the neighboring countries submitted to the French in 1797, the neutrality, which the republic had strictly observed, did not save their fluctuating government from ruin. Bonaparte gave them a new constitution, formed upon the principles of the French representative system. Two years afterwards, a portion of the Genoese territory fell into the hands of the Austrians; but the fate of Genoa was decided by the battle of Marengo. A provisional government was established, and, in 1802, it received a new constitution, as the Ligurian republic. The doge was assisted by 29 senators, and a council of 72 members, as representatives of the people, which met annually, examined the government accounts, and approved the laws proposed to them by the senate. The members of the council were elected by three colleges, and consisted of 300 landed proprietors, 200 merchants, and 100 men of the literary professions. The republic also acquired some increase of territory, and had, in 1804, a population exceeding 600,000. Its naval force, which was so formidable in the middle ages, now consists only of from four to six galleys, and some armed barques. The land force comprises two German regiments of government guards, 3000 national troops, and 2000 militia. The shipping trade was, in June, 1805, when the republic was incorporated with the French empire, but the shadow of its former greatness, and extended no further than to Italy, the south of France, Spain and Portugal. Before the last wars in Europe, the Genoese supplied a great part of Italy with eastern spices, which were brought to them by the Dutch, with sugar and coffee, partly from Lisbon, and partly from Marseilles, and with fish and salt. Ships from Hamburg brought Saxon linen and cloth. The carrying trade of Genoa was of consequence, but the most important branch of its business was its dealings in. money and exchange. Many of the European states, Spain particularly, were debtors to the bank of Genoa, and to wealthy individuals in the city. The bank was, in part, for loans, and partly for deposit. It possessed some fine territories, and its income was over ten millions of French livres. The administration of its concerns was committed to eight directors, and it had jurisdiction over its own officers. But the more frequently the state sought relief from the bank, in its pressing wants, so much the more did it decline in credit. The republic had pledged various imposts for the payment

of the interest upon capital borrowed from the bank, which were continually increased, if they were not sufficient to pay it. At the union of Genoa with the French empire, the bank was abolished, and the rents of 3,400,000 Genoese lire, which they owed to their creditors, were transferred to the account books of France. Upon the overthrow of the French empire, the British became possessed of their city; and the Genoese hoped the more confidently for the reestablishment of their ancient commonwealth, as they had received the assurance of the British commander, Bentinck, in the name of his government, to this effect. But the congress of Vienna, in 1815, assigned Genoa, with its territories, to Sardinia, stipulating that it should have a sort of representative constitution. Accordingly, Genoa has its senate, and its provincial council, which must be consulted in the business of taxation. The high court at Genoa has equal powers with that at Turin, Nizza, &c., the university was retained; St. George's bank restored, &c. The government is administered by a commission appointed for the purpose, which is divided into three departments-that of internal affairs, finance, the military and marine.

GENS D'ARMES; the name originally given in France to the whole body of armed men (gens armata), but, after the introduction of standing armies, to a body of heavy armed cavalry, which composed the chief strength of the forces, and was provided with helmets, cuirasses, pistols, horses protected with armor, &c. After the time of Louis XIV, they had only pistols, helmets and swords. Part of them were under the immediate orders of the king, part composed the first body of the French cavalry. The latter consisted of men of rank, and belonged to the troops of the royal household. At the revolution, this body was broken up. The name gens d'armes has since been given to a corps, which succeeded the former (maréchaussée), employed in the protection of the streets. It was composed of infantry and cavalry, and belonged to the military, but served principally to enforce the police regulations. Under Napoleon, it was a distinction to serve in this corps, because only veterans were employed in it; but the members were hated in a high degree, because they had to execute so many odious orders. When the German nations rose against Napoleon, gens d'armes were killed wherever they were found. The Bourbons retained this corps; and they are said to have behaved generally

with great moderation; yet the people continued to hate them as the instruments of tyranny. On one occasion, however, the massacre of the rue St. Denis,--they seemed to take revenge for all the insults they had suffered so long. This hastened Villèle's downfall. (See France, History of) August 16, 1830, a royal ordinance abolished the gens d'armes, and established a new body called the municipal guard of Paris, to consist of 1443 men, under the direction of the prefect of police.

GENTIAN; a genus of plants, belonging to the natural order gentianea, including about a hundred species, many of them remarkable for the beauty of their flowers, which are usually of different shades of blue, but sometimes red, purple, yellow, or rose-colored. Most of the species inhabit the northern regions of the globe, or the tops of the highest mountains, particularly of the European Alps. The Andes of South America and Mexico afford 15 species, and one has been discovered in New Holland; 10 species only inhabit the United States. They are herbaceous plants, with simple, sessile, opposite leaves, and terminal or axillary flowers, either solitary or fasciculate, furnished with two styles, and usually five stamens, but sometimes four only; the calyx is of one leaf, and the corolla monopetalous, varying, however, considerably in shape in the different species, either rotate, campanulate, or funnel-shaped, and sometimes plaited, or with a fringed margin. The officinal gentian is the dried root of the G. lutea of the European Alps, which has a stem about three feet high, broad, ovate leaves, and numerous yellow flowers; it has an intensely bitter taste, and is frequently employed as a tonic in diseases of debility; indeed, its febrifuge virtues have been celebrated from antiquity, and it was in common use in intermittents before the discovery of cinchona, which it strongly resembles, and for which it may be advantageously substituted. The other species of gentian possess similar properties, in a greater or less degree, which, indeed, extend to the other genera of the same family-frasera, sabbatia, spigelia, &c. The G. crinita produces one of the most beautiful flowers in North America; it is very large, of a beautiful blue, and fringed on the margin; the plant flowers late in the autumn, and is not uncommon in wet places between the 48th and 38th parallels of latitude.

GENTILES. The Hebrews gave the name of gojim (nations), to all the inhabitants of the earth, except the Israelites.

Originally this word had nothing reproachful in its meaning, but, by degrees, the Jews attached such a character to it, on account of the idolatry of all nations, except themselves. The Jewish converts to the gospel continued the name gojim (in Latin, gentes), for those who neither Jews nor Christians. St. Paul is called the apostle of the Gentiles, because he labored chiefly to convert or instruct the foreign pagans.

were

GENTLEMAN. In the modern languages of western Europe, we generally find a word to signify a person distinguished by his standing from the laboring classes, as gentiluomo, gentilhomme, hidalgo, &c. In the German language, the term which most nearly expresses the same idea, is gebildet, which includes not only gentlemanly manners, but also a cultivated mind. The English law-books say, that, under the denomination of gentlemen, are comprised all above yeomen; so that noblemen are truly called gentlemen; and further, that a gentleman, in England, is generally defined to be one, who, without any title, bears a coat of arms, or whose ancestors have been freemen: the coat determines whether he is or is not descended from others of the same name. In Blackstone's table of the rules of precedence in England, we find, after the nobility and certain official dignities, that doctors, esquires, gentlemen, yeomen, tradesmen, artificers, laborers, take rank in the order in which we have named them. But the word corresponding to gentleman, has in no language received so much of a moral signification as in England. The reason of this seems to us to be, that aristocracy has no where taken the lead, in all matters of life, so much as in England, and that, therefore, the word gentleman, meaning, originally, a man of gentle, that is, noble blood, soon came to signify a man that does what is proper, becoming, and behaves like a person of the higher, viz., well bred classes. Gentleman, in its highest sense, signifies a person who not only does what is right and just, but whose conduct is guided by a true principle of honor, that honor which does not consist in observing fashionable punctilios, but springs from that selfrespect and intellectual refinement which manifest themselves in easy and free, yet delicate manners. To be truly a gentleman in feeling and manners, is an object of great importance; and many well meaning persons, in the education of the young, forget to awaken early enough the sense of honor and self-respect, which is one of

the best guards against all meanness of conduct. Gentleman, in the United States, is a word of a very comprehensive character. The anecdote related of the duke of Saxe-Weimar, during his travels in this country, that a stage-coachman came to his inn, and asked him, "Are you the man who goes in the stage? I am the gentleman that's to drive you," is a good caricature of the wholesale application of the word among us.

GENTOO. (See Hindoo.)

GENTZ, Frederic von; one of the ablest political writers of the day, and probably the most efficient assistant of Metternich, was born at Breslau, in 1764. His father was director-general of the mint at Berlin. His mother belonged to the Ancillon family, and was a relation of the royalist writer Ancillon (q. v.), at Berlin. Gentz studied in Königberg, where Kant then lectured. In 1786, he received an appointment at Berlin. In the same year, he made himself known by philosophical and historical articles in learned journals. His translation of Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution, 2 vols. 1793, with notes (three editions), established his literary reputation. He also translated some works of Mallet du Pan, 1794, of Ivernois, 1796, et seq., and of Monnier (Developement of the Causes which have prevented France from acquiring Liberty, 4 vols., 1799). Gentz expressed himself with freedom on the subject of the administration of the country, in his address to king Frederic William III, on his accession to the throne, November 16, 1797, which is not yet forgotten. In 1799 and 1800, he edited the Historical Journal, which was written almost entirely by himself. The most important articles in it were translated into French under the title Essai de l'Administration Actuelle des Finances de la Gr. Bretagne, 1801, and thus became known to Pitt, and procured Gentz a good reception in London, where he went in 1801. His work on the state of European politics before and after the French revolution (1801) was translated into English. In his Reflections on the Origin and Character of the War against the French Revolution (1801), he declared himself against peace with France. Gentz went to Vienna in 1802, where count Stadion, minister of foreign affairs, knew how to appreciate his talents. In this year, he visited England a second time, in company with Mr. Elliot, English minister at Dresden, and probably exerted an influence on the subsequent relations between Austria and England, so long combined

against Napoleon. When, in 1805, the French advanced from Ulm towards Vienna, he went to Dresden,where, in May, 1806, the published his Fragment of the History of the Political Balance of Europe (St. Petersburg, 1806). In the same year appeared his Authentic Exposition of the Relations between England and Spain. These Fragments were his last published work. The preface of this work has been particularly admired. In 1809, he drew up the manifesto against France. He continued to be confidentially employed by prince Metternich, who had succeeded count Stadion, as minister after the war of 1809; and, in 1813, M. Gentz composed the manifesto in which Austria announced her accession to the grand alliance. In 1814, in the first conference of ministers, M. Gentz was unanimously named first secretary of the congress, which place he continued to occupy till May, 1815, when the congress was finished. He then went to Paris, where he filled the same office in the ministerial conferences which were held there. the sovereigns who had a share in the great events that then took place, showed how highly they estimated the services of M. Gentz, by the valuable presents which they bestowed on him; and he was named a commander of several orders of knighthood. A number of political works have been ascribed to M. Gentz, of which he is not the author; the fact being that, since 1806, he has not published any work, either in his own name, or anonymously. In many articles in the Austrian Observer, the semi-official paper at Vienna, which supported the cause of the Turks, his pen has been thought to be discovered; as likewise in criticisms on the writings of De Pradt, Guizot, &c. M. Gentz is, undoubtedly, one of the most prominent literary politicians of the present day. He has certainly great abilities, but his success has been unexampled in the line which he has adopted.

All

GEOCENTRIC; what relates to the centre of the earth, or is considered as if from the centre of the earth. (See Heliocentric.)

GEOCYCLIC MACHINE; a machine intended to represent in what manner the changes of the seasons, the increase and decrease of the days, &c., are caused by the inclination of the axis of the earth to the plane of the ecliptic, at an angle of 66 degrees, and how the axis, by remaining parallel to itself in all points of its path round the sun, invariably preserves this inclination.

GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH (called, also, Geoffrey ap Arthur); an ecclesiastic and historian of the 12th century. According to Leland, he was educated at Monmouth, in a convent of the Benedictines, whose society he entered. He was afterwards made arch-deacon of Monmouth, whence he was raised to the bishopric of St. Asaph. The state of affairs in North Wales induced him to retire to the court of Henry II. Geoffrey wrote various works; but his Chronicle, or History of the Britons, is the only production of his pen which requires notice. This Chronicle is now known to be, as the compiler states, chiefly a translation from Armorican manuscripts. It contains a pretended genealogy of the kings of Britain, from the time of the fabulous Bruce, or Brute, the Trojan. The wonderful stories told of king Arthur also take their rise in this work.

GEOFFRIN, Marie Thérèse Rodet, Madame, born in 1699, a woman alike distinguished by her qualities of mind and heart, who, during half a century, was the ornament of the most polite and cultivated societies in Paris, was an orphan from the cradle. She was educated by her grandmother, and early accustomed to think and judge justly. She afterwards became the wife of a man, of whom nothing can be said, excepting that he left her in the possession of a considerable fortune, which she employed partly in assisting the needy, partly in assembling around her a select circle of distinguished persons. Her benevolence was exerted in a touching and delicate manner. An attentive study of mankind, enlightened by reason and justice, had taught Mad. Geoffrin that men are more weak and vain than wicked, that it is necessary to overlook the weakness and bear with the vanity of others, that they, in turn, may bear with ours. Her favorite maxim, therefore, was "Give and forgive." From her very childhood she was of a most charitable disposition. She wished to perpetuate her benevolence through the hands of her friends. They will be blessed," said she, "and they, in their turn, will bless my memory." Thus she assigned to one of her friends, who was poor, an income of 1200 livres for his life time. "If you should grow richer," said she, "distribute the money out of love to me, when I can use it no longer." In her house the best society in Paris was assembled. Cultivated minds of every description found access to her. None could there claim a preference: the mistress of the house herself was far from desiring any precedence; she was only

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amiable and animating. The abbé de St. Pierre, when she dismissed him, after a long conversation, with the words, "Vous avez été charmant aujourd'hui," addressed to her the well known and deserved compliment, "Je ne suis qu'un instrument, madame, dont vous avez bien joué." "The question is often asked," says La Harpe, "whether this woman, who converses so much with wits, is herself a wit: she is not so, but she possesses a sound judgment, and a wise moderation is the foundation of her character. She exhibits that pleasing politeness which is gained only by intercourse with society; and no one has a more delicate feeling of propriety." Among the great number of strangers who visited her house in Paris, the most distinguished was count Poniatowsky, afterwards king of Poland. He apprized her of his accession to the throne with these words: "Maman, votre fils est roi," inviting her, at the same time, to Warsaw. On her journey thither (1768), she was received at Vienna in the most flattering manner, by the emperor and empress. The latter, having met Mad. Geoffrin, while taking a ride with her children, immediately stopped, and presented them to her. Upon her arrival at Warsaw, she found a room there, perfectly like the one which she had occupied in Paris. She returned to Paris, after having received the most flattering marks of respect, and died in 1777. Three of her friends, Thomas, Morellet and d'Alembert, dedicated particular writings to her memory, which, with her treatise, Sur la Conversation, have been lately republished. (See Louis XV, Age of.)

GEOFFROY, Julien Louis; one of the most celebrated French critics, born at Rennes, in 1743. He studied in the schools of the Jesuits, and was left in very straitened circumstances by the suppression of that order. He then became a tutor in the family of a rich individual; and, having frequent opportunities of visiting the theatre, he contracted a taste for the drama, which led him to the study of the dramatic art, to an examination of its principles, of the merit of the different pieces, the genius of the poets, and the talents of the actors. In order to understand more thoroughly the theory of the art, he wrote a tragedy,-the Death of Cato,-merely as an exercise. He offered the piece to the directors of the theatre, who received it, and granted him free entrance. This was all he wished; and he never made any attempt to bring the piece on the stage. At a later period, a tragedy,

under the same name, was published, and ascribed to him, by some malicious wit, said to have been Cubières Palmezeaux. Geoffroy had hitherto supported himself by giving private instruction; he now endeavored to become a professor in the university. Having carried off the annual prize for the best Latin discourse, in 1773, and the two succeeding years, it was considered necessary to establish the rule that the same person should not receive the prize more than three times. In the competition for the prize offered by the French academy for the best panegyric on Charles V, La Harpe was the successful candidate, but honorable mention was made of Geoffroy's performance. Geoffroy then entered upon the career in which he gained so much reputation. The proprietors of the Année Littéraire were desirous of finding a man able to fill with honor Fréron's place, and to maintain the credit of that celebrated critical journal; and their choice fell upon Geoffroy, who, a short time before, had received the professorship of eloquence in the college of Mazarin, and was considered the ablest of the professors of rhetoric. He accepted the offer, and conducted that journal from 1776 till two years after the breaking out of the revolution. During these 15 years, he enriched it with profound and interesting articles on philosophy, morals and literature. His style is pure, clear and concise, and whatever he has written bears testimony to his taste, knowledge of classical literature, and the desire of instructing, rather than of amusing his reader. The revolution, to the principles of which Geoffroy was opposed, put an end to these occupations. In connexion with the abbé Royou, he then undertook another journal-L'Ami du Roi; but both journal and editors were soon after proscribed. Geoffroy fled to an obscure village, where he lived in disguise, teaching the children of the peasants, until the year 1799, when he returned to Paris. In 1800, he undertook the dramatical criticism in the Journal des Débats, which afterwards appeared under the name Journal de l'Empire, thus entering, under favorable auspices, on a new career, which rendered him truly celebrated. He received, for his labors, a salary of 24,000 francs. For a little more than ten years, false doctrines had introduced confusion into philosophy, morals, politics and literature; truth and sound principles seemed to have been forgotten, and appeared, when revived, like new discoveries. Criticism gained a great advantage by thus being permitted to exam

ine into truths, which had already been investigated a hundred times, and to speak of ancient and modern literature as if neither had ever been judged before. Geoffroy investigated with sagacity, and without sparing the principles of modern writers. They insulted and calumniated him. Still he appeared, every morning, with new expositions and new sarcasms. He did not always remain within the bounds of moderation; his wit was often too severe; his sarcasms in bad taste. He once censured an actress for her manner in a piece in which she had never acted. Upon the whole, however, it must be acknowledged, that Geoffroy knew how to be just, if he intended to be, and that he generally had this intention. He made a great many enemies, for he was obliged to deal with the vanity of dramatic poets and actors; but he had also many friends, who appreciated his judgment, learning and talents, and admired the fecundity of his mind, that, in so narrow a subject, was never at a loss for new resources. Even if we cannot always admit his principles, we never tire of reading his observations, and the Journal de l'Empire, during the time that Geoffroy wrote its Feuilleton, had the most extensive circulation of all the French daily papers. Notwithstanding this occupation, he found time for publishing, in 1808, a commentary on Racine, in 7 vols. If, in this work, the poetry of that great author is not deeply investigated, it has other merits, for the excellent translations which it contains of several fragments, and even of two entire tragedies of the ancients. He published, also, a translation of Theocritus, in 1801. He died in Paris, Feb. 26, 1814, at the age of 71 years. (See Cours de Littérature dramatique, ou Recueil, par Ordre des Matières, des Feuilletons de Geoffroy, précédé d'une Notice historique sur sa Vie et ses Ouvrages, 2d ed., t. I–VI, Paris, 1825.)

GEOGRAPHY (Greek)-description of the earth, of the condition of our globe: in a narrower sense, also, the description of the condition of one of its parts; for instance, the geography of Europe, Russia, Saxony, &c. The earth may be considered as a world, in relation to the other worlds; or as a body of different parts, properties and phenomena, which, at the same time, is inhabited by beings of different natures; or as the residence of free moral agents, among whom its surface is divided, and through whose influence it undergoes many changes. Geography, therefore, is commonly divided into mathematical,