to be recalcitrant from different
motives. He had qualms about vestments and other traces of "popery" as
well as about the Erastianism of Elizabeth's ecclesiastical government.
His Protestantism was robust enough; he did not mind recommending that a
priest "might be put to some torment" (_Hatfield MSS._ i. 269); and in
October 1562 he wrote to Cecil begging to know "if that second Julian,
the king of Navarre, is killed; as he intended to preach at St Paul's
Cross, and might take occasion to mention God's judgements on him"
(_Domestic Cal._, 1547-1580, p. 209). But he was loth to execute
judgments upon English Puritans, and modern high churchmen complain of
his infirmity of purpose, his opportunism and his failure to give Parker
adequate assistance in rebuilding the shattered fabric of the English
Church. Grindal lacked that firm faith in the supreme importance of
uniformity and autocracy which enabled Whitgift to persecute with a
clear conscience nonconformists whose theology was indistinguishable
from his own. Perhaps he was as wise as his critics; at any rate the
rigour which he repudiated hardly brought peace or strength to the
Church when practised by his successors, and London, which was always a
difficult see, involved Bishop Sandys in similar troubles when Grindal
had gone to York. As it was, although Parker said that Grindal "was not
resolute and severe enough for the government of London," his attempts
to enforce the use of the surplice evoked angry protests, especially in
1565, when considerable numbers of the nonconformists were suspended;
and Grindal of his own motion denounced Cartwright to the Council in
1570. Other anxieties were brought upon him by the burning of his
cathedral in 1561, for although Grindal himself is said to have
contributed £1200 towards its rebuilding, the laity of his diocese were
niggardly with their subscriptions and even his clergy were not liberal.
In 1570 Grindal was translated to the archbishopric of York, where
Puritans were few and coercion would be required mainly for Roman
Catholics. His first letter from Cawood to Cecil told that he had not
been well received, that the gentry were not "well-affected to godly
religion and among the common people many superstitious practices
remained." It is admitted by his Anglican critics that he did the work
of enforcing uniformity against the Roman Catholics with good-will and
considerable tact. He must have given general satisfaction, for even
before Parker's death two persons so different as Burghley and Dean
Nowell independently recommended Grindal's appointment as his successor,
and Spenser speaks warmly of him in the _Shepherd's Calendar_ as the
"gentle shepherd Algrind." Burghley wished to conciliate the moderate
Puritans and advised Grindal to mitigate the severity which had
characterized Parker's treatment of the nonconformists. Grindal indeed
attempted a reform of the ecclesiastical courts, but his metropolitical
activity was cut short by a conflict with the arbitrary temper of the
queen. Elizabeth required Grindal to suppress the "prophesyings" or
meetings for discussion which had come into vogue among the Puritan
clergy, and she even wanted him to discourage preaching; she would have
no doctrine that was not inspired by her authority. Grindal
remonstrated, claiming some voice for the Church, and in June 1577 was
suspended from his jurisdictional, though not his spiritual, functions
for disobedience. He stood firm, and in January 1578 Secretary Wilson
informed Burghley that the queen wished to have the archbishop deprived.
She was dissuaded from this extreme course, but Grindal's sequestration
was continued in spite of a petition from Convocation in 1581 for his
reinstatement. Elizabeth then suggested that he should resign; this he
declined to do, and after making an apology to the queen he was
reinstated towards the end of 1582. But his infirmities were increasing,
and while making preparations for his resignation, he died on the 6th of
July 1583 and was buried in Croydon parish church. He left considerable
benefactions to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, Queen's College, Oxford, and
Christ's College, Cambridge; he also endowed a free school at St Bees,
and left money for the poor of St Bees, Canterbury, Lambeth and Croydon.
Strype's _Life of Grindal_ is the principal authority; see also _Dict.
Nat. Biogr._ and, besides the authorities there cited, Gough's General
Index to Parker Soc. Publ.; Acts of the Privy Council; Cal. of
Hatfield MSS.; Dixon's _Hist. of the Church of England_; Frere's
volume in Stephens' and Hunt's series; _Cambridge Mod. Hist._ vol.
iii.; Gee's _Elizabethan Clergy_; Birt's _Elizabethan Religious
Settlement_; and Pierce's _Introduction to the Marprelate Tracts_
(1909). (A. F. P.)
GRINDELWALD, a valley in the Bernese Oberland, and one of the chief
resorts of tourists in Switzerland. It is shut in on the south by the
precipices of the Wetterhorn, Mettenberg and Eiger, between which two
famous glaciers flow down. On the north it is sheltered by the Faulhorn
range, while on the east the Great Scheidegg Pass leads over to
Meiringen; and on the south-west the Little Scheidegg or Wengern Alp
(railway 11½ m. across) divides it from Lauterbrunnen. The main village
is connected with Interlaken by a rack railway (13 m.). The valley is
very green, and possesses excellent pastures, as well as fruit trees,
though little corn is grown. It is watered by the Black Lütschine, a
tributary of the Aar. The height of the parish church above the
sea-level is 3468 ft. The population in 1900 was 3346, practically all
Protestant and German-speaking, and living in 558 houses. The glacier
guides are among the best in the Alps. The valley was originally
inhabited by the serfs of various great lords in summer for the sake of
pasturage. A chapel in a cave was superseded about 1146 by a wooden
church, replaced about 1180 by a stone church, which was pulled down in
1793 to erect the present building. Gradually the Austin canons of
Interlaken bought out all the other owners in the valley, but when that
house was suppressed in 1528 by the town of Bern the inhabitants gained
their freedom. The houses near the hotel Adler bear the name of
Gydisdorf, but there is no village of Grindelwald properly speaking,
though that name is usually given to the assemblage of hotels and shops
between Gydisdorf and the railway station. Grindelwald is now very much
frequented by visitors in winter.
See W. A. B. Coolidge, _Walks and Excursions in the Valley of
Grindelwald_ (also in French and German) (Grindelwald, 1900); Emmanuel
Friedli, _Bärndütsch als Spiegel bernischen Volkstums_, vol. ii.
(Grindelwald, Bern, 1908); E. F. von Mülinen, _Beiträge zur
Heimatkunde des Kantons Bern, deutschen Teils_, vol. i. (Bern, 1879),
pp. 24-26; G. Strasser, _Der Gletschermann_ (Grindelwald, 1888-1890).
Scattered notices may be found in the edition (London, 1899) of the
"General Introduction" (entitled "Hints and Notes for Travellers in
the Alps") to John Ball's _Alpine Guide_. (W. A. B. C.)
GRINGOIRE (or GRINGORE), PIERRE (c. 1480-1539), French poet and
dramatist, was born about the year 1480, probably at Caen. In his first
work, _Le Chasteau de labour_ (1499), a didactic poem in praise of
diligence, he narrates the troubles following on marriage. A young
couple are visited by Care, Need, Discomfort, &c.; and other personages
common to medieval allegories take part in the action. In November 1501
Gringoire was in Paris directing the production of a mystery play in
honour of the archduke Philip of Austria, and in subsequent years he
received many similar commissions. The fraternity of the _Enfans sans
Souci_ advanced him to the dignity of _Mère Sotte_ and afterwards to the
highest honour of the gild, that of _Prince des Sots_. For twenty years
Gringoire seems to have been at the head of this illustrious confrérie.
As _Prince des Sots_ he exercised an extraordinary influence. At no time
was the stage, rude and coarse as it was, more popular as a true
exponent of the popular mind. Gringoire's success lay in the fact that
he followed, but did not attempt to lead; on his stage the people saw
exhibited their passions, their judgments of the moment, their
jealousies, their hatreds and their ambitions. Brotherhoods of the kind
existed all over France. In Paris there were the _Enfans sans Souci_,
the _Basochiens_, the _Confrérie de la Passion_ and the _Souverain
Empire de Galilée_; at Dijon there were the _Mère Folle_ and her family;
in Flanders the _Société des Arbalétriers_ played comedies; at Rouen the
_Cornards_ or _Conards_ yielded to none in vigour and fearlessness of
satire. On Shrove Tuesday 1512 Gringoire, who was the accredited
defender of the policy of Louis XII., and had already written many
political poems, represented the _Jeu du Prince des Sots et Mère Sotte_.
It was at the moment when the French dispute with Julius II. was at its
height. _Mère Sotte_ was disguised as the Church, and disputed the
question of the temporal power with the prince. The political meaning
was even more thinly veiled in the second part of the entertainment, a
morality named _L'Homme obstiné_, the principal personage representing
the pope. The performance concluded with a farce. Gringoire adopted for
his device on the frontispiece of this trilogy, _Tout par Raison_,
_Raison par Tout_, _Par tout Raison_. He has been called the
_Aristophane des Halles_. In one respect at least he resembles
Aristophanes. He is serious in his merriment; there is purpose behind
his extravagances. The Church was further attacked in a poem printed
about 1510, _La Chasse du cerf des cerfs_ (_serf des serfs_, i.e.
_servus servorum_), under which title that of the pope is thinly veiled.
About 1514 he wrote his mystery of the _Vie de Monseigneur Saint-Louis
par personnages_ in nine books for the _confrérie_ of the masons and
carpenters. He became in 1518 herald at the court of Lorraine, with the
title of Vaudemont, and married Catherine Roger, a lady of gentle birth.
During the last twenty years of a long life he became orthodox, and
dedicated a _Blason des hérétiques_ to the duke of Lorraine. There is no
record of the payment of his salary as a herald after Christmas 1538, so
that he died probably in 1539.
His works were edited by C. d'Héricault and A. de Montaiglon for the
_Bibliothèque elzévirienne_ in 1858. This edition was incomplete, and
was supplemented by a second volume in 1877 by Montaiglon and M. James
de Rothschild. These volumes include the works already mentioned,
except _Le Chasteau de labour_, and in addition, _Les Folles
Entreprises_ (1505), a collection of didactic and satirical poems,
chiefly ballades and rondeaux, one section of which is devoted to the
exposition of the tyranny of the nobles, and another to the vices of
the clergy; _L'Entreprise de Venise_ (c. 1509), a poem in seven-lined
stanzas, giving a list of the Venetian fortresses which belonged,
according to Gringoire, to other powers; _L'Espoir de paix_ (1st ed.
not dated; another, 1510), a verse treatise on the deeds of "certain
popes of Rome," dedicated to Louis XII.; and _La Coqueluche_ (1510), a
verse description of an epidemic, apparently influenza. For details of
his other satires, _Les Abus du monde_ (1509), _Complainte de trop
tard marié, Les Fantasies du monde qui règne_; of his religious verse,
_Chants royaux_ (on the Passion, 1527), _Heures de Notre Dame_ (1525);
and a collection of tales in prose and verse, taken from the _Gesta
Romanorum_, entitled _Les Fantasies de Mère Sotte_ (1516), see G.
Brunet, _Manuel du libraire_ (_s.v._ Gringore). Most of Gringoire's
works conclude with an acrostic giving the name of the author. The
_Chasteau de labour_ was translated into English by Alexander Barclay
and printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1506. Barclay's translation was
edited (1905) with his original for the Roxburghe Club by Mr A. W.
Pollard, who provided an account of Gringoire, and a bibliography of
the book. See also, for the _Jeu du Prince des Sots_, Petit de
Julleville, _La Comédie et les moeurs en France au moyen âge_, pp.
151-168 (Paris, 1886); for _Saint Louis_, the same author's _Les
Mystères_, i. 331 et seq., ii. 583-597 (1880), with further
bibliographical references; and E. Picot, _Gringore et les comédiens
italiens_ (1877). The real Gringoire cannot be said to have many
points of resemblance with the poet described in Victor Hugo's
_Notre-Dame de Paris_, nor is there more foundation in fact for the
one-act prose comedy of Théodore de Banville.
GRINNELL, a city in Poweshiek county, Iowa, U.S.A., 55 m. E. by N. of
Des Moines. Pop. (1900) 3860, of whom 274 were foreign-born; (1905)
4634; (1910) 5036. Grinnell is served by the Chicago, Rock Island &
Pacific, and the Iowa Central railways. It is the seat of Iowa College
(co-educational), founded in 1847 by the Iowa Band (Congregationalists
and graduates of New England colleges and Andover Theological Seminary,
who had devoted themselves to home missionary educational work in Iowa,
and who came to Iowa in 1843), and by a few earlier pioneers from New
England. The college opened in 1848 at Davenport, and in 1859 removed to
Grinnell, where there was a school called Grinnell University, which it
absorbed. Closely affiliated with the college are the Grinnell Academy
and the Grinnell School of Music. In 1907-1908 the College had 463
students, the Academy had 129 students, and the School of Music had 141
students. Among the manufactures are carriages and gloves. The city was
named in honour of one of its founders, Josiah Bushnell Grinnell
(1821-1891), a Congregational clergyman, friend of and sympathizer with
John Brown, and from 1863 to 1867 a member of the National House of
Representatives. Grinnell was settled in 1854, was incorporated as a
town in 1865, and in 1882 was chartered as a city of the second class.
In 1882 it suffered severely from a cyclone.
GRIQUALAND EAST and GRIQUALAND WEST, territorial divisions of the Cape
Province of the Union of South Africa. Griqualand East, which lies south
of Basutoland and west of Natal, is so named from the settlement there
in 1862 of Griquas under Adam Kok. It forms part of the Transkeian
Territories of the Cape, and is described under KAFFRARIA. Griqualand
West, formerly Griqualand simply, also named after its Griqua
inhabitants, is part of the great tableland of South Africa. It is
bounded S. by the Orange river, W. and N. by Bechuanaland, E. by the
Transvaal and Orange Free State Province, and has an area of 15,197 sq.
m. It has a general elevation of 3000 to 4000 ft. above the sea, low
ranges of rocky hills, the Kaap, Asbestos, Vansittart and Langeberg
mountains, traversing its western portion in a general N.E.-S.W.
direction. The only perennial rivers are in the eastern district,
through which the Vaal flows from a point a little above Fourteen
Streams to its junction with the Orange (160 m.). In this part of its
course the Vaal receives the Harts river from the north and the Riet
from the east. The Riet, 4 m. within the Griqualand frontier, is joined
by the Modder. The banks of the rivers are shaded by willows; elsewhere
the only tree is the mimosa. The greater part of the country is barren,
merging N.W. into absolute desert. The soil is, however, wherever
irrigated, extremely fertile. The day climate is hot and dry, but the
nights are frequently cold. Rain rarely falls, though thunderstorms of
great severity occasionally sweep over the land, and sandstorms are
prevalent in the summer. A portion of the country is adapted for
sheep-farming and the growing of crops, horse-breeding is carried on at
Kimberley, and asbestos is worked in the south-western districts, but
the wealth of Griqualand West lies in its diamonds, which are found
along the banks of the Vaal and in the district between that river and
the Riet. From the first discovery of diamonds in 1867 up to the end of
1905 the total yield of diamonds was estimated at 13½ tons, worth
£95,000,000.
The chief town is Kimberley (q.v.), the centre of the diamond mining
industry. It is situated on the railway from Cape Town to the Zambezi,
which crosses the country near its eastern border. Three miles south of
Kimberley is Beaconsfield (q.v.). On the banks of the Vaal are Barkly
West (q.v.), Windsorton (pop. 800) and Warrenton (pop. 1500); at all
these places are river diggings, diamonds being found along the river
from Fourteen Streams to the Harts confluence. Warrenton is 44 m. N. by
rail from Kimberley. Douglas (pop. 300), on the south bank of the Vaal,
12 m. above its confluence with the Orange, is the centre of an
agricultural district, a canal 9½ m. long serving to irrigate a
considerable area. Thirty-five miles N.W. of Douglas is Griquatown (pop.
401), the headquarters of the first Griqua settlers. Campbell (pop. 250)
is 30 m. E. of Griquatown, and Postmasburg 42 m. N. by W. A census taken
in 1877 showed the population of Griqualand West to be 45,277, of whom
12,347 were whites. At the census of 1891 the population was 83,215, of
whom 29,602 were whites, and in 1904 the population was 108,498, of whom
32,570 were whites.
_History._--Before the settlement in it of Griqua clans the district was
thinly inhabited by Bushmen and Hottentots. At the end of the 18th
century a horde known as Bastaards, descendants of Dutch farmers and
Hottentot women, led a nomadic life on the plains south of the Orange
river. In 1803 a missionary named Anderson induced a number of the
Bastaards with their chief Barend Barends to settle north of the river,
and a mission station was formed at a place where there was a strong
flowing fountain, which has now disappeared, which gave the name of
Klaarwater to what is now known as Griquatown or Griquastad. Klaarwater
became a retreat for other Bastaards, Hottentot refugees, Kaffirs and
Bechuanas. From Little Namaqualand came a few half-breeds and others
under the leadership of Adam Kok, son of Cornelius Kok and grandson of
Adam Kok (c. 1710-1795), a man of mixed white and Hottentot blood who is
regarded as the founder of the modern Griquas. The settlement prospered,
and in 1813, at the instance of the Rev. John Campbell, who had been
sent by the London Missionary Society to inspect the country, the
tribesmen abandoned the name of Bastaards in favour of that of
Griquas,[1] some of them professing descent from a Hottentot tribe,
originally settled near Saldanha Bay, called by the early Dutch settlers
at the Cape Chariguriqua or Grigriqua. Under the guidance of
missionaries the Griquas made some progress in civilization, and many
professed Christianity. Adam Kok and Barends having moved eastward in
1820, those who remained behind elected as their head man a teacher in
the mission school named Andries Waterboer, who successfully
administered the settlement, and by defeating the Makololo raiders
greatly increased the prestige of the tribe. Meanwhile Adam Kok and his
companions had occupied part of the country between the Modder and
Orange rivers. In 1825 Kok settled at the mission station of Philippolis
(founded two years previously), and in a short time had exterminated the
Bushmen inhabiting that region. He died about 1835, and after a period
of civil strife was succeeded by his younger son, Adam Kok III. This
chief in November 1843 signed a treaty placing himself under British
protection. Many Dutch farmers were settled on the land he claimed. In
1845 he received British military aid in a contest with the white
settlers, and in 1848 helped the British under Sir Harry Smith against
the Boers (see ORANGE FREE STATE: _History_). Eventually finding himself
straitened by the Boers of the newly established Orange Free State, he
removed in 1861-1863 with his people, some 3000 in number, to the region
(then depopulated by Kaffir wars) now known as Griqualand East. His
sovereign rights to all territory north of the Orange he sold to the
Free State for £4000. He founded Kokstad (q.v.) and died in 1876.
Waterboer, the principal Griqua chief, had entered into treaty relations
with the British government as early as 1834, and he received a subsidy
of £150 a year. He proved a stanch ally of the British, and kept the
peace on the Cape frontier to the day of his death in 1852. He was
succeeded by his son Nicholas Waterboer, under whom the condition of the
Griquas declined--a decline induced by the indolence of the people and
intensified by the drying up of the water supplies, cattle plague and
brandy drinking. During this period white settlers acquired farms in the
country, and the loss of their independence by the Griquas became
inevitable. The discovery of diamonds along the banks of the Vaal in
1867 entirely altered the fortunes of the country, and by the end of
1869 the rush to the alluvial diggings had begun. At the diggers' camps
the Griquas exercised no authority, but over part of the district the
South African Republic and the Orange Free State claimed sovereignty. At
Klip Drift (now Barkly West) the diggers formed a regular government and
elected Theodore Parker as their president. Most of the diggers being
British subjects, the high commissioner of South Africa interfered, and
a Cape official was appointed magistrate at Klip Drift, President Parker
resigning office in February 1871. At this time the "dry diggings," of
which Kimberley is the centre, had been discovered,[2] and over the
miners there the Orange Free State asserted jurisdiction. The land was,
however, claimed by Nicholas Waterboer, who, on the advice of his agent,
David Arnot, petitioned the British to take over his country. This Great
Britain consented to do, and on the 27th of October 1871 proclamations
were issued by the high commissioner receiving Waterboer and his
Griquas as British subjects and defining the limits of his territory. In
addition to the Kimberley district this territory included that part of
the diamondiferous area which had been claimed by the Transvaal, but
which had been declared, as the result of the arbitration of R. W.
Keate, lieutenant-governor of Natal, part of Waterboer's land. On the
4th of November a small party of Cape Mounted Police took possession of
the dry diggings and hoisted the British flag. Shortly afterwards the
representative of the Orange Free State withdrew. The Free State was
greatly incensed by the action of the British government, but the
dispute as to the sovereignty was settled in 1876 by the payment of
£90,000 by the British to the Free State as compensation for any injury
inflicted on the state.
The diggers, who under the nominal rule of the Transvaal and Free State
had enjoyed practical independence, found the new government did little
for their benefit, and a period of disorder ensued, which was not put an
end to by the appointment in January 1873 of Mr (afterwards Sir) Richard
Southey[3] as sole administrator, in place of the three commissioners
who had previously exercised authority. In the July following the
territory was made a crown colony and Southey's title changed to that of
lieutenant-governor. The government remained unpopular, the diggers
complaining of its unrepresentative character, the heavy taxation
exacted, and the inadequate protection of property. They formed a
society for mutual protection, and the discontent was so great that an
armed force was sent (early in 1875) from the Cape to overawe the
agitators. At the same time measures were taken to render the government
more popular. The settlement of the dispute with the Free State paved
the way for the annexation of Griqualand to the Cape Colony on the 15th
of October 1880.
See KIMBERLEY, CAPE COLONY, TRANSVAAL and ORANGE FREE STATE. For the
early history of the country and an account of life at the diggings,
1871-1875, consult G. M'Call Theal's _Compendium of the History and
Geography of South Africa_ (London, 1878), chapters xl. and xli.;
Gardner F. Williams, _The Diamond Mines of South Africa_ (New York and
London, 1902); and the works bearing on the subject quoted in that
book. See also Theal's _History of South Africa ... 1834-1854_
(London, 1893); J. Campbell, _Travels in South Africa_ (London, 1815),
_Travels ... A Second journey ..._ (2 vols., London, 1822); the Blue
Books C. 459 of 1871 and C. 508 of 1872 (the last-named containing the
Keate award, &c.); the Griqualand West report in _Papers relating to
Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions_, part ii. (1875), and the Life of
_Sir Richard Southey, K.C.M.G._, by A. Wilmot (London, 1904). For the
Griqua people consult G. W. Stow, _The Native Races of South Africa_,
chapters xvii.-xx. (London, 1905).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Griquas, as a distinct tribe, numbered at the Cape census of
1904 but 6289. They have largely intermarried with Kaffir and
Bechuana tribes.
[2] The order of discovery of the chief mines was:--Dutoitspan, Sept.
1870; Bultfontein, Nov. 1870; De Beers, May 1871; Colesberg Kop
(Kimberley), July 1871.
[3] Sir Richard Southey (1809-1901) was the son of one of the
emigrants from the west of England to Cape Colony (1820). He
organized and commanded a corps of Guides in the Kaffir war of
1834-35, and was with Sir Harry Smith at Boomplaats (1848). From 1864
to 1872 he was colonial secretary at the Cape. He gave up his
appointment in Griqualand West in 1875, and lived thereafter in
retirement. In 1891 he was created a K.C.M.G.
GRISAILLE, a French term, derived from _gris_, grey, for painting in
monochrome in various shades of grey, particularly used in decoration to
represent objects in relief. The frescoes of the roof of the Sistine
chapel have portions of the design in _grisaille_. At Hampton Court the
lower part of the decoration of the great staircase by Verrio is in
_grisaille_. The term is also applied to monochrome painting in enamels,
and also to stained glass; a fine example of _grisaille_ glass is in the
window known as the Five Sisters, at the end of the north transept in
York cathedral.
GRISELDA, a heroine of romance. She is said to have been the wife of
Walter, marquis of Saluces or Saluzzo, in the 11th century, and her
misfortunes were considered to belong to history when they were handled
by Boccaccio and Petrarch, although the probability is that Boccaccio
borrowed his narrative from a Provençal _fabliau_. He included it in the
recitations of the tenth day (_Decamerone_), and must have written it
about 1350. Petrarch related it in a Latin letter in 1373, and his
translation formed the basis of much of the later literature. The letter
was printed by Ulrich Zel about 1470, and often subsequently. It was
translated into French as _La Patience de Griselidis_ and printed at
Bréhan-Loudéac in 1484, and its popularity is shown by the number of
early editions quoted by Brunet (_Manuel du libraire, s.v._ Petrarca).
The story was dramatized in 1395, and a _Mystère de Griselidis, marquise
de Saluses par personnaiges_ was printed by Jehan Bonfons (no date).
Chaucer followed Petrarch's version in the _Canterbury Tales_. Ralph
Radcliffe, who flourished under Henry VIII., is said to have written a
play on the subject, and the story was dramatized by Thomas Dekker,
Henry Chettle and W. Haughton in 1603.
An example of the many ballads of Griselda is given in T. Deloney's
_Garland of Good Will_ (1685), and the 17th-century chap-book, _The
History of Patient Grisel_ (1619), was edited by H. B. Wheatley (1885)
for the Villon Society with a bibliographical and literary
introduction.
GRISI, GIULIA (1811-1869), Italian opera-singer, daughter of one of
Napoleon's Italian officers, was born in Milan. She came of a family of
musical gifts, her maternal aunt Josephina Grassini (1773-1850) being a
favourite opera-singer both on the continent and in London; her mother
had also been a singer, and her elder sister Giudetta and her cousin
Carlotta were both exceedingly talented. Giulia was trained to a musical
career, and made her stage début in 1828. Rossini and Bellini both took
an interest in her, and at Milan she was the first Adalgisa in Bellini's
_Norma_, in which Pasta took the title-part. Grisi appeared in Paris in
1832, as Semiramide in Rossini's opera, and had a great success; and in
1834 she appeared in London. Her voice was a brilliant dramatic soprano,
and her established position as a prima donna continued for thirty
years. She was a particularly fine actress, and in London opera her
association with such singers as Lablache, Rubini, Tamburini and Mario
was long remembered as the palmy days of Italian opera. In 1854 she
toured with Mario In America. She had married Count de Melcy in 1836,
but this ended in a divorce; and in 1856 she married Mario (q.v.). She
died in Berlin on the 29th of November 1869.
GRISON (_Galictis vittata_), a carnivorous mammal, of the family
_Mustelidae_, common in Central and South America and Mexico. It is
about the size of a marten, and has the upper surface of a bluish-grey
tint, and the under surface is dark brown. The grison lives on small
mammals and birds, and in settled districts is destructive to poultry.
Allamand's grison (_G. allamandi_), with the same range, is somewhat
larger. Another member of the genus is the tayra or taira (_G.
barbara_), about as large as an otter, with a range from Mexico to
Argentina. This species hunts in companies (see CARNIVORA).
GRISONS (Ger. _Graubünden_), the most easterly of the Swiss cantons and
also the largest in extent, though relatively the most sparsely
populated. Its total area is 2753.2 sq. m., of which 1634.4 sq. m. are
classed as "productive" (forests covering 503.1 sq. m. and vineyards 1.3
sq. m.), but it has also 138.6 sq. m. of glaciers, ranking in this
respect next after the Valais and before Bern. The whole canton is
mountainous, the principal glacier groups being those of the Tödi, N.
(11,887 ft.), of Medels, S.W. (Piz Medel, 10,509 ft.), of the Rheinwald
or the Adula Alps, S.W. (Rheinwaldhorn, 11,149 ft.), with the chief
source of the Rhine, of the Bernina, S.E. (Piz Bernina, 13,304 ft.), the
most extensive, of the Albula, E. (Piz Kesch, 11,228 ft.), and of the
Silvretta, N.E. (Piz Linard, 11,201 ft.). The principal valleys are
those of the upper Rhine and of the upper Inn (or Engadine, q.v.). The
three main sources of the Rhine are in the canton. The valley of the
Vorder Rhine is called the Bündner Oberland, that of the Mittel Rhine
the Val Medels, and that of the Hinter Rhine (the principal), in
different parts of its course, the Rheinwald, the Schams valley and the
Domleschg valley, while the upper valley of the Julia is named the
Oberhalbstein. The chief affluents of the Rhine in the canton are the
Glenner (flowing through the Lugnetz valley), the Avers Rhine, the
Albula (swollen by the Julia and the Landwasser), the Plessur (Schanfigg
valley) and the Landquart (coming from the Prättigau). The Rhine and the
Inn flow respectively into the North and the Black Seas. Of other
streams that of Val Mesocco joins the Ticino and so the Po, while the
Maira or Mera (Val Bregaglia) and the Poschiavino join the Adda, and the
Rambach (Münster valley) the Adige, all four thus ultimately reaching
the Adriatic Sea. The inner valleys are the highest in Central Europe,
and among the loftiest villages are Juf, 6998 ft. (the highest
permanently inhabited village in the Alps), at the head of the Avers
glen, and St Moritz, 6037 ft., in the Upper Engadine. The lower courses
of the various streams are rent by remarkable gorges, such as the Via
Mala, the Rofna, the Schyn, and those in the Avers, Medels and Lugnetz
glens, as well as that of the Züge in the Landwasser glen. Below Coire,
near Malans, good wine is produced, while in the Val Mesocco, &c., maize
and chestnuts flourish. But the forests and the mountain pasturages are
the chief source of wealth. The lower pastures maintain a fine breed of
cows, while the upper are let out in summer to Bergamasque shepherds.
There are many mineral springs, such as those of St Moritz, Schuls,
Alvaneu, Fideris, Le Prese and San Bernardino. The climate and
vegetation, save on the southern slope of the Alps, are alpine and
severe. But yearly vast numbers of strangers visit different spots in
the canton, especially Davos (q.v.), Arosa and the Engadine. As yet
there are comparatively few railways. There is one from Maienfeld
(continued north to Constance and north-west to Zürich) to Coire (11
m.), which sends off a branch line from Landquart, E., past Klosters to
Davos (31 m.). From Coire the line bears west to Reichenau (6 m.),
whence one branch runs S.S.E. beneath the Albula Pass to St Moritz (50
m.), and another S.W. up the Hinter Rhine valley to Ilanz (20½ m.).
There are, however, a number of fine carriage roads across the passes
leading to or towards Italy. Besides those leading to the Engadine may
be noted the roads from Ilanz past Disentis over the Oberalp Pass (6719
ft.) to Andermatt, from Disentis over the Lukmanier Pass (6289 ft.) to
Biasca, on the St Gotthard railway, from Reichenau past Thusis and
Splügen over the San Bernardino Pass (6769 ft.) to Bellinzona on the
same railway line, and from Splügen over the Splügen Pass (6946 ft.) to
Chiavenna. The Septimer Pass (7582 ft.) from the Julier route to the
Maloja route has now only a mule path, but was probably known in Roman
times (as was possibly the Splügen), and was much frequented in the
middle ages.
The population of the canton in 1900 was 104,520. Of this number 55,155
(mainly near Coire and Davos, in the Prättigau and in the Schanfigg
valley) were Protestants, while 49,142 (mainly in the Bündner Oberland,
the Val Mesocco and the Oberhalbstein) were Romanists, while there were
also 114 Jews (81 of whom lived in Davos). In point of language 48,762
(mainly near Coire and Davos, in the Prättigau and in the Schanfigg
valley) were German-speaking, while 17,539 (mostly in the Val Mesocco,
the Val Bregaglia and the valley of Poschiavo, but including a number of
Italian labourers engaged on the construction of the Albula railway)
were Italian-speaking. But the characteristic tongue of the Grisons is a
survival of an ancient Romance language (the _lingua rustica_ of the
Roman Empire), which has lagged behind its sisters. It has a scanty
printed literature, but is still widely spoken, so that, of the 38,651
persons in the Swiss Confederation who speak it, no fewer than 36,472
are in the Grisons. It is distinguished into two dialects: the Romonsch
(sometimes wrongly called Romansch), which prevails in the Bündner
Oberland and in the Hinter Rhine valley (Schams and Domleschg), and the
Ladin (closely related to the tongue spoken in parts of the South
Tyrol), that survives in the Engadine and in the neighbouring valleys of
Bergün, Oberhalbstein and Münster. (See F. Rausch's _Geschichte der
Literatur des rhaeto-romanischen Volkes_, Frankfort, 1870, and Mr
Coolidge's bibliography of this language, given on pp. 22-23 of Lorria
and Martel's _Le Massif de la Bernina_, Zürich, 1894.) Yet in the midst
of this Romance-speaking population are islets (mostly, if not entirely,
due to immigration in the 13th century from the German-speaking Upper
Valais) of German-speaking inhabitants, so in the Vals and Safien glens,
and at Obersaxen (all in the Bündner Oberland), in the Rheinwald (the
highest part of the Hinter Rhine valley), and in the Avers glen (middle
reach of the Hinter Rhine valley), as well as in and around Davos
itself.
There is not much industrial activity in the Grisons. A considerable
portion of the population is engaged in attending to the wants of the
foreign visitors, but there is a considerable trade with Italy,
particularly in the wines of the Valtellina, while many young men seek
their fortunes abroad (returning home after having accumulated a small
stock of money) as confectioners, pastry-cooks and coffee-house keepers.
A certain number of lead and silver mines were formerly worked, but are
now abandoned. The capital of the canton is Coire (q.v.).
The canton is divided into 14 administrative districts, and includes 224
communes. It sends 2 members (elected by a popular vote) to the Federal
_Ständerath_, and 5 members (also elected by a popular vote) to the
Federal _Nationalrath_. The existing cantonal constitution was accepted
by the people in 1892, and came into force on 1st January 1894. The
legislature (_Grossrath_--no numbers fixed by the constitution) is
elected for 2 years by a popular vote, as are the 5 members of the
executive (_Kleinrath_) for 3 years. The "obligatory referendum" obtains
in the case of all laws and important matters of expenditure, while 3000
citizens can demand ("facultative referendum") a popular vote as to
resolutions and ordinances made by the legislature. Three thousand
citizens also have the right of "initiative" as to legislative projects,
but 5000 signatures are required for a proposed revision of the cantonal
constitution. In the revenue and expenditure of the canton the taxes are
never counted. This causes an apparent deficit which is carried to the
capital account, and is met by the land tax (art. 19 of the
constitution), so that there is never a real deficit, as the amount of
the land tax varies annually according to the amount that _must_ be
provided. In the pre-1799 constitution of the three Raetian Leagues the
system of the "referendum" was in working as early as the 16th century,
not merely as between the three Leagues themselves, but as between the
bailiwicks (_Hochgerichte_), the sovereign units within each League, and
sometimes (as in the Upper Engadine) between the villages composing each
bailiwick.
The greater part (excluding the three valleys where the inhabitants
speak Italian) of the modern canton of the Grisons formed the southern
part of the province of Raetia (probably the aboriginal inhabitants, the
Raeti, were Celts rather than, as was formerly believed, Etruscans), set
up by the Romans after their conquest of the region in 15 B.C. The
Romanized inhabitants were to a certain extent (The Romonsch or Ladin
tongue is a survival of the Roman dominion) Teutonized under the
Ostrogoths (A.D. 493-537) and under the Franks (from 537 onwards).
Governors called _Praesides_ are mentioned in the 7th and 8th centuries,
while members of the same family occupied the episcopal see of Coire
(founded 4th-5th centuries). About 806 Charles the Great made this
region into a county, but in 831 the bishop procured for his dominions
exemption ("immunity") from the jurisdiction of the counts, while before
847 his see was transferred from the Italian province of Milan to the
German province of Mainz (Mayence) and was thus cut off from Italy to be
joined to Germany. In 916 the region was united with the duchy of
Alamannia, but the bishop still retained practical independence, and his
wide-spread dominions placed him even above the abbots of Disentis and
Pfäfers, who likewise enjoyed "immunity." In the 10th century the bishop
obtained fresh privileges from the emperors (besides the Val Bregaglia
in 960), and so became the chief of the many feudal nobles who struggled
for power in the region. He became a prince of the empire in 1170 and
later allied himself with the rising power (in the region) of the
Habsburgers. This led in 1367 to the foundation of the League of God's
House or the _Gotteshausbund_ (composed of the city and chapter of
Coire, and of the bishop's subjects, especially in the Engadine, Val
Bregaglia, Domleschg and Oberhalbstein) in order to stem his rising
power, the bishop entering it in 1392. In 1395 the abbot of Disentis,
the men of the Lugnetz valley, and the great feudal lords of Räzuns and
Sax (in 1399 the counts of Werdenberg came in) formed another League,
called the _Ober Bund_ (as comprising the highlands in the Vorder Rhine
valley) and also wrongly the "Grey League" (as the word interpreted
"grey" is simply a misreading of _graven_ or counts, though the false
view has given rise to the name of Grisons or Graubünden for the whole
canton), their alliance being strengthened in 1424 when, too, the free
men of the Rheinwald and Schams came in, and in 1480 the Val Mesocco
also. Finally, in 1436, the third Raetian League was founded, that of
the _Zehngerichtenbund_ or League of the Ten Jurisdictions, by the
former subjects of the count of Toggenburg, whose dynasty then became
extinct; they include the inhabitants of the Prättigau, Davos,
Maienfeld, the Schanfigg valley, Churwalden, and the lordship of Belfort
(i.e. the region round Alvaneu), and formed ten bailiwicks, whence the
name of the League. In 1450 the _Zehngerichtenbund_ concluded an
alliance with the _Gotteshausbund_ and in 1471 with the _Ober Bund_; but
of the so-called perpetual alliance at Vazerol, near Tiefenkastels,
there exists no authentic evidence in the oldest chronicles, though
diets were held there. By a succession of purchases (1477-1496) nearly
all the possessions of the extinct dynasty of the counts of Toggenburg
in the Prättigau had come to the junior or Tyrolese line of the
Habsburgers. On its extinction (1496) in turn they passed to the elder
line, the head of which, Maximilian, was already emperor-elect and
desired to maintain the rights of his family there and in the Lower
Engadine. Hence in 1497 the Ober Bund and in 1498 the _Gotteshausbund_
became allies of the Swiss Confederation. War broke out in 1499, but was
ended by the great Swiss victory (22nd May 1499) at the battle of the
Calven gorge (above Mals) which, added to another Swiss victory at
Dornach (near Basel), compelled the emperor to recognize the _practical_
independence of the Swiss and their allies of the Empire. The religious
Reformation brought disunion into the three Leagues, as the _Ober Bund_
clung in the main to the old faith, and for this reason their connexion
with the Swiss Confederation was much weakened. In 1526, by the Articles
of Ilanz, the last remaining traces of the temporal jurisdiction of the
bishop of Coire was abolished. In 1486 Poschiavo had at last been
secured from Milan, and Maienfeld with Malans was bought in 1509, while
in 1549 the Val Mesocco (included in the _Ober Bund_ since 1480)
purchased its freedom of its lords, the Trivulzió family of Milan. In
1512 the three Leagues conquered from Milan the rich and fertile
Valtellina, with Bormio and Chiavenna, and held these districts as
subject lands till in 1797 they were annexed to the Cisalpine Republic.
The struggle for lucrative offices in these lands further sharpened the
long rivalry between the families of Planta (Engadine) and Salis (Val
Bregaglia), while in the 17th century this rivalry was complicated by
political enmities, as the Plantas favoured the Spanish side and the
Salis that of France during the long struggle (1620-1639) for the
Valtellina (see JENATSCH and VALTELLINA). Troubles arose (1622) also in
the Prättigau through the attempts of the Habsburgers to force the
inhabitants to give up Protestantism. Finally, after the emperor had
_formally_ recognized, by the treaty of Westphalia (1648), the
independence of the Swiss Confederation, the rights of the Habsburgers
in the Prättigau and the Lower Engadine were bought up (1649 and 1652).
But the Austrian _enclaves_ of Tarasp (Lower Engadine) and of Räzuns
(near Reichenau) were only annexed to the Grisons in 1809 and 1815
respectively, in each case France holding the lordship for a short time
after its cession by Austria. In 1748 (finally in 1762) the three
Leagues secured the upper portion of the valley of Münster. In 1799 the
French invaded the canton, which became the scene of a fierce conflict
(1799-1800) between them and the united Russian and Austrian army, in
the course of which the French burnt (May 1799) the ancient convent of
Disentis with all its literary treasures. In April 1799 the provisional
government agreed to the incorporation of the three Leagues in the
Helvetic Republic, though it was not till June 1801 that the canton of
Raetia became formally part of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803, by
Napoleon's Act of Mediation, it entered, under the name of Canton of the
Grisons or Graubünden, the reconstituted Swiss Confederation, of which
it then first became a full member.
AUTHORITIES.--A. Andrea, Das Bergell (Frauenfeld, 1901);
_Bündnergeschichte in 11 Vorträgen_, by various writers (Coire, 1902);
_Codex diplomaticus Raetiae_ (5 vols., Coire, 1848-1886); W. Coxe,
_Travels in Switzerland_, vol. ii. of the 1789 London edition; E.
Dunant, _La Réunion des Grisons à la Suisse_ (1798-1799) (Basel,
1899); G. Fient, _Das Prättigau_ (2nd ed., Davos, 1897); P. Foffa,
_Das bündnerische Münsterthal_ (Coire, 1864); F. Fossati, _Codice
diplomatico della Rezia_ (originally published in the _Periodico_ of
the _Società storica a Comense_ at Como; separate reprint, Como,
1901); R. A. Ganzoni, _Beiträge zur Kenntnis d. bündnerischen
Referendums_ (Zürich, 1890); Mrs Henry Freshfield, _A Summer Tour in
the Grisons_ (London, 1862); C. and F. Jecklin, _Der Anteil
Graubündens am Schwabenkrieg_ (1499) (Davos, 1899); C. von Moor,
_Geschichte von Curraetien_ (2 vols., Coire, 1870-1874), and
_Wegweiser_ (Coire, 1873); E. Lechner, _Das Thal Bergell_ (2nd ed.,
Leipzig, 1874); G. Leonhardi, _Das Poschiavinothal_ (Leipzig, 1859);
A. Lorria and E. A. Martel, _Le Massif de la Bernina_ (Upper Engadine
and Val Bregaglia) (Zürich, 1894); P. C. von Planta, _Das alte
Raetien_ (Berlin, 1872); _Die curraetischen Herrschaften in d.
Feudalzeit_ (Bern, 1881); _Geschichte von Graubünden_ (Bern, 1892);
and _Chronik d. Familie von Planta_ (Zürich, 1892); W. Plattner, _Die
Entstehung d. Freistaates der 3 Bünde_ (Davos, 1895), R. von
Reding-Biberegg, _Der Zug Suworoffs durch die Schweiz in 1799_ (Stans,
1895); N. Salis-Soglio, _Die Familie von Salis_ (Lindau, 1891); G.
Theobald, _Das Bündner Oberland_ (Coire, 1861), and _Naturbilder aus
den rhätischen Alpen_ (3rd ed., Coire, 1893); N. Valaer, _Johannes von
Planta_ (d. 1572) (Zürich, 1888); R. Wagner and L. R. von Salis,
_Rechtsquellen d. Cant. Graubünden_ (Basel, 1877-1892); F. Jecklin,
_Materialen zur Standes- und Landesgeschichte Gem. iii. Bünde_
(Graubünden), _1464-1803_ (pt. i., _Regesten_, was published at Basel
in 1907). See also COIRE, ENGADINE, JENATSCH and VALTELLINA.
(W. A. B. C.)
GRISWOLD, RUFUS WILMOT (1815-1857), American editor and compiler, was
born in Benson, Vermont, on the 15th of February 1815. He travelled
extensively, worked in newspaper offices, was a Baptist clergyman for a
time, and finally became a journalist in New York City, where he was
successively a member of the staffs of _The Brother Jonathan_, _The New
World_ (1839-1840) and _The New Yorker_ (1840). From 1841 to 1843 he
edited _Graham's Magazine_ (Philadelphia), and added to its list of
contributors many leading American writers. From 1850 to 1852 he edited
the _International Magazine_ (New York), which in 1852 was merged into
_Harper's Magazine_. He died in New York City on the 27th of August
1857. He is best known as the compiler and editor of various anthologies
(with brief biographies and critiques), such as _Poets and Poetry of
America_ (1842), his most popular and valuable book; _Prose Writers of
America_ (1846); _Female Poets of America_ (1848); and _Sacred Poets of
England and America_ (1849). Of his own writings his _Republican Court:
or American Society in the Days of Washington_ (1854) is the only one of
permanent value. He edited the first American edition of Milton's prose
works (1845), and, as literary executor, edited, with James R. Lowell
and N. P. Willis, the works (1850) of Edgar Allan Poe. Griswold's great
contemporary reputation as a critic has not stood the test of time; but
he rendered a valuable service in making Americans better acquainted
with the poetry and prose of their own countrymen.
See _Passages from the Correspondence and Other Papers of Rufus W.
Griswold_ (Cambridge, Mass., 1898), edited by his son William
McCrillis Griswold (1853-1899).
GRIVET, a monkey, _Cercopithecus sabaeus_, of the guenon group, nearly
allied to the green monkey. It is common throughout equatorial Africa.
The chin, whiskers and a broad band across the forehead, as well as the
under-parts, are white, and the head and back olive-green. These monkeys
are very commonly seen in menageries.
GROAT (adapted from the Dutch _groot_, great, thick; cf. Ger.
_Groschen_; the Med. Lat. _grossus_ gives Ital. _grosso_, Fr. _gros_, as
names for the coin), a name applied as early as the 13th century on the
continent of Europe to any large or thick coin. The groat was almost
universally a silver coin, but its value varied considerably, as well at
different times as in different countries. The English groat was first
coined in 1351, of a value somewhat higher than a penny. The continuous
debasement of both the penny and the groat left the latter finally worth
four pennies. The issue of the groat was discontinued after 1662, but a
coin worth fourpence was again struck in 1836. Although frequently
referred to as a groat, it had no other official designation than a
"fourpenny piece." Its issue was again discontinued in 1856. The groat
was imitated in Scotland by a coin struck by David II. in 1358. In
Ireland it was first struck by Edward IV. in 1460.
GROCER, literally one who sells by the gross, a wholesale dealer; the
word is derived through the O. Fr. form, _grossia_, from the Med. Lat.
_grossarius_, defined by du Cange, _Glossarium_, s.v. _Grossares_, as
_solidae mercis propola_. The name, as a general one for dealers by
wholesale, "engrossers" as opposed to "regrators," the retail dealers,
is found with the commodity attached; thus in the _Munimenta Gildhallae_
("Rolls" series) ii. 1.304 (quoted in the _New English Dictionary_) is
found an allusion to _grossours de vin_, cf. _groser of fysshe_,
_Surtees Misc._ (1888) 63, for the customs of Malton (quoted _ib._). The
specific application of the word to one who deals either by wholesale or
retail in tea, coffee, cocoa, dried fruits, spices, sugar and all kinds
of articles of use or consumption in a household is connected with the
history of the Grocers' Company of London, one of the twelve "great"
livery companies. In 1345 the pepperers and the spicers amalgamated and
were known as the Fraternity of St Anthony. The name "grocers" first
appears in 1373 in the records of the company. In 1386 the association
was granted a right of search over all "spicers" in London, and in 1394
they obtained the right to inspect or "garble" spices and other "subtil
wares." Their first charter was obtained in 1428; letters patent in 1447
granted an extension of the right of search over the whole county, but
removed the "liberties" of the city of London. They sold all kinds of
drugs, medicines, ointments, plasters, and medicated and other waters.
For the separation of the apothecaries from the grocers in 1617 see
APOTHECARY. (See further LIVERY COMPANIES.)
See _The Grocery Trade_, by J. Aubrey Rees (1910).
GROCYN, WILLIAM (1446?-1519), English scholar, was born at Colerne,
Wiltshire, about 1446. Intended by his parents for the church, he was
sent to Winchester College, and in 1465 was elected to a scholarship at
New College, Oxford. In 1467 he became a fellow, and had among his
pupils William Warham, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. In 1479 he
accepted the rectory of Newton Longville, in Buckinghamshire, but
continued to reside at Oxford. As reader in divinity in Magdalen College
in 1481, he held a disputation with John Taylor, professor of divinity,
in presence of King Richard III., and the king acknowledged his skill as
a debater by the present of a buck and five marks. In 1485 he became
prebendary of Lincoln cathedral. About 1488 Grocyn left England for
Italy, and before his return in 1491 he had visited Florence, Rome and
Padua, and studied Greek and Latin under Demetrius Chalchondyles and
Politian. As lecturer in Exeter College he found an opportunity of
indoctrinating his countrymen in the new Greek learning.
Erasmus says in one of his letters that Grocyn taught Greek at Oxford
before his visit to Italy. The Warden of New College, Thomas Chaundler,
invited Cornelius Vitelli, then on a visit to Oxford, to act as
praelector. This was about 1475, and as Vitelli was certainly familiar
with Greek literature, Grocyn may have learnt Greek from him. He seems
to have lived in Oxford until 1499, but when his friend Colet became
dean of St Paul's in 1504 he was settled in London. He was chosen by his
friend to deliver lectures in St Paul's; and in this connexion he gave a
singular proof of his honesty. He had at first denounced all who
impugned the authenticity of the _Hierarchia ecclesiastica_ ascribed to
Dionysius the Areopagite, but, being led to modify his views by further
investigation, he openly declared that he had been completely mistaken.
He also counted Linacre, William Lily, William Latimer and More among
his friends, and Erasmus writing in 1514 says that he was supported by
Grocyn in London, and calls him "the friend and preceptor of us all." He
held several preferments, but his generosity to his friends involved him
in continual difficulties, and though in 1506 he was appointed on
Archbishop Warham's recommendation master or warden of All Hallows
College at Maidstone in Kent, he was still obliged to borrow from his
friends, and even to pledge his plate as a security. He died in 1519,
and was buried in the collegiate church at Maidstone. Linacre acted as
his executor, and expended the money he received in gifts to the poor
and the purchase of books for poor scholars. With the exception of a few
lines of Latin verse on a lady who snowballed him, and a letter to Aldus
Manutius at the head of Linacre's translation of Proclus's _Sphaera_
(Venice, 1499), Grocyn has left no literary proof of his scholarship or
abilities. His proposal to execute a translation of Aristotle in company
with Linacre and Latimer was never carried out. Wood assigns some Latin
works to Grocyn, but on insufficient authority. By Erasmus he has been
described as "vir severissimae castissimae vitae, ecclesiasticarum
constitutionum observantissimus pene usque ad superstitionem,
scholasticae theologiae ad unguem doctus ac natura etiam acerrimi
judicii, demum in omni disciplinarum genere exacte versatus"
(_Declarationes ad censuras facultatis theologiae Parisianae_, 1522).
An account of Grocyn by Professor Burrows appeared in the Oxford
Historical Society's _Collectanea_ (1890).
GRODNO, one of the Lithuanian governments of western Russia, lying
between 51° 40' and 52° N. and between 22° 12' and 26° E., and bounded
N. by the government of Vilna, E. by Minsk, S. by Volhynia, and W. by
the Polish governments of Lomza and Siedlce. Area, 14,926 sq. m. Except
for some hills (not exceeding 925 ft.) in the N., it is a uniform plain,
and is drained chiefly by the Bug, Niemen, Narev and Bobr, all
navigable. There are also several canals, the most important being the
Augustowo and Oginsky. Granites and gneisses crop out along the Bug,
Cretaceous, and especially Tertiary, deposits elsewhere. The soil is
mostly sandy, and in the district of Grodno and along the rivers is
often drift-sand. Forests, principally of _Coniferae_, cover more than
one-fourth of the area. Amongst them are some of vast extent, e.g. those
of Grodno (410 sq. m.) and Byelovitsa (Bialowice) (376 sq. m.),
embracing wide areas of marshy ground. In the last mentioned forest the
wild ox survives, having been jealously preserved since 1803. Peat bogs,
sometimes as much as 4 to 7 ft. thick, cover extensive districts. The
climate is wet and cold; the annual mean temperature being 44.5° F., the
January mean 22.5° and the July mean 64.5°. The rainfall amounts to 21½
in.; hail is frequent. Agriculture is the predominant industry. The
peasants own 42½% of the land, that is, about 4,000,000 acres, and of
these over 2¼ million acres are arable. The crops principally grown are
potatoes, rye, oats, wheat, flax, hemp and some tobacco. Horses, cattle
and sheep are bred in fairly large numbers. There is, however, a certain
amount of manufacturing industry, especially in woollens, distilling and
tobacco. In woollens this government ranks second (after Moscow) in the
empire, the centre of the industry being Byelostok. Other factories
produce silk, shoddy and leather. The government is crossed by the main
lines of railway from Warsaw to St Petersburg and from Warsaw to Moscow.
The population numbered 1,008,521 in 1870 and 1,616,630 in 1897; of
these last 789,801 were women and 255,946 were urban. In 1906 it was
estimated at 1,826,600. White Russians predominate (54%), then follow
Jews (17.4%), Poles (10%), Lithuanians and Germans. The government is
divided into nine districts, the chief towns, with their populations in
1897, being Grodno (q.v.), Brest-Litovsk (pop. 42,812 in 1901), Byelsk
(7461), Byelostok or Bialystok (65,781 in 1901), Kobrin (10,365),
Pruzhany (7634), Slonim (15,893), Sokolsk (7595) and Volkovysk (10,584).
In 1795 Grodno, which had been Polish for ages, was annexed by Russia.
GRODNO, a town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name in
53° 40' N. and 23° 50' E., on the right bank of the Niemen, 160 m. by
rail N.E. of Warsaw and 98 m. S.W. of Vilna on the main line to St
Petersburg. Pop. (1901) 41,736, nearly two-thirds Jews. It is an
episcopal see of the Orthodox Greek church and the headquarters of the
II. Army Corps. It has two old castles, now converted to other uses, and
two churches (16th and 17th centuries). Tobacco factories and
distilleries are important; machinery, soap, candles, vehicles and
firearms are also made. Built in the 12th century, Grodno was almost
entirely destroyed by the Mongols (1241) and Teutonic knights (1284 and
1391). Stephen Bathory, king of Poland, made it his capital, and died
there in 1586. The Polish Estates frequently met at Grodno after 1673,
and there in 1793 they signed the second partition of Poland. It was at
Grodno that Stanislaus Poniatowski resigned the Polish crown in 1795.
GROEN VAN PRINSTERER, GUILLAUME (1801-1876), Dutch politician and
historian, was born at Voorburg, near the Hague, on the 21st of August
1801. He studied at Leiden university, and graduated in 1823 both as
doctor of literature and LL.D. From 1829 to 1833 he acted as secretary
to King William I. of Holland, afterwards took a prominent part in Dutch
home politics, and gradually became the leader of the so-called
anti-revolutionary party, both in the Second Chamber, of which he was
for many years a member, and outside. In Groen the doctrines of Guizot
and Stahl found an eloquent exponent. They permeate his controversial
and political writings and historical studies, of which his _Handbook of
Dutch History_ (in Dutch) and _Maurice et Barnevelt_ (in French, 1875, a
criticism of Motley's _Life of Van Olden-Barnevelt_) are the principal.
Groen was violently opposed to Thorbecke, whose principles he denounced
as ungodly and revolutionary. Although he lived to see these principles
triumph, he never ceased to oppose them until his death, which occurred
at the Hague on the 19th of May 1876. He is best known as the editor of
the _Archives et correspondance de la maison d'Orange_ (12 vols.,
1835-1845), a great work of patient erudition, which procured for him
the title of the "Dutch _Gachard_." J. L. Motley acknowledges his
indebtedness to Groen's Archives in the preface to his _Rise of the
Dutch Republic_, at a time when the American historian had not yet made
the acquaintance of King William's archivist, and also bore emphatic
testimony to Groen's worth as a writer of history in the correspondence
published after his death. At the first reception, in 1858, of Motley at
the royal palace at the Hague, the king presented him with a copy of
Groen's _Archives_ as a token of appreciation and admiration of the work
done by the "worthy vindicator of William I., prince of Orange." This
copy, bearing the king's autograph inscription, afterwards came into the
possession of Sir William Vernon Harcourt, Motley's son-in-law.
GROIN. (1) An obsolete word for the grunting of swine, from Lat.
_grunnire_, and so applied to the snout of a pig; it is probably the
origin of the word, more commonly spelled "groyne," for a small timber
framework or wall of masonry used on sea coasts as a breakwater to
prevent the encroachment of sand and shingle. (2) (Of uncertain origin;
from an older form _grynde_ or _grinde_; the derivation from "grain," an
obsolete word meaning "fork," cannot, according to the _New English
Dictionary_, be accepted), in anatomy the folds or grooves formed
between the lower part of the abdomen and the thighs, covering the
inguinal glands, and so applied in architecture to the angle or "arris"
formed by the intersection of two vaults crossing one another,
occasionally called by workmen "groin point." If the vaults are both of
the same radius and height, their intersections lie in a vertical plane,
in other cases they form winding curves for which it is difficult to
provide centering. In early medieval vaulting this was sometimes
arranged by a slight alteration in the geometrical curve of the vault,
but the problem was not satisfactorily solved until the introduction of
the rib which henceforth ruled the vaulting surface of the web or cell
(see VAULT). The name "Welsh groin" or "underpitch" is generally given
to the vaulting surface or web where the main longitudinal vault is
higher than the cross or transverse vaults; as the transverse rib (of
much greater radius than that of the wall rib), projected diagonally in
front of the latter, the filling-in or web has to be carried back from
the transverse to the wall rib. The term "groin centering" is used
where, in groining without ribs, the whole surface is supported by
centering during the erection of the vaulting. In ribbed work the stone
ribs only are supported by timber ribs during the progress of the work,
any light stuff being used while filling in the spandrils. (See VAULT.)
GROLMANN, KARL WILHELM GEORG VON (1777-1843), Prussian soldier, was born
in Berlin on the 30th of July 1777. He entered an infantry regiment when
scarcely thirteen, became an ensign in 1795, second lieutenant 1797,
first lieutenant 1804 and staff-captain in 1805. As a subaltern he had
become one of Scharnhorst's intimates, and he was distinguished for his
energetic and fearless character before the war of 1806, in which he
served throughout, from Jena to the peace of Tilsit, as a staff officer,
and won the rank of major for distinguished service in action. After the
peace, and the downfall of Prussia, he was one of the most active of
Scharnhorst's assistants in the work of reorganization (1809), joined the
_Tugendbund_ and endeavoured to take part in Schill's abortive
expedition, after which he entered the Austrian service as a major on the
general staff. Thereafter he journeyed to Cadiz to assist the Spaniards
against Napoleon, and he led a corps of volunteers in the defence of that
port against Marshal Victor in 1810. He was present at the battle of
Albuera, at Saguntum, and at Valencia, becoming a prisoner of war at the
surrender of the last-named place. Soon, however, he escaped to
Switzerland, whence early in 1813 he returned to Prussia as a major on
the general staff. He served successively under Colonel von Dolffs and
General von Kleist, and as commissioner at the headquarters of the
Russian general Barclay de Tolly. He took part with Kleist in the victory
of Kulm, and recovered from a severe wound received at that action in
time to be present at the battle of Leipzig. He played a conspicuous part
in the campaign of 1814 in France, after which he was made a
major-general. In this rank he was appointed quartermaster-general to
Field Marshal Prince Blücher, and, after his chief and Gneisenau,
Grolmann had the greatest share in directing the Prussian operations of
1815. In the decision, on the 18th of June 1815, to press forward to
Wellington's assistance (see WATERLOO CAMPAIGN), Grolmann actively
concurred, and as the troops approached the battle-field, he is said to
have overcome the momentary hesitation of the commander-in-chief and the
chief of staff by himself giving the order to advance. After the peace of
1815, Grolmann occupied important positions in the ministry of war and
the general staff. His last public services were rendered in Poland as
commander-in-chief, and practically as civil administrator of the
province of Posen. He was promoted general of infantry in 1837 and died
on the 1st of June 1843, at Posen. His two sons became generals in the
Prussian army. The Prussian 18th infantry regiment bears his name.
General von Grolmann supervised and provided much of the material for
von Damitz's _Gesch. des Feldzugs 1815_ (Berlin, 1837-1838), and _Gesch.
des Feldzugs 1814 in Frankreich_ (Berlin, 1842-1843).
See v. Conrady, _Leben und Wirken des Generals Karl von Grolmann_
(Berlin, 1894-1896).
GROMATICI (from _groma_ or _gruma_, a surveyor's pole), or
_Agrimensores_, the name for land-surveyors amongst the Romans. The art
of surveying was probably at first in the hands of the augurs, by whom
it was exercised in all cases where the demarcation of a _templum_ (any
consecrated space) was necessary. Thus, the boundaries of Rome itself,
of colonies and camps, were all marked out in accordance with the rules
of augural procedure. The first professional surveyor mentioned is L.
Decidius Saxa, who was employed by Antony in the measurement of camps
(Cicero, _Philippics_, xi. 12, xiv. 10). During the empire their number
and reputation increased. The distribution of land amongst the veterans,
the increase in the number of military colonies, the settlement of
Italian peasants in the provinces, the general survey of the empire
under Augustus, the separation of private and state domains, led to the
establishment of a recognized professional corporation of surveyors.
During later times they were in receipt of large salaries, and in some
cases were even honoured with the title _clarissimus_. Their duties were
not merely geometrical or mathematical, but required legal knowledge for
consultations or the settlement of disputes. This led to the institution
of special schools for the training of surveyors and a special
literature, which lasted from the 1st to the 6th century A.D. The
earliest of the gromatic writers was Frontinus (q.v.), whose _De agrorum
qualitate_, dealing with the legal aspect of the art, was the subject of
a commentary by Aggenus Urbicus, a Christian schoolmaster. Under Trajan
a certain Balbus, who had accompanied the emperor on his Dacian
campaign, wrote a still extant manual of geometry for land surveyors
(_Expositio et ratio omnium formarum_ or _mensurarum_, probably after a
Greek original by Hero), dedicated to a certain Celsus who had invented
an improvement in a gromatic instrument (perhaps the dioptra, resembling
the modern theodolite); for the treatises of Hyginus see that name.
Somewhat later than Trajan was Siculus Flaccus (_De condicionibus
agrorum_, extant), while the most curious treatise on the subject,
written in barbarous Latin and entitled _Casae litterarum_ (long a
school text-book) is the work of a certain Innocentius (4th-5th
century). It is doubtful whether Boëtius is the author of the treatises
attributed to him. The _Gromatici veteres_ also contains extracts from
official registers (probably belonging to the 5th century) of colonial
and other land surveys, lists and descriptions of boundary stones, and
extracts from the Theodosian Codex. According to Mommsen, the collection
had its origin during the 5th century in the office of a vicarius
(diocesan governor) of Rome, who had a number of surveyors under him.
The surveyors were known by various names: _decempedator_ (with
reference to the instrument used); _finitor_, _metator_ or _mensor
castrorum_ in republican times; _togati Augustorum_ as imperial civil
officials; _professor_, _auctor_ as professional instructors.
The best edition of the Gromatici is by C. Lachmann and others (1848)
with supplementary volume, _Die Schriften der römischen Feldmesser_
(1852); see also B. G. Niebuhr, _Roman History_, ii., appendix (Eng.
trans.), who first revived interest in the subject; M. Cantor, _Die
römischen Agrimensoren_ (Leipzig, 1875); P. de Tissot, _La Condition
des Agrimensores dans l'ancienne Rome_ (1879); G. Rossi, _Groma e
squadro_ (Turin, 1877); articles by F. Hultsch in Ersch and Gruber's
_Allgem. Encyklopädie_, and by G. Humbert in Daremberg and Saglio's
_Dictionnaire des antiquités_; Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman
Literature_, 58.
GRONINGEN, the most northerly province of Holland, bounded S. by Drente,
W. by Friesland and the Lauwers Zee, N. and N.E. by the North Sea and
the mouth of the Ems with the Dollart, and on the S.E. by the Prussian
province of Hanover. It includes the islands of Boschplaat and
Rottumeroog, belonging to the group of Frisian islands (q.v.). Area, 887
sq. m.; pop. (1900) 299,602. Groningen is connected with the Drente
plateau by the sandy tongue of the Hondsrug which extends almost up to
the capital. West, north and north-east of this the province is flat and
consists of sea-clay or sand and clay mixed, except where patches of low
and high fen occur on the Frisian borders. Low fen predominates to the
east of the capital, between the Zuidlardermeer and the Schildmeer or
lakes. The south-eastern portion of the province consists of high fen
resting on diluvial sand. A large part of this has been reclaimed and
the sandy soil laid bare, but on the Drente and Prussian borders areas
of fen still remain. The so-called Boertanger Morass on the Prussian
border was long considered as the natural protection of the eastern
frontier, and with the view of preserving its impassable condition
neither agriculture nor cattle-rearing might be practised here until
1824, and it was only in 1868 that the building of houses was sanctioned
and the work of reclamation begun. The gradual extension of the seaward
boundaries of the province owing to the process of littoral deposits may
be easily traced, a triple line of sea-dikes in places marking the
successive stages in this advance. The rivers of Groningen descending
from the Drente plateau meet at the capital, whence they are continued
by the Reitdiep to the Lauwers Zee (being discharged through a lock),
and by the Ems canal (1876) to Delfzyl. The south-eastern corner of the
province is traversed by the Westerwolde Aa, which discharges into the
Dollart. The railway system belongs to the northern section of the State
railways, and affords communication with Germany via Winschoten.
Steam-tramways also serve many parts of the province. Agriculture is the
main industry. The proportion of landowners is a very large one, and the
prosperous condition of the Groningen farmer is attested by the style of
his home, his dress and his gig. As a result, however, partly of the
usual want of work on the grasslands in certain seasons, there has been
a considerable emigration to America. The ancient custom called the
_beklem-recht_, or lease-right, doubtless accounts for the extended
ownership of the land. By this law a tenant-farmer is able to bequeath
his farm, that is to say, he holds his lease in perpetuity.
The chief agricultural products are barley, oats, wheat, and in the
north-east flax is also grown, and exported to South Holland and
Belgium. On the higher clay grounds cattle-rearing and horse-breeding
are also practised, together with butter and cheese making. The
cultivation of potatoes on the sandgrounds in the south and the fen
colonies along the Stads-Canal invite general comparison with the
industries of Drente (q.v.). Hoogezand and Sappemeer, Veendam and
Wildervank, New and Old Pekela, New and Old Stads-Canal are instances of
villages which have extended until they overlap one another and are
similar in this respect to the industrial villages of the Zaan Streek in
North Holland. The coast fisheries are considerable. Groningen (q.v.) is
the chief and only large town of the province. Delfzyl, which was
formerly an important fortress for the protection of the ancient sluices
on the little river Delf (hence its name), has greatly benefited by the
construction of the Ems (Eems) ship-canal connecting it with Groningen,
and has a good harbour with a considerable import trade in wood.
Appingedam and Winschoten are very old towns, having important cattle
and horse markets. The pretty wood at Winschoten was laid out by the
Society for Public Welfare (_Tot Nut van het Algemeen_) in 1826.
GRONINGEN, a town of Holland, capital of the province of the same name,
at the confluence of the two canalized rivers the Drentsche Aa and the
Hunse (which are continued to the Lauwers Zee as the Reit Diep), 16 m.
N. of Assen and 33 m. E. of Leeuwarden by rail. Pop. (1900) 67,563.
Groningen is the centre from which several important canals radiate.
Besides the Reit Diep, there are the Ems Canal and the Damster Diep,
connecting it with Delfzyl and the Dollart, the Kolonel's Diep with
Leeuwarden, the Nord Willem's Canal with Assen and the south and the
Stads-Canal south-east with the Ems. Hence steamers ply in all
directions, and there is a regular service to Emden and the island of
Borkum via Delfzyl, and via the Lauwers Zee to the island of
Schiermonnikoog. Groningen is the most important town in the north of
Holland, with its fine shops and houses and wide clean streets, while
brick houses of the 16th and 17th centuries help it to retain a certain
old-world air. The ancient part of the town is still surrounded by the
former moat, and in the centre lies a group of open places, of which the
Groote Markt is one of the largest market-squares in Holland. Pleasant
gardens and promenades extend on the north side of the town, together
with a botanical garden. The chief church is the Martini-kerk, with a
high tower (432 ft.) dating from 1477, and an organ constructed by the
famous scholar and musician Rudolph Agricolo, who was born near
Groningen in 1443. The Aa church dates from 1465, but was founded in
1253. The Roman Catholic Broederkerk (rebuilt at the end of the 19th
century) contains some remarkable pictures of the Passion by L. Hendricx
(1865). There is also a Jewish synagogue. The large town hall (in
classical style), one of the finest public buildings, was built at the
beginning of the 19th century and enlarged in 1873. The provincial
government offices also occupy a fine building which received a splendid
front in 1871. Other noteworthy buildings are the provincial museum of
antiquities, containing interesting Germanic antiquities, as well as
medieval and modern collections of porcelain, pictures, &c.; the courts
of justice (transformed in the middle of the 18th century); the old
Ommelanderhuis, formerly devoted to the administration of the
surrounding district, built in 1509 and restored in 1899; the
weigh-house (1874); the civil and military prison; the arsenal; the
military hospital; and the concert hall.
The university of Groningen, founded in 1614, received its present fine
buildings in classical style in 1850. Among its auxiliary establishments
are a good natural history museum, an observatory, a laboratory, and a
library which contains a copy of Erasmus' New Testament with marginal
annotations by Luther. Other educational institutions are the deaf and
dumb institution founded by Henri Daniel Guyot (d. 1828) in 1790, a
gymnasium, and schools of navigation, art and music. There are learned
societies for the study of law (1761) and natural science (1830); an
academy of fine arts (1830); an archaeological society; and a central
bureau for collecting information concerning the province.
As capital of the province, and on account of the advantages of its
natural position, Groningen maintains a very considerable trade, chiefly
in oil-seed, grain, wood, turf and cattle, with Great Britain, Germany,
Scandinavia and Russia. The chief industries are flax-spinning,
rope-making, sugar refining, book printing, wool combing and dyeing, and
it also manufactures beer, tobacco and cigars, cotton and woollen
stuffs, furniture, organs and pianos; besides which there are saw, oil
and grain mills, machine works, and numerous goldsmiths and
silversmiths.
_History._--The town of Groningen belonged originally to the _pagus_, or
_gouw_, of Triantha (Drente), the countship of which was bestowed by the
emperor Henry II. on the bishop and chapter of Utrecht in 1024. In 1040
Henry III. gave the church of Utrecht the royal domain of Groningen, and
in the deed of gift the "villa Cruoninga" is mentioned. Upon this
charter the bishops of Utrecht based their claim to the overlordship of
the town, a claim which the citizens hotly disputed. At the time of the
donation, indeed, the town can hardly be said to have existed, but the
royal "villa" rapidly developed into a community which strove to assert
the rights of a free imperial city. At first the bishops were too strong
for the townsmen; the defences built in 1110 were pulled down by the
bishop's order two years later; and during the 12th and 13th centuries
the see of Utrecht, in spite of frequent revolts, succeeded in
maintaining its authority. Down to the 15th century an episcopal
prefect, or burgrave, had his seat in the city, his authority extending
over the neighbouring districts known as the Gorecht. In 1143 Heribert
of Bierum, bishop of Utrecht, converted the office into an hereditary
fief in favour of his brother Liffert, on the extinction of whose male
line it was partitioned between the families of Koevorden (or Coevorden)
and van den Hove. Gradually, however, the burghers, aided by the
neighbouring Frisians, succeeded in freeing themselves from the
episcopal yoke. The city was again walled in 1255; before 1284 it had
become a member of the Hanseatic league; and by the end of the 14th
century it was practically a powerful independent republic, which
exercised an effective control over the Frisian Ommelande between the
Ems and the Lauwers Zee. At the close of the 14th century the heirs of
the Koevorden and van den Hove families sold their rights, first to the
town, and then to the bishop. A struggle followed, in which the city was
temporarily worsted; but in 1440 Bishop Dirk II. finally sold to the
city the rights of the see of Utrecht over the Gorecht.
The medieval constitution of Groningen, unlike that of Utrecht, was
aristocratic. Merchant gild there was none; and the craft gilds were
without direct influence on the city government, which held them in
subjection. Membership of the governing council, which selected from its
own body the four _rationales_ or burgomasters, was confined to men of
approved "wisdom," and wisdom was measured in terms of money. This
_Raad_ of wealthy burghers gradually monopolized all power. The bishop's
bailiff (_schout_), with his nominated assessors (_scabini_), continued
to exercise jurisdiction, but members of the Raad sat on the bench with
him, and an appeal lay from his court to the Raad itself. The council
was, in fact, supreme in the city, and not in the city only. In 1439 it
decreed that no one might trade in all the district between the Ems and
the Lauwers Zee except burghers, and those who had purchased the
_burwal_ (right of residence in the city) and the freedom of the gilds.
Maximilian I. assigned Groningen to Albert of Saxony, hereditary
podestat of Friesland, but the citizens preferred to accept the
protection of the bishop of Utrecht; and when Albert's son George
attempted in 1505 to seize the town, they recognized the lordship of
Edzart of East Frisia. On George's renewal of hostilities they
transferred their allegiance to Duke Charles of Gelderland, in 1515. In
1536 the city passed into the hands of Charles V., and in the great
wars of the 16th century suffered all the miseries of siege and military
occupation. From 1581 onwards, Groningen still held by the Spaniards,
was constantly at war with the "Ommelanden" which had declared against
the king of Spain. This feud continued, in spite of the capture of the
city in 1594 by Maurice of Nassau, and of a decree of the States in 1597
which was intended to set them at rest. In 1672 the town was besieged by
the bishop of Münster, but it was successfully defended, and in 1698 its
fortifications were improved under Coehoorn's direction. The French
Republicans planted their tree of liberty in the Great Market on the
14th of February 1795, and they continued in authority till the 16th of
November 1814. The fortifications of the city were doomed to destruction
by the law of the 18th of April 1874.
See C. Hegel, _Städte und Gilden_ (Leipzig, 1891); Stokvis, _Manuel
d'histoire_, iii. 496 (Leiden, 1890-1893); also s.v. in Chevalier,
_Répertoire des sources hist. du moyen âge_ (_Topo-bibliographie_).
GRONLUND, LAURENCE (1846-1899), American socialist, was born in
Copenhagen, Denmark, on the 13th of July 1846. He graduated from the
university of Copenhagen in 1865, began the study of law, removed to the
United States in 1867, taught German in Milwaukee, was admitted to the
bar in 1869, and practised in Chicago. He became a writer and lecturer
on socialism and was closely connected with the work of the Socialist
Labor party from 1874 to 1884, then devoted himself almost exclusively
to lecturing until his appointment to a post in the bureau of labour
statistics. He again returned to the lecture field, and was an editorial
writer for the New York and Chicago _American_ from 1898 until his death
in New York City on the 15th of October 1899. His principal works are:
_The Coming Revolution_ (1880); _The Co-operative Commonwealth in its
Outlines, An Exposition of Modern Socialism_ (1884); _Ça Ira, or Danton
in the French Revolution_ (1888), a rehabilitation of Danton; _Our
Destiny, The Influence of Socialism on Morals and Religion_ (1890); and
_The New Economy_ (1898).
GRONOVIUS (the latinized form of GRONOV), JOHANN FRIEDRICH (1611-1671),
German classical scholar and critic, was born at Hamburg on the 8th of
September 1611. Having studied at several universities, he travelled in
England, France and Italy. In 1643 he was appointed professor of
rhetoric and history at Deventer, and in 1658 to the Greek chair at
Leiden, where he died on the 28th of December 1671. (See also FABRETTI,
RAPHAEL.) Besides editing, with notes, Statius, Plautus, Livy, Tacitus,
Aulus Gellius and Seneca's tragedies, Gronovius was the author, amongst
numerous other works, of _Commentarius de sestertiis_ (1643) and of an
edition of Hugo Grotius' De jure belli et pacis (1660). His
_Observationes_ contain a number of brilliant emendations. His son,
JAKOB GRONOVIUS (1645-1716), is chiefly known as the editor of the
_Thesaurus antiquitatum Graecarum_ (1697-1702, in 13 volumes).
See J. E. Sandys, _Hist. of Class. Schol._ ii. (1908); F. A. Eckstein
in Ersch and Gruber's _Allgemeine Encyklopädie_.
GROOM, in modern usage a male servant attached to the stables, whose
duties are to attend to the cleaning, feeding, currying and care
generally of horses. The earliest meaning of the word appears to be that
of a boy, and in 16th and 17th century literature it frequently occurs,
in pastorals, for a shepherd lover. Later it is used for any male
attendant, and thus survives in the name for several officials in the
royal household, such as the grooms-in-waiting, and the grooms of the
great chamber. The groom-porter, whose office was abolished by George
III., saw to the preparation of the sovereign's apartment, and, during
the 16th and 17th centuries, provided cards and dice for playing, and
was the authority to whom were submitted all questions of gaming within
the court. The origin of the word is obscure. The O. Fr. _gromet_, shop
boy, is taken by French etymologists to be derived from the English.
From the application of this word to a wine-taster in a wine merchant's
shop, is derived _gourmet_, an epicure. According to the _New English
Dictionary_, though there are no instances of groom in other Teutonic
languages, the word may be ultimately connected with the root of "to
grow." In "bridegroom," a newly married man, "grom" in the 16th century
took the place of an older _gome_, a common old Teutonic word meaning
"man," and connected with the Latin _homo_. The Old English word was
_brydguma_, later _bridegome_. The word survives in the German
_Bräutigam_.
GROOT, GERHARD (1340-1384), otherwise Gerrit or Geert Groet, in Latin
Gerardus Magnus, a preacher and founder of the society of Brothers of
Common Life (q.v.), was born in 1340 at Deventer in the diocese of
Utrecht, where his father held a good civic position. He went to the
university of Paris when only fifteen. Here he studied scholastic
philosophy and theology under a pupil of Occam's, from whom he imbibed
the nominalist conception of philosophy; in addition he studied canon
law, medicine, astronomy and even magic, and apparently some Hebrew.
After a brilliant course he graduated in 1358, and possibly became
master in 1363. He pursued his studies still further in Cologne, and
perhaps in Prague. In 1366 he visited the papal court at Avignon. About
this time he was appointed to a canonry in Utrecht and to another in
Aix-la-Chapelle, and the life of the brilliant young scholar was rapidly
becoming luxurious, secular and selfish, when a great spiritual change
passed over him which resulted in a final renunciation of every worldly
enjoyment. This conversion, which took place In 1374, appears to have
been due partly to the effects of a dangerous illness and partly to the
influence of Henry de Calcar, the learned and pious prior of the
Carthusian monastery at Munnikhuizen near Arnhem, who had remonstrated
with him on the vanity of his life. About 1376 Gerhard retired to this
monastery and there spent three years in meditation, prayer and study,
without, however, becoming a Carthusian. In 1379, having received
ordination as a deacon, he became missionary preacher throughout the
diocese of Utrecht. The success which followed his labours not only in
the town of Utrecht, but also in Zwolle, Deventer, Kampen, Amsterdam,
Haarlem, Gouda, Leiden, Delft, Zütphen and elsewhere, was immense;
according to Thomas à Kempis the people left their business and their
meals to hear his sermons, so that the churches could not hold the
crowds that flocked together wherever he came. The bishop of Utrecht
supported him warmly, and got him to preach against concubinage in the
presence of the clergy assembled in synod. The impartiality of his
censures, which he directed not only against the prevailing sins of the
laity, but also against heresy, simony, avarice, and impurity among the
secular and regular clergy, provoked the hostility of the clergy, and
accusations of heterodoxy were brought against him. It was in vain that
Groot emitted a _Publica Protestatio_, in which he declared that Jesus
Christ was the great subject of his discourses, that in all of them he
believed himself to be in harmony with Catholic doctrine, and that he
willingly subjected them to the candid judgment of the Roman Church. The
bishop was induced to issue an edict which prohibited from preaching all
who were not in priest's orders, and an appeal to Urban VI. was without
effect. There is a difficulty as to the date of this prohibition; either
it was only a few months before Groot's death, or else it must have been
removed by the bishop, for Groot seems to have preached in public in the
last year of his life. At some period (perhaps 1381, perhaps earlier) he
paid a visit of some days' duration to the famous mystic Johann
Ruysbroeck, prior of the Augustinian canons at Groenendael near
Brussels; at this visit was formed Groot's attraction for the rule and
life of the Augustinian canons which was destined to bear such notable
fruit. At the close of his life he was asked by some of the clerics who
attached themselves to him to form them into a religious order, and
Groot resolved that they should be canons regular of St Augustine. No
time was lost in the effort to carry out the project, but Groot died
before a foundation could be made. In 1387, however, a site was secured
at Windesheim, some 20 m. north of Deventer, and here was established
the monastery that became the cradle of the Windesheim congregation of
canons regular, embracing in course of time nearly one hundred houses,
and leading the way in the series of reforms undertaken during the 15th
century by all the religious orders in Germany. The initiation of this
movement was the great achievement of Groot's life; he lived to preside
over the birth and first days of his other creation, the society of
Brothers of Common Life. He died of the plague at Deventer in 1384, at
the age of 44.
The chief authority for Groot's life is Thomas à Kempis, _Vita Gerardi
Magni_ (translated into English by J. P. Arthur, _The Founders of the
New Devotion_, 1905); also the _Chronicon Windeshemense_ of Johann
Busch (ed. K. Grube, 1886). An account, based on these sources, will
be found in S. Kettlewell, _Thomas à Kempis and the Brothers of Common
Life_ (1882). i. c. 5; and a shorter account in F. R. Cruise, _Thomas
à Kempis_, 1887, pt. ii. An excellent sketch, with an account of
Groot's writings, is given by L. Schulze in Herzog-Hauck,
_Realencyklopädie_ (ed. 3); he insists on the fact that Groot's
theological and ecclesiastical ideas were those commonly current in
his day, and that the attempts to make him "a reformer before the
Reformation" are unhistorical. (E. C. B.)
GROOVE-TOOTHED SQUIRREL, a large and brilliantly coloured Bornean
squirrel, _Rhithrosciurus macrotis_, representing a genus by itself
distinguished from all other members of the family _Sciuridae_ by having
numerous longitudinal grooves on the front surface of the incisor teeth;
the molars being of a simpler type than in other members of the family.
The tail is large and fox-like, and the ears are tufted and the flanks
marked by black and white bands.
GROS, ANTOINE JEAN, BARON (1771-1835), French painter, was born at Paris
in 1771. His father, who was a miniature painter, began to teach him to
draw at the age of six, and showed himself from the first an exacting
master. Towards the close of 1785 Gros, by his own choice, entered the
studio of David, which he frequented assiduously, continuing at the same
time to follow the classes of the Collège Mazarin. The death of his
father, whose circumstances had been embarrassed by the Revolution,
threw Gros, in 1791, upon his own resources. He now devoted himself
wholly to his profession, and competed in 1792 for the _grand prix_, but
unsuccessfully. About this time, however, on the recommendation of the
École des Beaux Arts, he was employed on the execution of portraits of
the members of the Convention, and when--disturbed by the development of
the Revolution--Gros in 1793 left France for Italy, he supported himself
at Genoa by the same means, producing a great quantity of miniatures and
_fixés_. He visited Florence, but returning to Genoa made the
acquaintance of Josephine, and followed her to Milan, where he was well
received by her husband. On November 15, 1796, Gros was present with the
army near Arcola when Bonaparte planted the tricolor on the bridge. Gros
seized on this incident, and showed by his treatment of it that he had
found his vocation. Bonaparte at once gave him the post of "inspecteur
aux revues," which enabled him to follow the army, and in 1797 nominated
him on the commission charged to select the spoils which should enrich
the Louvre. In 1799, having escaped from the besieged city of Genoa,
Gros made his way to Paris, and in the beginning of 1801 took up his
quarters in the Capucins. His "esquisse" (Musée de Nantes) of the
"Battle of Nazareth" gained the prize offered in 1802 by the consuls,
but was not carried out, owing it is said to the jealousy of Junot felt
by Napoleon; but he indemnified Gros by commissioning him to paint his
own visit to the pest-house of Jaffa. "Les Pestiférés de Jaffa" (Louvre)
was followed by the "Battle of Aboukir" 1806 (Versailles), and the
"Battle of Eylau," 1808 (Louvre). These three subjects--the popular
leader facing the pestilence unmoved, challenging the splendid instant
of victory, heart-sick with the bitter cost of a hard-won field--gave to
Gros his chief title to fame. As long as the military element remained
bound up with French national life, Gros received from it a fresh and
energetic inspiration which carried him to the very heart of the events
which he depicted; but as the army and its general separated from the
people, Gros, called on to illustrate episodes representative only of
the fulfilment of personal ambition, ceased to find the nourishment
necessary to his genius, and the defect of his artistic position became
evident. Trained in the sect of the Classicists, he was shackled by
their rules, even when--by his naturalistic treatment of types, and
appeal to picturesque effect in colour and tone--he seemed to run
counter to them. In 1810 his "Madrid" and "Napoleon at the Pyramids"
(Versailles) show that his star had deserted him. His "Francis I." and
"Charles V.," 1812 (Louvre), had considerable success; but the
decoration of the dome of St Geneviève (begun in 1811 and completed in
1824) is the only work of Gros's later years which shows his early force
and vigour, as well as his skill. The "Departure of Louis XVIII."
(Versailles), the "Embarkation of Madame d'Angoulême" (Bordeaux), the
plafond of the Egyptian room in the Louvre, and finally his "Hercules
and Diomedes," exhibited in 1835, testify only that Gros's efforts--in
accordance with the frequent counsels of his old master David--to stem
the rising tide of Romanticism, served but to damage his once brilliant
reputation. Exasperated by criticism and the consciousness of failure,
Gros sought refuge in the grosser pleasures of life. On the 25th of June
1835 he was found drowned on the shores of the Seine near Sèvres. From a
paper which he had placed in his hat it became known that "las de la
vie, et trahi par les dernières facultés qui la lui rendaient
supportable, il avait résolu de s'en défaire." The number of Gros's
pupils was very great, and was considerably augmented when, in 1815,
David quitted Paris and made over his own classes to him. Gros was
decorated and named baron of the empire by Napoleon, after the Salon of
1808, at which he had exhibited the "Battle of Eylau." Under the
Restoration he became a member of the Institute, professor at the École
des Beaux Arts, and was named chevalier of the order of St Michel.
M. Delécluze gives a brief notice of his life in _Louis David et son
temps_, and Julius Meyer's _Geschichte der modernen französischen
Malerei_ contains an excellent criticism on his works.
GROSART, ALEXANDER BALLOCH (1827-1899), Scottish divine and literary
editor, the son of a building contractor, was born at Stirling on the
18th of June 1827. He was educated at Edinburgh University, and in 1856
became a Presbyterian minister at Kinross. In 1865 he went to Liverpool,
and three years later to Blackburn. He resigned from the ministry in
1892, and died at Dublin on the 16th of March 1899. Dr Grosart is
chiefly remembered for his exertions in reprinting much rare Elizabethan
literature, a work which he undertook in the first instance from his
strong interest in Puritan theology. Among the first writers whose works
he edited were the Puritan divines, Richard Sibbes, Thomas Brooks and
Herbert Palmer. Editions of Michael Bruce's _Poems_ (1865) and Richard
Gilpin's _Demonologia sacra_ (1867) followed. In 1868 he brought out a
bibliography of the writings of Richard Baxter, and from that year until
1876 he was occupied in reproducing for private subscribers the "Fuller
Worthies Library," a series of thirty-nine volumes which included the
works of Thomas Fuller, Sir John Davies, Fulke Greville, Henry Vaughan,
Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, John Donne and Sir
Philip Sidney. The last four volumes of the series were devoted to the
works of many little known and otherwise inaccessible authors. His
_Occasional Issues of Unique and Very Rare Books_ (1875-1881) is of the
utmost interest to the book-lover. It included among other things the
_Annalia Dubrensia_ of Robert Dover. In 1876 still another series, known
as the "Chertsey Worthies Library," was begun. It included editions of
the works of Nicholas Breton, Francis Quarles, Dr Joseph Beaumont,
Abraham Cowley, Henry More and John Davies of Hereford. Grosart was
untiring in his enthusiasm and energy for this kind of work. The two
last-named series were being produced simultaneously until 1881, and no
sooner had they been completed than Grosart began the "Huth Library," so
called from the bibliophile Henry Huth, who possessed the originals of
many of the reprints. It included the works of Robert Greene, Thomas
Nash, Gabriel Harvey, and the prose tracts of Thomas Dekker. He also
edited the complete works of Edmund Spenser and Samuel Daniel. From the
Townley Hall collection he reprinted several MSS. and edited Sir John
Eliot's works, Sir Richard Boyle's _Lismore Papers_, and various
publications for the Chetham Society, the Camden Society and the
Roxburghe Club. Dr Grosart's faults of style and occasional inaccuracy
do not seriously detract from the immense value of his work. He was
unwearied in searching for rare books, and he brought to light much
interesting literature, formerly almost inaccessible.
GROSBEAK (Fr. _Grosbec_), a name very indefinitely applied to many birds
belonging to the families _Fringillidae_ and _Ploceidae_ of modern
ornithologists, and perhaps to some members of the _Emberizidae_ and
_Tanagridae_, but always to birds distinguished by the great size of
their bill. Taken alone it is commonly a synonym of hawfinch (q.v.), but
a prefix is usually added to indicate the species, as pine-grosbeak,
cardinal-grosbeak and the like. By early writers the word was generally
given as an equivalent of the Linnaean _Loxia_, but that genus has been
found to include many forms not now placed in the same family.
The Pine-grosbeak (_Pinicola enucleator_) inhabits the conifer-zone of
both the Old and the New Worlds, seeking, in Europe and probably
elsewhere, a lower latitude as winter approaches--often journeying in
large flocks; stragglers have occasionally reached the British Islands
(Yarrell, _Br. Birds_, ed. 4, ii. 177-179). In structure and some of its
habits much resembling a bullfinch, but much exceeding that bird in
size, it has the plumage of a crossbill and appears to undergo the same
changes as do the members of the restricted genus _Loxia_--the young
being of a dull greenish-grey streaked with brownish-black, the adult
hens tinged with golden-green, and the cocks glowing with crimson-red on
nearly all the body-feathers, this last colour being replaced after
moulting in confinement by bright yellow. Nests of this species were
found in 1821 by Johana Wilhelm Zetterstedt near Juckasjärwi in Swedish
Lapland, but little was known concerning its nidification until 1855,
when John Wolley, after two years' ineffectual search, succeeded in
obtaining near the Finnish village Muonioniska, on the Swedish frontier,
well-authenticated specimens with the eggs, both of which are like
exaggerated bullfinches'. The food of this species seems to consist of
the seeds and buds of many sorts of trees, though the staple may very
possibly be those of some kind of pine.
Allied to the pine-grosbeak are a number of species of smaller size, but
its equals in beauty of plumage.[1] They have been referred to several
genera, such as _Carpodacus_, _Propasser_, _Bycanetes_, _Uragus_ and
others; but possibly _Carpodacus_ is sufficient to contain all. Most of
them are natives of the Old World, and chiefly of its eastern division,
but several inhabit the western portion of North America, and one, _C.
githagineus_ (of which there seem to be at least two local races), is an
especial native of the deserts, or their borders, of Arabia and North
Africa, extending even to some of the Canary Islands--a singular
modification in the _habitat_ of a form which one would be apt to
associate exclusively with forest trees, and especially conifers.
The cardinal grosbeak, or Virginian nightingale, _Cardinalis
virginianus_, claims notice here, though doubts may be entertained as to
the family to which it really belongs. It is no less remarkable for its
bright carmine attire, and an elongated crest of the same colour, than
for its fine song. Its ready adaptation to confinement has made it a
popular cage-bird on both sides of the Atlantic. The hen is not so good
a songster as the cock bird. Her plumage, with exception of the wings
and tail, which are of a dull red, is light-olive above and
brownish-yellow beneath. This species inhabits the eastern parts of the
United States southward of 40° N. lat., and also occurs in the Bermudas.
It is represented in the south-west of North America by other forms that
by some writers are deemed species, and in the northern parts of South
America by the _C. phoeniceus_, which would really seem entitled to
distinction. Another kindred bird placed from its short and broad bill
in a different genus, and known as _Pyrrhuloxia sinuata_ or the Texan
cardinal, is found on the southern borders of the United States and in
Mexico; while among North American "grosbeaks" must also be named the
birds belonging to the genera _Guiraca_ and _Hedymeles_--the former
especially exemplified by the beautiful blue _G. caerulea_, and the
latter by the brilliant rose-breasted _H. ludovicianus_, which last
extends its range into Canada.
The species of the Old World which, though commonly called "grosbeaks,"
certainly belong to the family _Ploceidae_, are treated under
WEAVER-BIRD. (A. N.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Many of them are described and illustrated in the _Monographie
des loxiens_ of Prince C. L. Bonaparte and Professor Schlegel (1850),
though it excludes many birds which an English writer would call
"grosbeaks."
GROSE, FRANCIS (c. 1730-1791), English antiquary, was born at Greenford
in Middlesex, about the year 1730. His father was a wealthy Swiss
jeweller, settled at Richmond, Surrey. Grose early showed an interest in
heraldry and antiquities, and his father procured him a position in the
Heralds' College. In 1763, being then Richmond Herald, he sold his
tabard, and shortly afterwards became adjutant and paymaster of the
Hampshire militia, where, as he himself humorously observed, the only
account-books he kept were his right and left pockets, into the one of
which he received, and from the other of which he paid. This
carelessness exposed him to serious financial difficulties; and after a
vain attempt to repair them by accepting a captaincy in the Surrey
militia, the fortune left him by his father being squandered, he began
to turn to account his excellent education and his powers as a
draughtsman. In 1757 he had been elected fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries. In 1773 he began to publish his _Antiquities of England and
Wales_, a work which brought him money as well as fame. This, with its
supplementary parts relating to the Channel Islands, was not completed
till 1787. In 1789 he set out on an antiquarian tour through Scotland,
and in the course of this journey met Burns, who composed in his honour
the famous song beginning "Ken ye aught o' Captain Grose," and in that
other poem, still more famous, "Hear, land o' cakes, and brither Scots,"
warned all Scotsmen of this "chield amang them taking notes." In 1790 he
began to publish the results of what Burns called "his peregrinations
through Scotland;" but he had not finished the work when he bethought
himself of going over to Ireland and doing for that country what he had
already done for Great Britain. About a month after his arrival, while
in Dublin, he died in an apoplectic fit at the dinner-table of a friend,
on the 12th of June 1791.
Grose was a sort of antiquarian Falstaff--at least he possessed in a
striking degree the knight's physical peculiarities; but he was a man of
true honour and charity, a valuable friend, "overlooking little faults
and seeking out greater virtues," and an inimitable boon companion. His
humour, his varied knowledge and his good nature were all eminently
calculated to make him a favourite in society. As Burns says of him--
"But wad ye see him in his glee,
For meikle glee and fun has he,
Then set him down, and twa or three
Gude fellows wi' him;
And _port, O port!_ shine thou a wee,
And THEN ye'll see him!"
Grose's works include _The Antiquities of England and Wales_ (6 vols.,
1773-1787); _Advice to the Officers of the British Army_ (1782), a
satire in the manner of Swift's _Directions to Servants; A Guide to
Health, Beauty, Riches and Honour_ (1783), a collection of
advertisements of the period, with characteristic satiric preface; _A
Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_ (1785); _A Treatise on
Ancient Armour and Weapons_ (1785-1789); Darrell's _History of Dover_
(1786); _Military Antiquities_ (2 vols., 1786-1788); _A Provincial
Glossary_ (1787); _Rules for Drawing Caricatures_ (1788); _The
Antiquities of Scotland_ (2 vols., 1789-1791); _Antiquities of
Ireland_ (2 vols., 1791), edited and partly written by Ledwich. _The
Grumbler_, sixteen humerous essays, appeared in 1791 after his death;
and in 1793 _The Olio_, a collection of essays, jests and small pieces
of poetry, highly characteristic of Grose, though certainly not all by
him, was put together from his papers by his publisher, who was also
his executor.
A capital full-length portrait of Grose by N. Dance is in the first
volume of the _Antiquities of England and Wales_, and another is among
Kay's _Portraits_. A versified sketch of him appeared in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, lxi. 660. See _Gentleman's Magazine_, lxi.
498, 582; Noble's _Hist. of the College of Arms_, p. 434; _Notes and
Queries_, 1st ser., ix. 350; 3rd ser., i. 64, x. 280-281; 5th ser.,
xii. 148; 6th ser., ii. 47, 257, 291; Hone, _Every-day Book_, i. 655.
GROSS, properly thick, bulky, the meaning of the Late Lat. _grossus_.
The Latin word has usually been taken as cognate with _crassus_, thick,
but this is now doubted. It also appears not to be connected with the
Ger. _gross_, a Teutonic word represented in English by "great." Apart
from its direct meaning, and such figurative senses as coarse, vulgar
or flagrant, the chief uses are whole, entire, without deduction, as
opposed to "net," or as applied to that which is sold in bulk as opposed
to "retail" (cf. "grocer" and "engrossing"). As a unit of tale, "gross"
equals 12 dozen, 144, sometimes known as "small gross," in contrast with
"great gross," i.e. 12 gross, 144 dozen. As a technical expression in
English common law, "in gross" is applied to an incorporeal hereditament
attached to the person of an owner, in contradistinction to one which is
appendant or appurtenant, that is, attached to the ownership of land
(see COMMONS).
GROSSE, JULIUS WALDEMAR (1828-1902), German poet, the son of a military
chaplain, was born at Erfurt on the 25th of April 1828. He received his
early education at the gymnasium in Magdeburg, and on leaving school and
showing disinclination for the ministry, entered an architect's office.
But his mind was bent upon literature, and in 1849 he entered the
university of Halle, where, although inscribed as a student of law, he
devoted himself almost exclusively to letters. His first poetical essay
was with the tragedy _Cola di Rienzi_ (1851), followed in the same year
by a comedy, _Eine Nachtpartie Shakespeares_, which was at once produced
on the stage. The success of these first two pieces encouraged him to
follow literature as a profession, and proceeding in 1852 to Munich, he
joined the circle of young poets of whom Paul Heyse (q.v.) and Hermann
Lingg (1820-1905) were the chief. For six years (1855-1861) he was
dramatic critic of the _Neue Münchener Zeitung_, and was then for a
while on the staff of the _Leipziger Illustrierte Zeitung_, but in 1862
he returned to Munich as editor of the _Bayrische Zeitung_, a post he
retained until the paper ceased to exist in 1867. In 1869 Grosse was
appointed secretary of the _Schiller-Stiftung_, and lived for the next
few years alternately in Weimar, Dresden and Munich, until, in 1890, he
took up his permanent residence in Weimar. He was made grand-ducal
_Hofrat_ and had the title of "professor." He died at Torbole on the
Lago di Garda on the 9th of May 1902.
Grosse was a most prolific writer of novels, dramas and poems. As a
lyric poet, especially in _Gedichte_ (1857) and _Aus bewegten Tagen_, a
volume of poems (1869), he showed himself more to advantage than in his
novels, of which latter, however, _Untreu aus Mitleid_ (2 vols., 1868);
_Vox populi, vox dei_ (1869); _Maria Mancini_ (1871); _Neue Erzählungen_
(1875); _Sophie Monnier_ (1876), and _Ein Frauenlos_ (1888) are
remarkable for a certain elegance of style. His tragedies, _Die
Ynglinger_ (1858); _Tiberius_ (1876); _Johann von Schwaben_; and the
comedy _Die steinerne Braut_, had considerable success on the stage.
Grosse's _Gesammelte dramatische Werke_ appeared in 7 vols. in Leipzig
(1870), while his _Erzählende Dichtungen_ were published at Berlin (6
vols., 1871-1873). An edition of his selected works by A. Bartels is
in preparation. See also his autobiography, _Literarische Ursachen und
Wirkungen_ (1896); R. Prutz, _Die Literatur der Gegenwart_ (1859); J.
Ethé, _J. Grosse als epischer Dichter_ (1872).
GROSSENHAIN, a town In the kingdom of Saxony, 20 m. N. from Dresden, on
the main line of railway (via Elsterwerda) to Berlin and at the junction
of lines to Priestewitz and Frankfort-on-Oder. Pop. (1905) 12,015. It
has an Evangelical church, a modern and a commercial school, a library
and an extensive public park. The industries are very important, and
embrace manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs, buckskin, leather,
glass and machinery. Grossenhain was originally a Sorb settlement. It
was for a time occupied by the Bohemians, by whom it was strongly
fortified. It afterwards came into the possession of the margraves of
Meissen, from whom it was taken in 1312 by the margraves of Brandenburg.
It suffered considerably in all the great German wars, and in 1744 was
nearly destroyed by fire. On the 16th of May 1813, a battle took place
here between the French and the Russians.
See G. W. Schuberth, _Chronik der Stadt Grossenhain_ (Grossenhain,
1887-1892).
GROSSETESTE, ROBERT (c. 1175-1253), English statesman, theologian and
bishop of Lincoln, was born of humble parents at Stradbrook in Suffolk.
He received his education at Oxford where he became proficient in law,
medicine and the natural sciences. Giraldus Cambrensis, whose
acquaintance he had made, introduced him, before 1199, to William de
Vere, bishop of Hereford. Grosseteste aspired to a post in the bishop's
household, but being deprived by death of this patron betook himself to
the study of theology. It is possible that he visited Paris for this
purpose, but he finally settled in Oxford as a teacher. His first
preferment of importance was the chancellorship of the university. He
gained considerable distinction as a lecturer, and was the first rector
of the school which the Franciscans established in Oxford about 1224.
Grosseteste's learning is highly praised by Roger Bacon, who was a
severe critic. According to Bacon, Grosseteste knew little Greek or
Hebrew and paid slight attention to the works of Aristotle, but was
pre-eminent among his contemporaries for his knowledge of the natural
sciences. Between 1214 and 1231 Grosseteste held in succession the
archdeaconries of Chester, Northampton and Leicester. In 1232, after a
severe illness, he resigned all his benefices and preferments except one
prebend which he held at Lincoln. His intention was to spend the rest of
his life in contemplative piety. But he retained the office of
chancellor, and in 1235 accepted the bishopric of Lincoln. He undertook
without delay the reformation of morals and clerical discipline
throughout his vast diocese. This scheme brought him into conflict with
more than one privileged corporation, but in particular with his own
chapter, who vigorously disputed his claim to exercise the right of
visitation over their community. The dispute raged hotly from 1239 to
1245. It was conducted on both sides with unseemly violence, and those
who most approved of Grosseteste's main purpose thought it needful to
warn him against the mistake of over-zeal. But in 1245, by a personal
visit to the papal court at Lyons, he secured a favourable verdict. In
ecclesiastical politics the bishop belonged to the school of Becket. His
zeal for reform led him to advance, on behalf of the courts-Christian,
pretensions which it was impossible that the secular power should admit.
He twice incurred a well-merited rebuke from Henry III. upon this
subject; although it was left for Edward I. to settle the question of
principle in favour of the state. The devotion of Grosseteste to the
hierarchical theories of his age is attested by his correspondence with
his chapter and the king. Against the former he upheld the prerogative
of the bishops; against the latter he asserted that it was impossible
for a bishop to disregard the commands of the Holy See. Where the
liberties of the national church came into conflict with the pretensions
of Rome he stood by his own countrymen. Thus in 1238 he demanded that
the king should release certain Oxford scholars who had assaulted the
legate Otho. But at least up to the year 1247 he submitted patiently to
papal encroachments, contenting himself with the protection (by a
special papal privilege) of his own diocese from alien clerks. Of royal
exactions he was more impatient; and after the retirement of Archbishop
Saint Edmund (q.v.) constituted himself the spokesman of the clerical
estate in the Great Council. In 1244 he sat on a committee which was
empanelled to consider a demand for a subsidy. The committee rejected
the demand, and Grosseteste foiled an attempt on the king's part to
separate the clergy from the baronage. "It is written," the bishop said,
"that united we stand and divided we fall."
It was, however, soon made clear that the king and pope were in alliance
to crush the independence of the English clergy; and from 1250 onwards
Grosseteste openly criticized the new financial expedients to which
Innocent IV. had been driven by his desperate conflict with the Empire.
In the course of a visit which he made to Innocent in this year, the
bishop laid before the pope and cardinals a written memorial in which he
ascribed all the evils of the Church to the malignant influence of the
Curia. It produced no effect, although the cardinals felt that
Grosseteste was too influential to be punished for his audacity. Much
discouraged by his failure the bishop thought of resigning. In the end,
however, he decided to continue the unequal struggle. In 1251 he
protested against a papal mandate enjoining the English clergy to pay
Henry III. one-tenth of their revenues for a crusade; and called
attention to the fact that, under the system of provisions, a sum of
70,000 marks was annually drawn from England by the alien nominees of
Rome. In 1253, upon being commanded to provide in his own diocese for a
papal nephew, he wrote a letter of expostulation and refusal, not to the
pope himself but to the commissioner, Master Innocent, through whom he
received the mandate. The text of the remonstrance, as given in the
_Burton Annals_ and in Matthew Paris, has possibly been altered by a
forger who had less respect than Grosseteste for the papacy. The
language is more violent than that which the bishop elsewhere employs.
But the general argument, that the papacy may command obedience only so
far as its commands are consonant with the teaching of Christ and the
apostles, is only what should be expected from an ecclesiastical
reformer of Grosseteste's time. There is much more reason for suspecting
the letter addressed "to the nobles of England, the citizens of London,
and the community of the whole realm," in which Grosseteste is
represented as denouncing in unmeasured terms papal finance in all its
branches. But even in this case allowance must be made for the
difference between modern and medieval standards of decorum.
Grosseteste numbered among his most intimate friends the Franciscan
teacher, Adam Marsh (q.v.). Through Adam he came into close relations
with Simon de Montfort. From the Franciscan's letters it appears that
the earl had studied a political tract by Grosseteste on the difference
between a monarchy and a tyranny; and that he embraced with enthusiasm
the bishop's projects of ecclesiastical reform. Their alliance began as
early as 1239, when Grosseteste exerted himself to bring about a
reconciliation between the king and the earl. But there is no reason to
suppose that the political ideas of Montfort had matured before the
death of Grosseteste; nor did Grosseteste busy himself overmuch with
secular politics, except in so far as they touched the interest of the
Church. Grosseteste realized that the misrule of Henry III. and his
unprincipled compact with the papacy largely accounted for the
degeneracy of the English hierarchy and the laxity of ecclesiastical
discipline. But he can hardly be termed a constitutionalist.
Grosseteste died on the 9th of October 1253. He must then have been
between seventy and eighty years of age. He was already an elderly man,
with a firmly established reputation, when he became a bishop. As an
ecclesiastical statesman he showed the same fiery zeal and versatility
of which he had given proof in his academical career; but the general
tendency of modern writers has been to exaggerate his political and
ecclesiastical services, and to neglect his performances as a scientist
and scholar. The opinion of his own age, as expressed by Matthew Paris
and Roger Bacon, was very different. His contemporaries, while admitting
the excellence of his intentions as a statesman, lay stress upon his
defects of temper and discretion. But they see in him the pioneer of a
literary and scientific movement; not merely a great ecclesiastic who
patronized learning in his leisure hours, but the first mathematician
and physicist of his age. It is certainly true that he anticipated, in
these fields of thought, some of the most striking ideas to which Roger
Bacon subsequently gave a wider currency.
See the _Epistolae Roberti Grosseteste_ (Rolls Series, 1861) edited
with a valuable introduction by H. R. Luard. Grosseteste's famous
memorial to the pope is printed in the appendix to E. Brown's
_Fasciculus rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum_ (1690). A tract _De
phisicis, lineis, angulis et figuris_ was printed at Nuremberg in
1503, A French poem, _Le Chastel d'amour_, sometimes attributed to
him, has been printed by the Caxton Society. Two curious tracts, the
"De moribus pueri ad mensam" (printed by Wynkyn de Worde) and the
"Statuta familiae Roberti Grosseteste" (printed by J. S. Brewer in
_Monumenta Franciscana_, i. 582), may be from his pen; but the editor
of the latter work ascribes it to Adam de Marsh. There is less doubt
respecting the _Reules Seynt Robert_, a tract giving advice for the
management of the household of the countess of Lincoln. For
Grosseteste's life and work see Roger Bacon's _Opus majus_ (ed. J. H.
Bridges, 1897, 2 vols.) and _Opera quaedam inedita_ (ed. J. S. Brewer,
Rolls Series, 1859); M. Paris's _Chronica majora_ (ed. H. R. Luard,
Rolls Series, 1872-1883, 5 vols.); and the _Lives_ by S. Pegge (1793)
and F. S. Stevenson (1899). (H. W. C. D.)
GROSSETO, a town and episcopal see of Tuscany, capital of the province
of Grosseto, 90 m. S.S.E. of Pisa by rail. Pop. (1901) 5856 (town), 8843
(commune). It is 38 ft. above sea-level, and is almost circular in
shape; it is surrounded by fortifications, constructed by Francis I.
(1574-1587) and Ferdinand I. (1587-1609), which form a hexagonal
enceinte with projecting bastions, with two gates only. The small
cathedral, begun in 1294, is built of red and white marble alternating,
in the Italian Gothic style; it was restored in 1855. The citadel was
built in 1311 by the Sienese. Grosseto is on the main line from Pisa to
Rome, and is also the starting-point (Montepescali, 8 m. to the N., is
the exact point of divergence) of a branch line to Asciano and Siena.
The town dates from the middle ages. In 1138 the episcopal see was
transferred thither from Rusellae. In 1230 it, with the rest of the
Maremma, of which it is the capital, came under the dominion of Siena.
By the peace of 1559, however, it passed to Cosimo I. of Tuscany. In
1745 the malaria had grown to such an extent, owing to the neglect of
the drainage works, that Grosseto had only 648 inhabitants, though in
1224 it had 3000 men who bore arms. Leopold I. renewed drainage
operations, and by 1836 the population had risen to 2392. The malaria is
not yet entirely conquered, however, and the official headquarters of
the province are in summer transferred to Scansano (1837 ft.), 20 m. to
the S.E. by road.
GROSSI, GIOVANNI FRANCESCO (?-1699), one of the greatest Italian singers
of the age of _bel canto_, better known as Siface, was born at Pescia in
Tuscany about the middle of the 17th century. He entered the papal
chapel in 1675, and later sang at Venice. He derived his nickname of
Siface from his impersonation of that character in an opera of Cavalli.
It has generally been said that he appeared as Siface in Alessandro
Scarlatti's _Mitridate_, but the confusion is due to his having sung the
part of Mitridate in Scarlatti's _Pompeo_ at Naples in 1683. In 1687 he
was sent to London by the duke of Modena, to become a member of the
chapel of James II. He probably did much for the introduction of Italian
music into England, but soon left the country on account of the climate.
Among Purcell's harpsichord music is an air entitled "Sefauchi's
Farewell." He was murdered in 1699 on the road between Bologna and
Ferrara, probably by the agents of a nobleman with whose wife he had a
_liaison_.
See Corrado Ricci's _Vita Barocca_ (Milan, 1904).
GROSSI, TOMMASO (1791-1853), Lombard poet and novelist, was born at
Bellano, on the Lake of Como, on the 20th of January 1791. He took his
degree in law at Pavia in 1810, and proceeded thence to Milan to
exercise his profession; but the Austrian government, suspecting his
loyalty, interfered with his prospects, and in consequence Grossi was a
simple notary all his life. That the suspicion was well grounded he soon
showed by writing in the Milanese dialect the battle poem _La Prineide_,
in which he described with vivid colours the tragical death of Prina,
chief treasurer during the empire, whom the people of Milan, instigated
by Austrian agitators, had torn to pieces and dragged through the
streets of the town (1814). The poem, being anonymous, was first
attributed to the celebrated Porta, but Grossi of his own accord
acknowledged himself the author. In 1816 he published other two poems,
written likewise in Milanese--_The Golden Rain_ (La Pioggia d'oro) and
_The Fugitive_ (La Fuggitiva). These compositions secured him the
friendship of Porta and Manzoni, and the three poets came to form a sort
of romantic literary triumvirate. Grossi took advantage of the
popularity of his Milanese poems to try Italian verse, into which he
sought to introduce the moving realism which had given such satisfaction
in his earliest compositions; and in this he was entirely successful
with his poem _Ildegonda_ (1814). He next wrote an epic poem, entitled
_The Lombards in the First Crusade_, a work of which Manzoni makes
honourable mention in _I Promessi Sposi_. This composition, which was
published by subscription (1826), attained a success unequalled by that
of any other Italian poem within the century. The example of Manzoni
induced Grossi to write an historical novel entitled _Marco Visconti_
(1834)--a work which contains passages of fine description and deep
pathos. A little later Grossi published a tale in verse, _Ulrico and
Lida_, but with this publication his poetical activity ceased. After
his marriage in 1838 he continued to employ himself as a notary in Milan
till his death on the 10th of December 1853.
His _Life_ by Cantu appeared at Milan in 1854.
GROSSMITH, GEORGE (1847- ), English comedian, was born on the 9th of
December 1847, the son of a law reporter and entertainer of the same
name. After some years of journalistic work he started about 1870 as a
public entertainer, with songs and recitations; but in 1877 he began a
long connexion with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas at the Savoy
Theatre, London, in _The Sorcerer_. For twelve years he had the leading
part, his capacity for "patter-songs," and his humorous acting, dancing
and singing marking his creations of the chief characters in the Gilbert
and Sullivan operas as the expression of a highly original
individuality. In 1889 he left the Savoy, and again set up as an
entertainer, visiting all the cities of Great Britain and the United
States, but retiring in 1901. Among other books he wrote _The
Reminiscences of a Society Clown_ (1888); and, with his brother Weedon,
_The Diary of a Nobody_ (1894). His humorous songs and sketches numbered
over six hundred. His younger brother, Weedon Grossmith, who was
educated as a painter and exhibited at the Academy, also took to the
stage, his first notable success being in the _Pantomime Rehearsal_; in
1894 he went into management on his own account, and had much success as
a comedian. George Grossmith's two sons, Laurence Grossmith and George
Grossmith, jun., were both actors, the latter becoming a well-known
figure in the musical comedies at the Gaiety Theatre, London.
GROS VENTRES (Fr. for "Great Bellies"), or Atsina, a tribe of North
American Indians of Algonquian stock. The name is said to have reference
to the greediness of the people, but more probably originated from their
prominent tattooing. They are settled at Fort Belknap agency, Montana.
The name has also been given to other tribes, e.g. the Hidatsa or
Minitari, now at Fort Berthold, North Dakota.
GROTE, GEORGE (1794-1871), English historian of Greece, was born on the
17th of November 1794, at Clay Hill near Beckenham in Kent. His
grandfather, Andreas, originally a Bremen merchant, was one of the
founders (1st of January 1766) of the banking-house of Grote, Prescott &
Company in Threadneedle Street, London (the name of Grote did not
disappear from the firm till 1879). His father, also George, married
(1793) Selina, daughter of Henry Peckwell (1747-1787), minister of the
countess of Huntingdon's chapel in Westminster (descended from a
Huguenot family, the de Blossets, who had left Touraine on the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes), and had one daughter and ten sons,
of whom the historian was the eldest. Educated at first by his mother,
George Grote was sent to the Sevenoaks grammar school (1800-1804) and
afterwards to Charterhouse (1804-1810), where he studied under Dr Raine
in company with Connop Thirlwall, George and Horace Waddington and Henry
Havelock. In spite of Grote's school successes, his father refused to
send him to the university and put him in the bank in 1810. He spent all
his spare time in the study of classics, history, metaphysics and
political economy, and in learning German, French and Italian. Driven by
his mother's Puritanism and his father's contempt for academic learning
to outside society, he became intimate with Charles Hay Cameron, who
strengthened him in his love of philosophy, and George W. Norman,
through whom he met his wife, Miss Harriet Lewin (see below). After
various difficulties the marriage took place on the 5th of March 1820,
and was in all respects a happy union.
In the meanwhile Grote had finally decided his philosophic and political
attitude. In 1817 he came under the influence of David Ricardo, and
through him of James Mill and Jeremy Bentham. He settled in 1820 in a
house attached to the bank in Threadneedle Street, where his only child
died a week after its birth. During Mrs Grote's slow convalescence at
Hampstead, he wrote his first published work, the _Statement of the
Question of Parliamentary Reform_ (1821), in reply to Sir James
Mackintosh's article in the _Edinburgh Review_, advocating popular
representation, vote by ballot and short parliaments. In 1822 he
published in the _Morning Chronicle_ (April) a letter against Canning's
attack on Lord John Russell, and edited, or rather re-wrote, some
discursive papers of Bentham, which he published under the title
_Analysis of the Influence of Natural Religion on the Temporal Happiness
of Mankind by Philip Beauchamp_ (1822). The book was published in the
name of Richard Carlile, then in gaol at Dorchester. Though not a member
of J. S. Mill's Utilitarian Society (1822-1823). he took a great
interest in a society for reading and discussion, which met (from 1823)
in a room at the bank before business hours twice a week. From the
_Posthumous Papers_ (pp. 22, 24) it is clear that Mrs Grote was wrong in
asserting that she first in 1823 (autumn) suggested the _History of
Greece_; the book was already in preparation in 1822, though what was
then written was subsequently reconstructed. In 1826 Grote published in
the _Westminster Review_ (April) a criticism of Mitford's _History of
Greece_, which shows that his ideas were already in order. From 1826 to
1830 he was hard at work with J. S. Mill and Henry Brougham in the
organization of the new "university" in Gower Street. He was a member of
the council which organized the faculties and the curriculum; but in
1830, owing to a difference with Mill as to an appointment to one of the
philosophical chairs, he resigned his position.
In 1830 he went abroad, and, attracted by the political crisis, spent
some months in Paris in the society of the Liberal leaders. Recalled by
his father's death (6th of July), he not only became manager of the
bank, but took a leading position among the city Radicals. In 1831 he
published his important _Essentials of Parliamentary Reform_ (an
elaboration of his previous _Statement_), and, after refusing to stand
as parliamentary candidate for the city in 1831, changed his mind and
was elected head of the poll, with three other Liberals, in December
1832. After serving in three parliaments, he resigned in 1841, by which
time his party ("the philosophic Radicals") had dwindled away. During
these years of active public life, his interest in Greek history and
philosophy had increased, and after a trip to Italy in 1842, he severed
his connexion with the bank and devoted himself to literature. In 1846
the first two volumes of the _History_ appeared, and the remaining ten
between 1847 and the spring of 1856. In 1845 with Molesworth and Raikes
Currie he gave monetary assistance to Auguste Comte (q.v.), then in
financial difficulties. The formation of the Sonderbund (20th of July
1847) led him to visit Switzerland and study for himself a condition of
things in some sense analogous to that of the ancient Greek states. This
visit resulted in the publication in the _Spectator_ of seven weekly
letters, collected in book form at the end of 1847 (see a letter to de
Tocqueville in Mrs Grote's reprint of the _Seven Letters_, 1876).
In 1856 Grote began to prepare his works on Plato and Aristotle. _Plato
and the Other Companions of Sokrates_ (3 vols.) appeared in 1865, but
the work on Aristotle he was not destined to complete. He had finished
the _Organon_ and was about to deal with the metaphysical and physical
treatises when he died on the 18th of June 1871, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. He was a man of strong character and self-control,
unfailing courtesy and unswerving devotion to what he considered the
best interests of the nation. To colleagues and subordinates alike, he
was considerate and tolerant; he was unassuming, trustworthy in the
smallest detail, accurate and comprehensive in thought, energetic and
conscientious in action. Yet, hidden under his calm exterior there was a
burning enthusiasm and a depth of passion of which only his intimate
friends were aware.
His work may best be considered under the following heads:
1. _Grote's Services to Education._--He took, as already stated, an
important part in the foundation and organization of the original
university of London, which began its public work in Gower Street on the
28th of October 1828, and in 1836, on the incorporation of the
university of London proper, became known as University College. In 1849
he was re-elected to the council, in 1860 he became treasurer, and on
the death of Brougham (1868) president. He took a keen interest in all
the work of the college, presented to it the _Marmor Homericum_, and
finally bequeathed the reversion of £6000 for the endowment of a chair
of philosophy of mind and logic. The emoluments of this sum were,
however, to be held over and added to the principal if at any time the
holder of the chair should be "a minister of the Church of England or of
any other religious persuasion." In 1850 the senate of the university
was reconstituted, and Grote was one of seven eminent men who were added
to it. Eventually he became the strongest advocate for open
examinations, for the claims not only of philosophy and classics but
also of natural science, and, as vice-chancellor in 1862, for the
admission of women to examinations. This latter reform was carried in
1868. He succeeded his friend Henry Hallam as a trustee of the British
Museum in 1859, and took part in the reorganization of the departments
of antiquities and natural science.
The honours which he received in recognition of these services were as
follows: D.C.L. of Oxford (1853); LL.D. Cambridge (1861); F.R.S. (1857);
honorary professor of ancient history in the Royal Academy (1859). By
the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences he was made
correspondent (1857) and foreign associate (the first Englishman since
Macaulay) (1864). In 1869 he refused Gladstone's offer of a peerage.
2. _Political Career._--In politics Grote belonged to the "philosophic
Radicals" of the school of J. S. Mill and Bentham, whose chief
principles were representative government, vote by ballot, the abolition
of a state church, frequent elections. He adhered to these principles
throughout, and refused to countenance any reforms which were
incompatible with them. By this uncompromising attitude, he gradually
lost all his supporters save a few men of like rigidity. As a speaker,
he was clear, logical and impressive, and on select committees his
common sense was most valuable. For his speeches see A. Bain in the
_Minor Works_; see also BALLOT.
3. _The History of Greece._--It is on this work that Grote's reputation
mainly rests. Though half a century has passed since its production, it
is still in some sense the text-book. It consists of two parts, the
"Legendary" and the "Historical" Greece. The former, owing to the
development of comparative mythology, is now of little authority, and
portions of part ii. are obsolete owing partly to the immense
accumulations of epigraphic and archaeological research, partly to the
subsequent discovery of the Aristotelian _Constitution of Athens_, and
partly also to the more careful weighing of evidence which Grote himself
misinterpreted. The interest of the work is twofold. In the first place
it contains a wonderful mass of information carefully collected from all
sources, arranged on a simple plan, and expressed in direct forcible
language. It is in this respect one of the few great comprehensive
histories in our possession, great in scope, conception and
accomplishment. But more than this it is interesting as among the first
works in which Greek history became a separate study, based on real
evidence and governed by the criteria of modern historical science.
Further Grote, a practical man, a rationalist and an enthusiast for
democracy, was the first to consider Greek political development with a
sympathetic interest (see GREECE: _History, Ancient_, section
"Authorities"), in opposition to the Tory attitude of John Gillies and
Mitford, who had written under the influence of horror at the French
Revolution. On the whole his work was done with impartiality, and more
recent study has only confirmed his general conclusions. Much has been
made of his defective accounts of the tyrants and the Macedonian empire,
and his opinion that Greek history ceased to be interesting or
instructive after Chaeronea. It is true that he confined his interest to
the fortunes of the city state and neglected the wider diffusion of the
Greek culture, but this is after all merely a criticism of the title of
the book. The value of the _History_ consists to-day primarily in its
examination of the Athenian democracy, its growth and decline, an
examination which is still the most inspiring, and in general the most
instructive, in any language. In the description of battles and military
operations generally Grote was handicapped by the lack of personal
knowledge of the country. In this respect he is inferior to men like
Ernst Curtius and G. B. Grundy.
4. _In Philosophy_ Grote was a follower of the Mills and Bentham. J. S.
Mill paid a tribute to him in the preface to the third edition of his
_Examination of Sir Wm. Hamilton's Philosophy_, and there is no doubt
that the empirical school owed a great deal to his sound, accurate
thinking, untrammelled by any reverence for authority, technique and
convention. In dealing with Plato he was handicapped by this very common
sense, which prevented him from appreciating the theory of ideas in its
widest relations. His _Plato_ is important in that it emphasizes the
generally neglected passages of Plato in which he seems to indulge in
mere Socratic dialectic rather than to seek knowledge; it is, therefore,
to be read as a corrective to the ordinary criticism of Plato. The more
congenial study of Aristotle, though incomplete, is more valuable in the
positive sense, and has not received the attention it deserves. Perhaps
Grote's most distinctive contribution to the study of Greek philosophy
is his chapter in the _History of Greece_ on the Sophists, of whom he
took a view somewhat more favourable than has been accepted before or
since.
His wife, HARRIET LEWIN (1792-1878), was the daughter of Thomas Lewin, a
retired Indian civilian, settled in Southampton. After her marriage with
Grote in 1820 she devoted herself to the subjects in which he was
interested and was a prominent figure in the literary, political and
philosophical circle in which he lived. She carefully read the proofs of
his work and relieved him of anxiety in connexion with his property.
Among her writings are: _Memoir of Ary Scheffer_ (1860); _Collected
Papers_ (1862); and her biography of her husband (1873). Another
publication, _The Philosophical Radicals of 1832_ (privately circulated
in 1866), is interesting for the light it throws on the Reform movement
of 1832 to 1842, especially on Molesworth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_The History of Greece_ passed through five editions
the fifth (10 vols., 1888) being final. An edition covering the period
from Solon to 403, with new notes and excursuses, was published by J.
M. Mitchell and M. O. B. Caspari in 1907. The _Plato_ was finally
edited by Alexander Bain in 4 vols. See Mrs Grote's _Personal Life of
George Grote_, and article in _Dict. Nat. Biog._ by G. Croom
Robertson. (J. M. M.)
GROTEFEND, GEORG FRIEDRICH (1775-1853), German epigraphist, was born at
Münden in Hanover on the 9th of June 1775. He was educated partly in his
native town, partly at Ilfeld, where he remained till 1795, when he
entered the university of Göttingen, and there became the friend of
Heyne, Tychsen and Heeren. Heyne's recommendation procured for him an
assistant mastership in the Göttingen gymnasium in 1797. While there he
published his work _De pasigraphia sive scriptura universali_ (1799),
which led to his appointment in 1803 as prorector of the gymnasium of
Frankfort-on-Main, and shortly afterwards as conrector. Grotefend was
best known during his lifetime as a Latin and Italian philologist,
though the attention he paid to his own language is shown by his
_Anfangsgründe der deutschen Poesie_, published in 1815, and his
foundation of a society for investigating the German tongue in 1817. In
1821 he became director of the gymnasium at Hanover, a post which he
retained till his retirement in 1849. In 1823-1824 appeared his revised
edition of Wenck's Latin grammar, in two volumes, followed by a smaller
grammar for the use of schools in 1826; in 1835-1838 a systematic
attempt to explain the fragmentary remains of the Umbrian dialect,
entitled _Rudimenta linguae Umbricae ex inscriptionibus antiquis
enodata_ (in eight parts); and in 1839 a work of similar character upon
Oscan (_Rudimenta linguae Oscae_). In the same year he published an
important memoir on the coins of Bactria, under the name of _Die Münzen
der griechischen, parthischen, und indoskythischen Könige von Bactrien
und den Ländern am Indus_. He soon, however, returned to his favourite
subject, and brought out a work in five parts, _Zur Geographie und
Geschichte von Altitalien_ (1840-1842). Previously, in 1836, he had
written a preface to Wagenfeld's translation of the spurious
_Sanchoniathon_ of Philo Byblius, which was alleged to have been
discovered in the preceding year in the Portuguese convent of Santa
Maria de Merinhao. But it was in the East rather than in the West that
Grotefend did his greatest work. The cuneiform inscriptions of Persia
had for some time been attracting attention in Europe; exact copies of
them had been published by the elder Niebuhr, who lost his eyesight over
the work; and Grotefend's friend, Tychsen of Rostock, believed that he
had ascertained the characters in the column, now known to be Persian,
to be alphabetic. At this point Grotefend took the matter up. His first
discovery was communicated to the Royal Society of Göttingen in 1800,
and reviewed by Tychsen two years afterwards. In 1815 he gave an account
of it in Heeren's great work on ancient history, and in 1837 published
his _Neue Beiträge zur Erläuterung der persepolitanischen Keilschrift_.
Three years later appeared his _Neue Beiträge zur Erläuterung der
babylonischen Keilschrift_. His discovery may be summed up as follows:
(1) that the Persian inscriptions contain three different forms of
cuneiform writing, so that the decipherment of the one would give the
key to the decipherment of the others; (2) that the characters of the
Persian column are alphabetic and not syllabic; (3) that they must be
read from left to right; (4) that the alphabet consists of forty
letters, including signs for long and short vowels; and (5) that the
Persepolitan inscriptions are written in Zend (which, however, is not
the case), and must be ascribed to the age of the Achaemenian princes.
The process whereby Grotefend arrived at these conclusions is a
prominent illustration of persevering genius (see CUNEIFORM). A solid
basis had thus been laid for the interpretation of the Persian
inscriptions, and all that remained was to work out the results of
Grotefend's brilliant discovery, a task ably performed by Burnouf,
Lassen and Rawlinson. Grotefend died on the 15th of December 1853.
GROTESQUE, strictly a form of decorative art, in painting or sculpture,
consisting of fantastic shapes of human beings, animals and the like,
joined together by wreaths of flowers, garlands or arabesques. The word
is also applied to any whimsical design or decorative style, if
characterized by unnatural distortion, and, generally, to anything
ludicrous or extravagantly fanciful. "Grotesque" comes through the
French from the Ital. _grottesco_, an adjective formed from _grotta_,
which has been corrupted in English to "grotto." The commonly accepted
explanation of the special use of the term "grotesque" is that this
particular form of decorative art was most frequently found in the
excavated ancient Roman and Greek dwellings found in Italy, to which was
applied the name _grotte_. The derivation of _grotta_ is through popular
Lat. _crupta_ or _grupta_ (cf. "crypt"), from Gr. [Greek: kyptê], a
vault, [Greek: kryptein], to hide. Such a term would be applicable both
to the buried dwellings of ancient Italy, and to a cavern, artificial or
natural, the ordinary sense of the word. An interesting parallel with
this origin of the word is found in that of "antic," now meaning a
freak, a jest, absurd fancy, &c. This word is the same as "antique," and
was, like "grotesque," first applied to the fanciful decorations of
ancient art.
GROTH, KLAUS (1819-1899), Low German poet, was born at Heide in
Schleswig-Holstein, on the 24th of April 1819. After studying at the
seminary in Tondern (1838-1841), he became a teacher at the girls'
school in his native village, but in 1847 went to Kiel to qualify for a
higher educational post. Ill-health interrupted his studies and it was
not until 1853 that he was able to resume them at Kiel. In 1856 he took
the degree of doctor of philosophy at Bonn, and in 1858 settled as
_privatdocent_ in German literature and languages at Kiel, where, in
1866, he was made professor, and where he lived until his death on the
1st of June 1899. In his Low German (_Plattdeutsch_) lyric and epic
poems, which reflect the influence of Johann Peter Hebel (q.v.), Groth
gives poetic expression to the country life of his northern home; and
though his descriptions may not always reflect the peculiar
characteristics of the peasantry of Holstein as faithfully as those of
F. Reuter (q.v.), yet Groth is a lyric poet of genuine inspiration. His
chief works are _Quickborn, Volksleben in plattdeutschen Gedichten
Ditmarscher Mundart_ (1852; 25th ed. 1900; and in High German
translations, notably by M. J. Berchem, Krefeld, 1896); and two volumes
of stories, _Vertelln_ (1855-1859, 3rd ed. 1881); also _Voer de Goern_
(1858) and _Ut min Jungsparadies_ (1875).
Groth's _Gesammelte Werke_ appeared in 4 vols. (1893). His
_Lebenserinnerungen_ were edited by E. Wolff in 1891; see also K.
Eggers, _K. Groth und die plattdeutsche Dichtung_ (1885); and
biographies by A. Bartels (1899) and H. Siercks (1899.)
GROTH, PAUL HEINRICH VON (1843- ), German mineralogist, was born at
Magdeburg on the 23rd of June 1843. He was educated at Freiberg, Dresden
and Berlin, and took the degree of Ph.D. in 1868. After holding from
1872 the chair of mineralogy at Strasburg, he was in 1883 appointed
professor of mineralogy and curator of minerals in the state museum at
Munich. He carried on extensive researches on crystals and minerals, and
also on rocks; and published _Tabellarische Übersicht der einfachen
Mineralien_ (1874-1898), and _Physikalische Krystallographie_
(1876-1895, ed. 4, 1905). He edited for some years the _Zeitschrift für
Krystallographie und Mineralogie_.
GROTIUS, HUGO (1583-1645), in his native country Huig van Groot, but
known to the rest of Europe by the latinized form of the name, Dutch
publicist and statesman, was born at Delft on Easter day, the 10th of
April 1583. The Groots were a branch of a family of distinction, which
had been noble in France, but had removed to the Low Countries more than
a century before. Their French name was de Cornets, and this cadet
branch had taken the name of Groot on the marriage of Hugo's
great-grandfather with a Dutch heiress. The father of Hugo was a lawyer
in considerable practice, who had four times served the office of
burgomaster of Leiden, and was one of the three curators of the
university of that place.
In the annals of precocious genius there is no greater prodigy on record
than Hugo Grotius, who was able to make good Latin verses at nine, was
ripe for the university at twelve, and at fifteen edited the
encyclopaedic work of Martianus Capella. At Leiden he was much noticed
by J. J. Scaliger, whose habit it was to engage his young friends in the
editing of some classical text. At fifteen Grotius accompanied Count
Justin of Nassau, and the grand pensionary J. van Olden Barneveldt on
their special embassy to the court of France. After a year spent in
acquiring the language and making acquaintance with the leading men of
France, Grotius returned home. He took the degree of doctor of law at
Leiden, and entered on practice as an advocate.
Notwithstanding his successes in his profession, his inclination was to
literature. In 1600 he edited the remains of Aratus, with the versions
of Cicero, Germanicus and Avienus. Of the _Germanicus_ Scaliger says--"A
better text than that which Grotius has given, it is impossible to
give"; but it is probable that Scaliger had himself been the reviser.
Grotius vied with the Latinists of his day in the composition of Latin
verses. Some lines on the siege of Ostend spread his fame beyond the
circle of the learned. He wrote three dramas in Latin:--_Christus
patiens; Sophomphaneas_, on the story of Joseph and his brethren; and
_Adamus exul_, a production still remembered as having given hints to
Milton. The _Sophomphaneas_ was translated into Dutch by Vondel, and
into English by Francis Goldsmith (1652); the _Christus patiens_ into
English by George Sandys (1640).
In 1603 the United Provinces, desiring to transmit to posterity some
account of their struggle with Spain, determined to appoint a
historiographer. The choice of the states fell upon Grotius, though he
was but twenty years of age, and had not offered himself for the post.
There was some talk at this time in Paris of calling Grotius to be
librarian of the royal library. But it was a ruse of the Jesuit party,
who wished to persuade the public that the opposition to the appointment
of Isaac Casaubon did not proceed from theological motives, since they
were ready to appoint a Protestant in the person of Grotius.
His next preferment was that of advocate-general of the fisc for the
provinces of Holland and Zeeland. This was followed by his marriage, in
1608, to Marie Reigersberg, a lady of family in Zeeland, a woman of
great capacity and noble disposition.
Grotius had already passed from occupation with the classics to studies
more immediately connected with his profession. In the winter of 1604 he
composed (but did not publish) a treatise entitled _De jure praedae_.
The MS. remained unknown till 1868, when it was brought to light, and
printed at the Hague under the auspices of Professor Fruin. It shows
that the principles and the plan of the celebrated _De jure belli_,
which was not composed till 1625, more than twenty years after, had
already been conceived by a youth of twenty-one. It has always been a
question what it was that determined Grotius, when an exile in Paris in
1625, to that particular subject, and various explanations have been
offered; among others a casual suggestion of Peiresc in a letter of
early date. The discovery of the MS. of the _De jure praedae_ discloses
the whole history of Grotius's ideas, and shows that from youth upwards
he had steadily read and meditated in one direction, that, namely, of
which the famous _De jure belli_ was the mature product. In the _De jure
praedae_ of 1604 there is much more than the germ of the later treatise
_De jure belli_. Its main principles, and the whole system of thought
implied in the later, are anticipated in the earlier work. The
arrangement even is the same. The chief difference between the two
treatises is one which twenty years' experience in affairs could not but
bring--the substitution of more cautious and guarded language, less
dogmatic affirmation, more allowance for exceptions and deviations. The
_Jus pacis_ was an addition introduced first in the later work, an
insertion which is the cause of not a little of the confused arrangement
which has been found fault with in the _De jure belli_.
The _De jure praedae_ further demonstrates that Grotius was originally
determined to this subject, not by any speculative intellectual
interest, but by a special occasion presented by his professional
engagements. He was retained by the Dutch East India Company as their
advocate. One of their captains, Heemskirk, had captured a rich
Portuguese galleon in the Straits of Malacca. The right of a private
company to make prizes was hotly contested in Holland, and denied by the
stricter religionists, especially the Mennonites, who considered all war
unlawful. Grotius undertook to prove that Heemskirk's prize had been
lawfully captured. In doing this he was led to investigate the grounds
of the lawfulness of war in general. Such was the casual origin of a
book which long enjoyed such celebrity that it used to be said, with
some exaggeration indeed, that it had founded a new science.
A short treatise which was printed in 1609, Grotius says without his
permission, under the title of _Mare liberum_, is nothing more than a
chapter--the 12th--of the _De jure praedae_. It was necessary to
Grotius's defence of Heemskirk that he should show that the Portuguese
pretence that Eastern waters were their private property was untenable.
Grotius maintains that the ocean is free to all nations. The occasional
character of this piece explains the fact that at the time of its
appearance it made no sensation. It was not till many years afterwards
that the jealousies between England and Holland gave importance to the
novel doctrine broached in the tract by Grotius, a doctrine which Selden
set himself to refute in his _Mare clausum_ (1632).
Equally due to the circumstances of the time was his small contribution
to constitutional history entitled _De antiquitate reipublicae Batavae_
(1610). In this he vindicates, on grounds of right, prescriptive and
natural, the revolt of the United Provinces against the sovereignty of
Spain.
Grotius, when he was only thirty, was made pensionary of the city of
Rotterdam. In 1613 he formed one of a deputation to England, in an
attempt to adjust those differences which gave rise afterwards to a
naval struggle disastrous to Holland. He was received by James with
every mark of distinction. He also cultivated the acquaintance of the
Anglican ecclesiastics John Overall and L. Andrewes, and was much in the
society of the celebrated scholar Isaac Casaubon, with whom he had been
in correspondence by letter for many years. Though the mediating views
in the great religious conflict between Catholic and Protestant, by
which Grotius was afterwards known, had been arrived at by him by
independent reflection, yet it could not but be that he would be
confirmed in them by finding in England a developed school of thought of
the same character already in existence. How highly Casaubon esteemed
Grotius appears from a letter of his to Daniel Heinsius, dated London,
13th of April 1613. "I cannot say how happy I esteem myself in having
seen so much of one so truly great as Grotius. A wonderful man! This I
knew him to be before I had seen him; but the rare excellence of that
divine genius no one can sufficiently feel who does not see his face,
and hear him speak. Probity is stamped on his features; his conversation
savours of true piety and profound learning. It is not only upon me that
he has made this impression; all the pious and learned to whom he has
been here introduced have felt the same towards him; the king especially
so!"
After Grotius's return from England the exasperation of theological
parties in Holland rose to such a pitch that it became clear that an
appeal to force would be made. Grotius sought to find some mean term in
which the two hostile parties of Remonstrants and Anti-remonstrants, or
as they were subsequently called Arminians and Gomarists (see
Remonstrants), might agree. A form of edict drawn by Grotius was
published by the states, recommending mutual toleration, and forbidding
ministers in the pulpit from handling the disputed dogmas. To the
orthodox Calvinists the word toleration was insupportable. They had the
populace on their side. This fact determined the stadtholder, Maurice of
Nassau, to support the orthodox party--a party to which he inclined the
more readily that Olden Barneveldt, the grand pensionary, the man whose
uprightness and abilities he most dreaded, sided with the Remonstrants.
In 1618 Prince Maurice set out on a sort of pacific campaign, disbanding
the civic guards in the various cities of Guelders, Holland and Zeeland,
and occupying the places with troops on whom he could rely. The states
of Holland sent a commission, of which Grotius was chairman, to Utrecht,
with the view of strengthening the hands of their friends, the
Remonstrant party, in that city. Feeble plans were formed, but not
carried into effect, for shutting the gates upon the stadtholder, who
entered the city with troops on the night of the 26th of July 1618.
There were conferences in which Grotius met Prince Maurice, and taught
him that Olden Barneveldt was not the only man of capacity in the ranks
of the Remonstrants whom he had to fear. On the early morning of the
31st of July the prince's _coup d'état_ against the liberties of Utrecht
and of Holland was carried out; the civic guard was disarmed--Grotius
and his colleagues saving themselves by a precipitate flight. But it was
only a reprieve. The grand pensionary, Olden Barneveldt, the leader of
the Remonstrant party, Grotius and Hoogerbeets were arrested, brought to
trial, and condemned--Olden Barneveldt to death, and Grotius to
imprisonment for life and confiscation of his property. In June 1619 he
was immured in the fortress of Louvestein near Gorcum. His confinement
was rigorous, but after a time his wife obtained permission to share his
captivity, on the condition that if she came out, she should not be
suffered to return.
Grotius had now before him, at thirty-six, no prospect but that of a
life-long captivity. He did not abandon himself to despair, but sought
refuge in returning to the classical pursuits of his youth. Several of
his translations (into Latin) from the Greek tragedians and other
writers, made at this time, have been printed. "The Muses," he writes to
Voss, "were now his consolation, and appeared more amiable than ever."
The ingenuity of Madame Grotius at length devised a mode of escape. It
had grown into a custom to send the books which he had done with in a
chest along with his linen to be washed at Gorcum. After a time the
warders began to let the chest pass without opening it. Madame Grotius,
perceiving this, prevailed on her husband to allow himself to be shut up
in it at the usual time. The two soldiers who carried the chest out
complained that it was so heavy "there must be an Arminian in it."
"There are indeed," said Madame Grotius, "Arminian books in it." The
chest was carried to the house of a friend, where Grotius was released.
He was then dressed like a mason with hod and trowel, and so conveyed
over the frontier. His first place of refuge was Antwerp, from which he
proceeded to Paris, where he arrived in April 1621. In October he was
joined by his wife. There he was presented to the king, Louis XIII., and
a pension of 3000 livres conferred upon him. French pensions were easily
granted, all the more so as they were never paid. Grotius was now
reduced to great straits. He looked about for any opening through which
he might earn a living. There was talk of something in Denmark; or he
would settle in Spires, and practise in the court there. Some little
relief he got through the intervention of Étienne d'Aligre, the
chancellor, who procured a royal mandate which enabled Grotius to draw,
not all, but a large part of his pension. In 1623 the president Henri de
Même lent him his château of Balagni near Senlis (dep. Oise), and there
Grotius passed the spring and summer of that year. De Thou gave him
facilities to borrow books from the superb library formed by his father.
In these circumstances the _De jure belli et pacis_ was composed. That a
work of such immense reading, consisting in great part of quotation,
should have been written in little more than a year was a source of
astonishment to his biographers. The achievement would have been
impossible, but for the fact that Grotius had with him the first draft
of the work made in 1604. He had also got his brother William, when
reading his classics, to mark down all the passages which touched upon
law, public or private. In March 1625 the printing of the _De jure
belli_, which had taken four months, was completed, and the edition
despatched to the fair at Frankfort. His own honorarium as author
consisted of 200 copies, of which, however, he had to give away many to
friends, to the king, the principal courtiers, the papal nuncio, &c.
What remained he sold for his own profit at the price of a crown each,
but the sale did not recoup him his outlay. But though his book brought
him no profit it brought him reputation, so widely spread, and of such
long endurance, as no other legal treatise has ever enjoyed.
Grotius hoped that his fame would soften the hostility of his foes, and
that his country would recall him to her service. Theological rancour,
however, prevailed over all other sentiments, and, after fruitless
attempts to re-establish himself in Holland, Grotius accepted service
under Sweden, in the capacity of ambassador to France. He was not very
successful in negotiating the treaty on behalf of the Protestant
interest in Germany, Richelieu having a special dislike to him. He never
enjoyed the confidence of the court to which he was accredited, and
frittered away his influence in disputes about precedence. In 1645 he
demanded and obtained his recall. He was honourably received at
Stockholm, but neither the climate nor the tone of the court suited him,
and he asked permission to leave. He was driven by a storm on the coast
near Dantzig. He got as far as Rostock, where he found himself very ill.
Stockman, a Scottish physician who was sent for, thought it was only
weakness, and that rest would restore the patient. But Grotius sank
rapidly, and died on the 29th of August 1645.
Grotius combined a wide circle of general knowledge with a profound
study of one branch of law. History, theology, jurisprudence, politics,
classics, poetry,--all these fields he cultivated. His commentaries on
the Scriptures were the first application on an extensive scale of the
principle affirmed by Scaliger, that, namely, of interpretation by the
rules of grammar without dogmatic assumptions. Grotius's philological
skill, however, was not sufficient to enable him to work up to this
ideal.
As in many other points Grotius inevitably recalls Erasmus, so he does
in his attitude towards the great schism. Grotius was, however, animated
by an ardent desire for peace and concord. He thought that a basis for
reconciliation of Protestant and Catholic might be found in a common
piety, combined with reticence upon discrepancies of doctrinal
statement. His _De veritate religionis Christianae_ (1627), a
presentment of the evidences, is so written as to form a code of common
Christianity, irrespective of sect. The little treatise became widely
popular, gaining rather than losing popularity in the 18th century. It
became the classical manual of apologetics in Protestant colleges, and
was translated for missionary purposes into Arabic (by Pococke, 1660),
Persian, Chinese, &c. His _Via et votum ad pacem ecclesiasticam_ (1642)
was a detailed proposal of a scheme of accommodation. Like all men of
moderate and mediating views, he was charged by both sides with
vacillation. An Amsterdam minister, James Laurent, published his
_Grotius papizans_ (1642), and it was continually being announced from
Paris that Grotius had "gone over." Hallam, who has collected all the
passages from Grotius's letters in which the prejudices and narrow
tenets of the Reformed clergy are condemned, thought he had a "bias
towards popery" (_Lit. of Europe_, ii. 312). The true interpretation of
Grotius's mind appears to be an indifference to dogmatic propositions,
produced by a profound sentiment of piety. He approached parties as a
statesman approaches them, as facts which have to be dealt with, and
governed, not suppressed in the interests of some one of their number.
His editions and translations of the classics were either juvenile
exercises prescribed by Scaliger, or "lusus poetici," the amusement of
vacant hours. Grotius read the classics as a humanist, for the sake of
their contents, not as a professional scholar.
His _Annals of the Low Countries_ was begun as an official duty while he
held the appointment of historiographer, and was being continued and
retouched by him to the last. It was not published till 1657, by his
sons Peter and Cornelius.
Grotius was a great jurist, and his _De jure belli et pacis_ (Paris,
1625), though not the first attempt in modern times to ascertain the
principles of jurisprudence, went far more fundamentally into the
discussion than any one had done before him. The title of the work was
so far misleading that the _jus belli_ was a very small part of his
comprehensive scheme. In his treatment of this narrower question he had
the works of Alberico Gentili and Ayala before him, and has acknowledged
his obligations to them. But it is in the larger questions to which he
opened the way that the merit of Grotius consists. His was the first
attempt to obtain a principle of right, and a basis for society and
government, outside the church or the Bible. The distinction between
religion on the one hand and law and morality on the other is not indeed
clearly conceived by Grotius, but he wrestles with it in such a way as
to make it easy for those who followed him to seize it. The law of
nature is unalterable; God Himself cannot alter it any more than He can
alter a mathematical axiom. This law has its source in the nature of man
as a social being; it would be valid even were there no God, or if God
did not interfere in the government of the world. These positions,
though Grotius's religious temper did not allow him to rely unreservedly
upon them, yet, even in the partial application they find in his book,
entitle him to the honour of being held the founder of the modern
science of the law of nature and nations. The _De jure_ exerted little
influence on the practice of belligerents, yet its publication was an
epoch in the science. De Quincey has said that the book is equally
divided between "empty truisms and time-serving Dutch falsehoods." For a
saner judgment and a brief abstract of the contents of the _De jure_,
consult J. K. Bluntschli, _Geschichte des allgemeinen Staatsrechts_
(Munich, 1864). A fuller analysis, and some notice of the predecessors
of Grotius, will be found in Hély, _Étude sur le droit de la guerre de
Grotius_ (Paris, 1875). The writer, however, had never heard of the _De
jure praedae_, published in 1868. Hallam, _Lit. of Europe_, ii. p. 543,
has an abstract done with his usual conscientious pains. Dugald Stewart
(_Collected Works_, i. 370) has dwelt upon the confusion and defects of
Grotius's theory. Sir James Mackintosh (_Miscell. Works_, p. 166) has
defended Grotius, affirming that his work "is perhaps the most complete
that the world has yet owed, at so early a stage in the progress of any
science, to the genius and learning of one man."
The chief writings of Grotius have been named. For a complete
bibliography of his works, see Lehmann, _Hugonis Grotii manes
vindicati_ (Delft, 1727), which also contains a full biography. Of
this Latin life De Burigny published a réchauffée in French (2 vols.,
8vo, Paris, 1752). Other lives are: Van Brandt, _Historie van het
Leven H. de Groot_ (2 vols., 8vo, Dordrecht, 1727); Von Luden, _Hugo
Grotius nach seinen Schicksalen und Schriften dargestellt_ (8vo,
Berlin, 1806); _Life of Hugo Grotius_, by Charles Butler of Lincoln's
Inn (8vo, London, 1826). The work of the Abbé Hély contains a life of
Grotius. See also _Hugo Grotius_, by L. Neumann (Berlin, 1884);
_Opinions of Grotius_, by D. P. de Bruyn (London, 1894).
Grotius's theological works were collected in 3 vols. fol. at
Amsterdam (1644-1646; reprinted London, 1660; Amsterdam, 1679; and
again Amsterdam, 1698). His letters were printed first in a selection,
_Epistolae ad Gallos_ (12mo, Leiden, 1648), abounding, though an
Elzevir, in errors of the press. They were collected in _H. Grotii
epistolae quotquot reperiri poluerunt_ (fol., Amsterdam, 1687). A few
may be found scattered in other collections of _Epistolae_.
Supplements to the large collection of 1687 were published at Haarlem,
1806; Leiden, 1809; and Haarlem, 1829. The _De jure belli_ was
translated into English by Whewell (3 vols., 8vo, Cambridge, 1853);
into French by Barbeyrac (2 vols. 4to, Amsterdam, 1724); into German
in Kirchmann's _Philosophische Bibliothek_ (3 vols. 12mo, Leipzig,
1879). (M. P.)
GROTTAFERRATA, a village of Italy, in the province of Rome, from which
it is 13 m. S.E. by electric tramway, and 2½ m. S. of Frascati, 1080 ft.
above sea-level, in the Alban Hills. Pop. (1901) 2645. It is noticeable
for the Greek monastery of Basilians founded by S. Nilus in 1002 under
the Emperor Otho III., and which occupies the site of a large Roman
villa, possibly that of Cicero. It was fortified at the end of the 15th
century by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (afterwards Pope Julius II.),
whose arms may be seen about it. The massive towers added by him give it
a picturesque appearance. The church belongs to the 12th century, and
the original portal, with a mosaic over it, is still preserved; the
interior was restored in 1574 and in 1754, but there are some remains of
frescoes of the 13th century. The chapel of S. Nilus contains frescoes
by Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino) of 1610, illustrating the life of the
saint, which are among his most important works. The abbot's palace has
a fine Renaissance portico, and contains an interesting museum of local
antiquities. The library contains valuable MSS., among them one from the
hand of S. Nilus (965); and a palaeographical school, for the copying of
MSS. in the ancient style, is maintained. An _omophorion_ of the 11th or
12th century, with scenes from the Gospel in needlework, and a chalice
of the 15th century with enamels, given by Cardinal Bessarion, the
predecessor of Giuliano della Rovere as commendatory of the abbey, are
among its treasures. An important exhibition of Italo-Byzantine art was
held here in 1905-1906.
See A. Rocchi, _La Badia di Grottaferrata_ (Rome, 1884); A. Muñoz,
_L'Art byzantin à l'exposition de Grottaferrata_ (Rome, 1905); T.
Ashby in _Papers of the British School at Rome_, iv. (1907).
(T. As.)
GROUCHY, EMMANUEL, MARQUIS DE (1766-1847), marshal of France, was born
in Paris on the 23rd of October 1766. He entered the French artillery in
1779, transferred to the cavalry in 1782, and to the _Gardes du corps_
in 1786. In spite of his aristocratic birth and his connexions with the
court, he was a convinced supporter of the principles of the Revolution,
and had in consequence to leave the Guards. About the time of the
outbreak of war in 1792 he became colonel of a cavalry regiment, and
soon afterwards, as a _maréchal de camp_, he was sent to serve on the
south-eastern frontier. In 1793 he distinguished himself in La Vendée,
and was promoted general of division. Grouchy was shortly afterwards
deprived of his rank as being of noble birth, but in 1795 he was again
placed on the active list. He served on the staff of the Army of Ireland
(1796-1797), and took a conspicuous part in the Irish expedition. In
1798 he administered the civil and military government of Piedmont at
the time of the abdication of the king of Sardinia, and in 1799 he
distinguished himself greatly as a divisional commander in the campaign
against the Austrians and Russians. In covering the retreat of the
French after the defeat of Novi, Grouchy received fourteen wounds and
was taken prisoner. On his release he returned to France. In spite of
his having protested against the _coup d'état_ of the 18th of Brumaire
he was at once re-employed by the First Consul, and distinguished
himself again at Hohenlinden. It was not long before he accepted the new
régime in France, and from 1801 onwards he was employed by Napoleon in
military and political positions of importance. He served in Austria in
1805, in Prussia in 1806, Poland in 1807, Spain in 1808, and commanded
the cavalry of the Army of Italy in 1809 in the Viceroy Eugène's advance
to Vienna. In 1812 he was made commander of one of the four cavalry
corps of the Grand Army, and during the retreat from Moscow Napoleon
appointed him to command the escort squadron, which was composed
entirely of picked officers. His almost continuous service with the
cavalry led Napoleon to decline in 1813 to place Grouchy at the head of
an army corps, and Grouchy thereupon retired to France. In 1814,
however, he hastened to take part in the defensive campaign in France,
and he was severely wounded at Craonne. At the Restoration he was
deprived of the post of colonel-general of _chasseurs à cheval_ and
retired. He joined Napoleon on his return from Elba, and was made
marshal and peer of France. In the campaign of Waterloo he commanded the
reserve cavalry of the army, and after Ligny he was appointed to command
the right wing to pursue the Prussians. The march on Wavre, its
influence on the result of the campaign, and the controversy to which
Grouchy's conduct on the day of Waterloo has given rise, are dealt with
briefly in the article WATERLOO CAMPAIGN, and at length in nearly every
work on the campaign of 1815. Here it is only necessary to say that on
the 17th Grouchy was unable to close with the Prussians, and on the
18th, though urged to march towards the sound of the guns of Waterloo,
he permitted himself, from whatever cause, to be held up by a Prussian
rearguard while the Prussians and English united to crush Napoleon. On
the 19th Grouchy won a smart victory over the Prussians at Wavre, but it
was then too late. So far as resistance was possible after the great
disaster, Grouchy made it. He gathered up the wrecks of Napoleon's army,
and retired, swiftly and unbroken, to Paris, where, after interposing
his reorganized forces between the enemy and the capital, he resigned
his command into the hands of Marshal Davout. The rest of his life was
spent in defending himself. An attempt to have him condemned to death by
a court-martial failed, but he was exiled and lived in America till
amnestied in 1821. On his return to France he was reinstated as general,
but not as marshal nor as peer of France. For many years thereafter he
was equally an object of aversion to the court party, as a member of
their own caste who had followed the Revolution and Napoleon, and to his
comrades of the Grand Army as the supposed betrayer of Napoleon. In 1830
Louis Philippe gave him back the marshal's bâton and restored him to the
Chamber of Peers. He died at St-Étienne on the 29th of May 1847.
See Marquis de Grouchy, _Mémoires du maréchal Marquis de Grouchy_
(Paris, 1873-1874); General Marquis de Grouchy, _Le Général Grouchy en
Irlande_ (Paris, 1866), and _Le Maréchal Grouchy du 16 au 18 juin,
1815_ (Paris, 1864); _Appel à l'histoire sur les faites de l'aile
droite de l'armée française_ (Paris, n.d.); _Sévère Justice sur les
faits ... du 28 juin au 3 juillet, 1815_ (Paris, 1866); and the
literature of the Waterloo campaign. Marshal Grouchy himself wrote the
following: _Observations sur la relation de la campagne de 1815 par le
général de Gourgaud_ (Philadelphia and Paris, 1818); _Réfutation de
quelques articles des mémoires de M. le Duc de Rovigo_ (Paris, 1829);
_Fragments historiques relatifs à la campagne et à la bataille de
Waterloo_ (Paris, 1829-1830, in reply to Barthélemy and Méry, and to
Marshal Gérard); _Réclamation du maréchal de Grouchy_ (Paris, 1834);
_Plainte contre le général Baron Berthezène_ (Berthezène, formerly a
divisional commander under Gérard, stated in reply to this defence
that he had no intention of accusing Grouchy of ill faith).
GROUND-ICE,[1] ice formed at the bottom of streams while the temperature
of the water is above freezing-point. Everything points to radiation as
the prime cause of the formation of ground-ice. It is formed only under
a clear sky, never in cloudy weather; it is most readily formed on dark
rocks, and never under any covering such as a bridge, and rarely under
surface-ice. Professor Howard T. Barnes of McGill University concludes
that the radiation from a river bed in cold and clear nights goes
through the water in long rays that penetrate much more easily from
below upwards than the sun's heat rays from above downwards, which are
mostly absorbed by the first few feet of water. On a cold clear night,
therefore, the radiation from the bottom is excessive, and loosely-grown
spongy masses of anchor-ice form on the bottom, which on the following
bright sunny day receive just sufficient heat from the sun to detach the
mass of ice, which rises to the surface with considerable force. It is
probable that owing to surface tension a thin film of stationary water
rests upon the boulders and sand over which a stream flows, and that
this, becoming frozen owing to radiation, forms the foundation for the
anchor-ice and produces a surface upon which the descending frazil-ice
(see below) can lodge. The theory of radiation from the boulders is
supported by the fact that as the ice is formed upon them in response to
a sudden fall in the air temperature, it is only released under the
influence of a strong rise of temperature during the morning. It may not
rise for several days, but the advent of bright sunlight is followed by
the appearance on the surface of masses of ground-ice. This ice has a
spongy texture and frequently carries gravel with it when it rises. It
is said that the bottom of Lake Erie is strewn with gravel that has been
floated down in this way. This "anchor-ice," as it was called by
Canadian trappers, frequently forms dams across narrow portions of the
river where the floating masses are caught. Dr H. Landor pointed out
that the Mackenzie and Mississippi rivers, which rise in the same region
and flow in opposite directions, carry ground-ice from their head-waters
for a considerable distance down stream, and suggested that here and in
Siberia many forms of vegetable and animal life may be distributed from
a centre by this agency, since the material carried by the floating ice
would contain the seeds and eggs or larvae of many forms.
Besides ground-ice and anchor-ice this formation is called also
bottom-ice, ground-gru and lappered ice, the two last names being
Scottish. In France it is called _glace du fond_, in Germany _Grundeis_,
and in French Canada _moutonne_ from the appearance of sheep at rest,
since the ice formed at the bottom grows in woolly, spongy masses upon
boulders or other projections.
"Frazil-ice" is a Canadian term from the French for "forge-cinders." It
is surface ice formed in spicules and carried downwards in water
agitated by winds or rapids. The frazil-ice may render swiftly moving
water turbid with ice crystals, it may be swirled downwards and
accumulated upon the ground ice, or it may be swept under the sheet of
surface-ice, coating the under surface of the sheet to a thickness as
great as 80 ft. of loose spicular ice.
See W. G. Thompson, in _Nature_, i. 555 (1870); H. Landor, in
_Geological Magazine_, decade II., vol. iii., p. 459 (1876); H. T.
Barnes, _Ice Formation with special Reference to Anchor-ice and
Frazil_ (1906).
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The O. Eng. word _grund_, ground, is common to Teutonic
languages, cf. Du. _grond_, Ger. _Grund_, but has no cognates outside
Teutonic. The suggestion that the origin is to be found in "grind,"
to crush small, reduce to powder, is plausible, but the primary
meaning seems to be the lowest part or bottom of anything rather than
grit, sand or gravel. The main branches in sense appear to be, first,
bottom, as of the sea or a river, cf. the use, in the plural, for
dregs; second, base or foundation, actual, as of the first or main
surface of a painting, fabric, &c., or figurative, as of a principle
or reason; third, the surface of the earth, or a particular part of
that surface.
GROUND NUT (Earth Nut, Pistache de Terre, Monkey Nut, Pea Nut, Manilla
Nut), in botany, the fruit or pod of _Arachis hypogaea_ (nat. ord.
Leguminosae). The plant is an annual of diffuse habit, with hairy stem,
and two-paired, abruptly pinnate leaflets. The pods or legumes are
stalked, oblong, cylindrical, about 1 in. in length, the thin
reticulated shell containing one or two irregularly ovoid seeds. After
the flower withers, the stalk of the ovary has the peculiarity of
elongating and bending down, forcing the young pod underground, and thus
the seeds become matured at some distance below the surface. Hence the
specific and vernacular names of the plant. Originally a native of South
America, it is extensively cultivated in all tropical and subtropical
countries. The plant affects a light sandy soil, and is very prolific,
yielding in some instances 30 to 38 bushels of nuts per acre. The pods
when ripe are dug up and dried. The seeds when fresh are largely eaten
in tropical countries, and in taste are almost equal to almonds; when
roasted they are used as a substitute for chocolate. In America they are
consumed in large quantities as the "pea-nut"; but are not much
appreciated in England except by the poorer children, who know them as
"monkey-nuts." By expression the seeds yield a large quantity of oil,
which is used by natives for lamps, as a fish or curry oil and for
medicinal purposes. The leaves form an excellent food for cattle, being
very like clover.
Large quantities of seeds are imported to Europe, chiefly to Marseilles,
London and Hamburg, for the sake of their contained oil. The seeds yield
from 42 to 50% of oil by cold expression, but a larger quantity is
obtained by heat, although of an inferior quality. The seeds being soft
facilitate mechanical expression, and where bisulphide of carbon or
other solvent is used, a very pure oil is obtained.
The expressed oil is limpid, of a light yellowish or straw colour,
having a faint smell and bland taste; it forms an excellent substitute
for olive oil, although in a slight degree more prone to rancidity than
the latter. Its specific gravity is 0.916 to 0.918; it becomes turbid at
3° C., concretes at +3° to -4° C., and hardens at +7° C. It is a
non-drying oil. Ground nut oil consists of (1) oleic acid (C18H34O2);
(2) hypogaeic acid (C16H30O2), by some supposed to be identical with a
fatty acid found in whale oil; (3) palmitic acid (C16H32O2); and (4)
arachic acid (C20H40O2). The oil is used in the adulteration of gingelly
oil.
GROUND-PEARL, the glassy secretion forming the pupacase of coccid
insects of the genus _Margarodes_, belonging to the homopterous division
of the Hemiptera.
GROUND RENT. In Roman law, ground rent (_solarium_) was an annual rent
payable by the lessee of a _superficies_ or perpetual lease of building
land. In English law, it appears that the term was at one time popularly
used for the houses and lands out of which ground rents issue as well as
for the rents themselves (cf. _Maundy_ v. _Maundy_, 2 Strange, 1020);
and Lord Eldon observed in 1815 that the context in which the term
occurred may materially vary its meaning (_Stewart_ v. _Alliston_, 1
Mer. 26). But at the present time the accepted meaning of ground rent is
the rent at which land is let for the purpose of improvement by
building, i.e. a rent charged in respect of the land only and not in
respect of the buildings to be placed thereon. It thus conveys the idea
of something lower than a rack rent (see RENT); and accordingly if a
vendor described property as property for which he paid a "ground rent,"
without any further explanation of the term, a purchaser would not be
obliged to accept the property if it turned out to be held at a rack
rent. But while a rack rent is generally higher in amount than a ground
rent, the latter is usually better secured, as it carries with it the
reversionary interest in buildings and improvements put on the ground
_after_ the date at which the ground rent was fixed, and accordingly
ground rents have been regarded as a good investment. Trustees empowered
to invest money on the security of freehold or copyhold hereditaments,
may invest upon freehold ground rents reserved out of house property. In
estimating the amount that may be so invested, account may be taken of
the value of the houses, as, if the ground rents are not paid, the
landlord can re-enter. Again, where a settlement authorizes trustees to
purchase lands or hereditaments in fee-simple or possession, a purchase
of freehold ground rents has been held to be proper. A devise of "ground
rent" carries not only the rent but the reversion. Where a tenant is
compelled, in order to protect himself in the enjoyment of the land in
respect of which his rent is payable, to pay ground rent to a superior
landlord (who is of course in a position to distrain on him for it), he
is considered as having been authorized by his immediate landlord to
apply his rent, due or accruing due, in this manner, and the payment of
the ground rent will be held to be payment of the rent itself or part of
it. A lodger should make any payment of this character under the Law of
Distress Amendment Act 1908 (s. 3; and see RENT). Ground rents are
apportionable (see APPORTIONMENT).
In Scots law, the term "ground rent" is not employed, but its place is
taken, for practical purposes, by the "ground-annual," which bears a
double meaning. (i.) At the time of the Reformation in Scotland, the
lands of the Church were parcelled out by the crown into various
lordships--the grantees being called Lords of Erection. In the 17th
century these Lords of Erection resigned their superiorities to the
crown, with the exception of the feu-duties, which were to be retained
till a price agreed upon for their redemption had been paid. This
reserved power of redemption was, however, resigned by the crown on
the eve of the Union and the feu-duties became payable in perpetuity
to the Lords of Erection as a "ground-annual." (ii.) Speculators in
building ground usually grant sub-feus to builders at a high feu-duty.
But where sub-feus are prohibited--as they might be, prior to the
Conveyancing (Scotland) Act 1874--and there is much demand for
building ground, the feuars frequently stipulate for an annual rent
from the builders rather than for a price payable at once. This annual
rent is called a "ground-annual." Interest is not due on arrears of
ground-annuals. Like other real burdens, ground-annuals may now be
freely assigned and conveyed (Conveyancing (Scotland) Act 1874, s.
30).
The term "ground rent" in the English sense does not seem to be
generally used in the United States, but is applied in Pennsylvania to a
kind of tenure, created by a grant in fee simple, the grantor reserving
to himself and his heirs a certain rent, which is the interest of the
money value of the land. These "ground rents" are real estate, and, in
cases of intestacy, go to the heir. They are rent services and not rent
charges--the statute _Quia Emptores_ never having been in force in
Pennsylvania, and are subject to all the incidents of such rents (see
RENT). The grantee of such a "ground rent" may mortgage, sell, or
otherwise dispose of the grant as he pleases; and while the rent is paid
the land cannot be sold or the value of the improvements lost.
A ground rent being a freehold estate, created by deed and perpetual in
duration, no presumption could, at common law, arise from lapse of time,
that it had been released. But now, by statute (Act of 27th of April
1855, s. 7), a presumption of release or extinguishment is created where
no payment, claim or demand has been made for the rent, nor any
declaration or acknowledgment of its existence made or given by the
owner of the premises subject to it, for the period of 21 years. Ground
rents were formerly irredeemable after a certain time. But the creation
of irredeemable ground rents is now forbidden (Pennsylvania Act 7
Assembly, 22nd of April 1850).
For English Law see Foa, _Landlord and Tenant_ (3rd ed., London,
1901); Scots Law, Bell's _Principles_ (10th ed., Edinburgh, 1899);
American Law, Bouvier, _Law Dict._ (Boston and London, 1897).
(A. W. R.)
GROUNDSEL (Ger. _Kreuzkraut_; Fr. _seneçon_), _Senecio vulgaris_, an
annual, glabrous, or more or less woolly plant of the natural order
Compositae, having a branched succulent stem 6 to 15 in. in height,
pinnatifid irregularly and coarsely-toothed leaves, and small
cylindrical heads of yellow tubular florets enveloped in an involucre of
numerous narrow bracts; the ribbed fruit bears a soft, feathery, hoary
tuft of hairs (_pappus_). The plant is indigenous to Europe, whence it
has been introduced into all temperate climates. It is a troublesome
weed, flowering throughout the year, and propagating itself rapidly by
means of its light feathery fruits; it has its use, however, as a food
for cage-birds. _Senecio Jacobaea_, ragwort, is a showy plant with heads
of bright yellow flowers, common in pastures and by roadsides. The genus
_Senecio_ is a very large one, widely distributed in temperate and cold
climates. The British species are all herbs, but the genus also includes
shrubs and even arborescent forms, which are characteristic features of
the vegetation of the higher levels on the mountains of tropical Africa.
Many species of the genus are handsome florists' plants. The groundsel
tree, _Baccharis halimifolia_, a native of the North American sea-coast
from Massachusetts southward, is a Composite shrub, attaining 6 to 12
ft. in height, and having angular branches, obovate or oblong-cuneate,
somewhat scurfy leaves, and flowers larger than but similar to those of
common groundsel. The long white pappus of the female plant renders it a
conspicuous object in autumn. The groundsel tree has been cultivated in
British gardens since 1683.
The Old English word, represented by "groundsel," appears in two
forms, _grundeswylige_ and _gundæswelgiæ_; of the first form the
accepted derivation is from _grund_, ground, and _swelgau_, to
swallow; a weed of such rapid growth would not inaptly be styled a
"ground-swallower." If the form without the r be genuine, the word
might mean "pus-absorber" (O.E. _gund_, filth, matter), with reference
to its use in poultices for abscesses and the like.
GROUND-SQUIRREL, one of the names for a group of (chiefly) North
American striped terrestrial squirrel-like rodents, more generally known
as chipmunks. They are closely allied to squirrels, from which they are
distinguished by the possession of cheek-pouches for the storage of
food. The sides, or the sides and back, are marked with light stripes
bordered by dark bands; the ears are small, and without tufts; and the
tail is relatively short. With the exception of one Siberian species
(_Tamias asiaticus_), ground-squirrels are confined to North America,
where they are represented by a large number of species and races, all
referable to the genus _Tamias_. In North America ground-squirrels are
migratory, and may be abundant in a district one year, and absent the
next. They feed on nuts, beechmast, corn and roots, and also on grubs.
With the assistance of their cheek-pouches they accumulate large
supplies of food for the winter, during which season they lie dormant in
holes. Although generally keeping to the ground, when hunted they take
to trees, which they climb in search of food. One of the longest known
American species is _T. striatus_.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 - "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel"" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.