pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
GORGONS, in Antiquity and Mythology. Authors are not agreed in the accounts which they give of the Gorgons. The poets represent them as three sisters, whose names were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, the last of whom was mortal; and having been deflowered by Neptune, was killed by Perseus; but the two former were subject neither to age nor to death. They are described as having wings on their shoulders, and serpents round their heads; their hands were of brass, and their teeth of a prodigious size, so that they were objects of terror to mankind. After the death of Medusa, her sisters, according to Virgil, were appointed to keep the gate of the palace of Pluto.

Multaque praeterea variarum monstra ferarum, Gorgones, Harpyiaeque.

Diodorus Siculus represents the Gorgons and Amazons as having been two warlike nations of women, who inhabited that part of Libya situated on the lake Tritonidis. The extermination of these female nations was not effected till Hercules undertook and performed the task.

Pausanias says that the Gorgons were the daughters of Phorbus, after whose death Medusa his daughter reigned over the people dwelling near the lake Tritonidis. The queen was so passionately fond of hunting and war, that she laid waste the neighbouring countries. At last Perseus made war on them, and killed the queen herself; [7:10:617]but when he came to view the field of battle, he found the queen’s corpse so extremely beautiful, that he ordered her head to be cut off, and carried it with him to show it to his countrymen the Greeks, who could not behold it without being struck with astonishment.

Others represent them as a kind of monstrous women, covered with hair, who lived in woods and forests; and other«, again, make them animals resembling wild sheep, whose eyes had a poisonous and fatal influence.
GORLESTON, a village, or rather town, of the county of Suffolk, in the hundred of Mutsord and Lothingland, 123 miles from London. It may be viewed as a suburb to the town of Yarmouth in Norfolk, from which it is separated only by a bridge over the river Yare. The population amounted in 1801 to 1728, in 1811 to 1814, in 1821 to 1928, and in 1831 to 2116.
GORLAEUS, Abraham, an eminent antiquary, born at Antwerp, who gained a great reputation by collecting medals and other antique remains. He was chiefly fond of the rings and seals of the ancients, of which he published a prodigious number in 1601, under the title of Dactyliotheca ; sive Annulorum Sigillarium, quorum apud priscos tam Gτ<εcos quam Romanos usus ex ferro, cere, argento, et auro, Promptuarium. This was the first part of the work; the second, entitled Variarum Gemmarum, quibus antiquitas in signando uti solita sculptures, appeared afterwards. This work has undergone several editions, the best of which is that of Leyden, 1695, containing a great number of cuts, and also a short explanation of these by Gronovius. In 1680 he published a collection of medals, which, however, if we may believe the Scaligerana, it is not safe always to trust. Gorlaeus selected Delft as the place of his residence, and died there in 1609.
GORLITZ, a city of Prussian Silesia, the capital of a circle of the same name. It stands on the river Neisse, upon an elevated spot, and is a well-built town, with walls around it. It contains several public institutions for education and for benevolence, and eight churches, a public library, and cabinet of natural history. The houses are 1200, and the population 12,100 inhabitants, who are industriously employed in various trades and manufactures.
GORZ, a fortified city of the Austrian province of Trieste, on the river Isonzo, containing, besides a cathedral and four other churches, 707 houses, with 9050 inhabitants, who are engaged in silk manufactories, in making leather, and bleaching wax. Near to it is Monte Santo, celebrated for the goodness of its wine. Long. 13. 23. E. Lat. 45. 57. N.
GOSBERTON, a parish of the county of Lincoln, in the parts of Holland and hundred of Kirton, 102 miles from London and eight from Boston. It is in a rich agricultural district. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 1139, in 1811 to 1301, in 1821 to 1618, and in 1831 to 1951.
GOSHEN, a canton of Egypt, which Joseph procured for his father and his brethren when they came to dwell in that country. It was the most fruitful part of the country; and its name seems to be derived from the Hebrew, Geshem, which signifies “rain because this province lying very near the Mediterranean, was exposed to rains, which were very rare in other cantons, and more especially in Upper Egypt.
GOSLAR, a city of the province of Hildesheim, in the kingdom of Hanover. It stands in the Hartz. Mountains, at the foot of the Rammelsberg, on the river Gosse. It is an ancient town, with narrow streets and large antiquely-fashioned houses. It contains four churches and two religious houses, and is the seat of some provincial courts of law. Much of the ore extracted from the mines in the neighbourhood is here purified, and a great part of it converted into appropriate utensils in some large manufactories. It has considerable breweries and distilleries, and two vitriol works, and it contains 6700 inhabitants. Long· 10. 14. 1. E. Lat. 54. 27. N.
GOSPEL, the history of the life, actions, death, resurrection, and ascension, and also of the doctrine, of Jesus Christ. The word is Saxon, and of the same import with the Latin term evangelium, which signifies glad tidings or good news. This history is contained in the writings of St Matthew, St Mark, St Luke, and St John, who are hence called Evangelists. The Christian church never acknowledged as canonical any more than these four gospels; notwithstanding which several apocryphal gospels are handed down to us, and others are entirely lost.
GOSPORT, a market-town of Hampshire, in the parish of Alverstoke, in the Portsdown division of the hundred of Christchurch, seventy-eight miles from London. It may be considered as one of the suburbs of Portsmouth, from which it is separated by the mouth of the harbours, over which boats of all descriptions are constantly passing from one side to the other. As a part of our greatest naval arsenal, the town is fortified on the land side by a chain of redoubts, and some of the most important fortifications which command the entrance of the harbour; and the anchoring places of Stokes Bay are in this town. The royal brewery and cooperage, the storehouses for various kinds of provisions, and the grand powder magazines of Priddyshard, are all here. To the south is the magnificent hospital for sick and wounded sailors, which is capable of accommodating more than two thousand patients. There is also an extensive establishment for the manufacture of anchors. Besides the trade which Gosport derives from the royal navy, it enjoys considerable foreign commerce. There are markets on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, which are amply supplied. The population depends on the state of peace or of war. It amounted in 1801 to 11,295, in 1811 to 11,279, in 1821 to 10,972, and in 1831 to 12,637.
GOSSAMER is the name of a fine filmy substance, like cobwebs, which is observed floating in the air, in clear days in autumn, and is more discernible in stubble-fields, and upon furze and other low bushes, than elsewhere.
GOTEBORG, or Gottenbvrg, a province in the southern part of Sweden. It is bounded on the north by Norway, on the east by Elfsborg, on the south by Halland, and on the west by the German Ocean. It extends over 1894 square miles, is divided into five bailiwicks, comprehends five cities or towns, and 2891 rural establishments; and has a population of 119,504 individuals. The surface is generally mountainous, but has some plains in the southern parts; but even in these, the soil is so thin as to be scantily productive. The chief food of the inhabitants, as well as the chief exports, consists of fish, which abound on the coasts and in the rivers.
GOTHA, a principality forming a part of the dominions of the grand duchy of Saxe Coburg Gotha, in Germany. It is an elevated district of the Thuringian Mountains, where, though the climate is cold, the soil is fertile. Some of the portions are separated from the main body, and from each other, by the intervening territory of other states. The extent of the whole is 649 square miles. It is divided into fourteen bailiwicks, and contains five cities, six markettowns, a hundred and sixty-four villages, with 88,639 inhabitants. The capita), the city of Gotha, in longitude 10. 37. 33. east, and latitude 50. 57. 4. north, is 1220 feet above the level of the sea, one of the most beautiful of the Saxon cities. It contains 1256 houses, and 12,500 inhabitants. The ducal palace or castle rises above the city, and has a magnificent appearance from the whole surrounding country. There are in it some fine pictures, a library of 60,000 volumes, and a museum of coins and medals, both ancient and modern, surpassing any other in Europe. Near [7:10:618]the city, on a lake, is an astronomical observatory, long occupied by Baron Zach, the celebrated astronomer. It is a town of considerable trade, having manufactories of cotton, woollen, and linen goods, and other articles.
GOTHARD, one of the highest mountains of Switzerland, and from the top of which there is one of the finest prospects in the world. It is eight miles from Aldorf.
GOTHEBORG, Gothenburg, or Gottenburg. See Goteborg and Gottenburg.
GOTHIC, in general, whatever has any relation to the Goths. Thus we say, Gothic customs, Gothic architecture, &c. See Architecture.
GOTTENBURG, a city, the capital of the province of that name, in Sweden. It is built on the south side of the Goetaelf, about two miles from its mouth. The harbour is good, and capable of admitting ships of war. It contains 1500 houses, and 21,540 inhabitants. The trade is very considerable, as well for the export of native productions, wood, iron, and copper, as for the import of East and West India goods and articles from the south of Europe. It is Situated in longitude 11. 33. E. and latitude 57. 42. N.
GOTTINGEN, one of the provinces, called a principality, into which the kingdom of Hanover is divided. It was formerly a part of the duchy of Brunswick, but was afterwards united with Calenburg. Of late some parts of Hesse, and the bailiwick of Hunnersruck in Hildesheim, have been united with it, and the whole extends over 640 square miles, or 409,600 English acres. The province is bounded on the north by the duchy of Brunswick and the province of Grubenhagen, on the east by Grubenhagen, on the south by the Prussian provinces and by Hesse Cassel, and on the west by Hesse and the Prussian Westphalian dominions. In 1812 it contained 96,593 inhabitants, of whom 2374 were Catholics, 5680 Reformed, 1166 Jews, and the remainder Lutherans. There has been a rapid increase in the population since that period.

The face of the country is hilly, almost mountainous; but between the elevations are valleys, through which the various rivers run, of greater or less extent, and of very high fertility. The Weser, formed by the junction of the Werra and the Fulda, is the principal river, into which the Line falls, and is navigable to Münden. The soil is good, and the cultivation well conducted, so that the province yields much more both of corn and cattle than it consumes. Besides food, the soil produces flax, hemp, and tobacco. The products of mines are some iron and rock salt, coals, and alum. The manufacture of linen is of the domestic kind, carried on by spinning in the long nights of the winter. The chief foreign trade consists in the exportation of linen, yarn, wax, and honey. The chief place is the city of the name of the province, celebrated for its university, founded in 1734. The professors in it are numerous and learned, and the students vary from 1200 to 2000. It possesses a most valuable library of 300,000 volumes, a botanic garden, several museums, and philosophical apparatus. The collection of models, and the observatory, are valuable establishments. The city contains 923 houses, and about 11,000 inhabitants, exclusively of the members of the university who carry on manufactures of linen, woollen, and other goods. Besides, there are many printing presses.
GOTTLAND, a province in the south of Sweden, including the island of that name, with the others near it on the Baltic Sea, about forty-five mites from the east of Sweden. The province has a surface of 528 square miles, comprehends one city, with 1088 insulated settlements, and contains 32,988 inhabitants. The chief occupation is the fishing and agriculture, the latter of which supplies the scanty demands of the province for food; but potatoes make a great portion of the products. The only trade is at Wisby, the capital of the province.
GOUDA, a city of the Netherlands, in the province of Holland and circle of Rotterdam. It is situated on the river Gauwe, which flows out of the Yssel. It is well built, and has a considerable trade in making serges and baize; but the chief manufacture is that of pottery ware, and especially of tobacco pipes, which affords occupation to more than 5000 persons. It contains five churches: that of St [7:10:622]John is distinguished for one of the most powerful organs in Holland. The inhabitants are 12,000. Long. 4. 35.50. E. Lat. 51.50. 51. N.
GOUDHURST, a town of the county of Kent, in the hundred of Marden, within the lathe of Scray, forty-four miles from London. It was once a place of some consequence in the woollen manufacture, but that has decayed. The church is a spacious, handsome building. The inhabitants amounted in 1821 to 2579. and in 1831 tn 2758.
GOULART, Simon, a minister of Geneva, was born at Senlis in 1543, and was one of the most indefatigable writers of his time. He made considerable additions to the Catalogue of Witnesses of the Truth, composed by Illyricus; and acquired a great reputation by his works, the principal of which are, 1. A translation of Seneca; 2. A collection of memorable histories; 3. A translation of St Cyprian De Lapsis ; 4. Several devotional and moral treatises. He died at Geneva in 1628.
GOWER, John, one of the most ancient of the English poets, was contemporary with Chaucer, the father of English poetry, and his intimate friend. Of what family, or in what part of the kingdom, he was born, is uncertain. He studied the law, and was some time a member of the society of Lincoln’s Inn, where his acquaintance with Chaucer commenced. Some have asserted that he was chief justice of the common pleas; but this is by no means certain. In the first year of Henry IV. he became blind; a misfortune which he laments in one of his Latin poems. He died about the year 1400, and was buried in St Mary Overy, which church he had rebuilt chiefly at his own expense. His tomb, which was magnificently and curiously ornamented, still remains, but it has been repaired in later times. From the collar round the neck of his effigy on the tomb, it is conjectured that he had been knighted. As to his character as a man, it is impossible, at this distance of time, to state any thing with certainty. With regard to his poetical talents, he was admired at the time when he wrote, though a modern reader may find it difficult to discover much harmony or genius in any of his compositions. He wrote, 1. Speculum Meditantis, un Traitée selone les auc∙ teurs, pour ensampler les Amants marietz au Jins qils la foy de lour seints espousailles, pourront per fine loyalté guarder, et al honeur de Dieu salvement tener, in ten books; 2. Vox Clamantis, in Latin verse, a chronicle of the insurrection of the commons in the reign of Richard II., in ten books; 3. Confessio Amantis, printed at Westminster by Caxton in 1493, also London, 1532, 1554, a sort of poetical system of morality, interspersed with a variety of moral tales: and, 4. De Rege HenricoIV., printed in Chaucer’s works. There are likewise several historical tracts, in manuscript, written by Gower, which are to be found in different libraries, besides short poems printed in Chaucer’s works. At a very early period Gower had become obsolete. Skelton, in the Boke of Philip Sparrow, says, “Gower’s Englishe is old and, about the beginning of the sixteenth century, his language was out of use. A second edition of the Confessio Amantis was printed by Barthelet in 1532, a third in 1544, a fourth in 1554, and, at the distance of two centuries and a half, a fifth was published in a modern editiou of the English poets. Gower was esteemed a man of great learning, and he appears to have lived and died in affluence.
GOWN, Robe, a long upper garment worn by lawyers, divines, and other graduates, who are hence called men of the gown, or goummen. At Rome they gave the name “virile gown,” toga virilis, to a plain kind of gown which their youth assumed on arriving at puberty. This they particularly denominated proetexta.
GRABE, John Ernest, a learned theologian, was born at Königsberg in the year 1666. The perusal of the works of the fathers having inspired him with doubts as to some points of his creed, he explained them in a memoir addressed to the consistory of Sambia, and departed with the resolution of repairing to a city where he could make open profession of the Catholic religion. The elector of Brandenburg ordered three theologians to examine, each separately, the memoir of Grabe; and some of the reasons contained in the answers which they made to it having struck him forcibly, he demanded a safe conduct, which was granted him, and proceeded to Berlin to confer with Speuer, one of his adversaries. Upon some of the points in dispute they came to agree; but Grabe persisting in maintaining the necessity of the apostolical succession in the ministry, Speuer, having despaired of overcoming his conviction of this doctrine, counselled him to proceed to England, where he would find it established. Grabe followed this advice, and, having reached London, got himself ordained priest according to the English ritual; but not being able to bring his belief into accordance with that of the church which he had entered, he always preserved his private opinions touching the eucħarist and consecration. Nevertheless, the regularity of his conduct, and his useful labours, recommended him to notice; he obtained some benefices; and Queen Anne granted him a pension, which he enjoyed till his death, which took place at London on the 13th of September 1711, in the forty-fifth year of his age. His works, which have obtained him the reputation of a learned and laborious man, but indifferent critic, are, 1. Specilegium SS. Patrum et Haere-ticoum saeculi post Christi natum primi, secundi, tertii, Oxford, 1698 and 1699, in 8vo; 2. S. Irenaei episcopi Lugdunensis adversus haereses libri v. Oxford, 1702, in folio; 3. Vetus Testamentum juxta Septuaginta Interpretes, Oxford, 1707, 1719, 1720, and 1729, in folio; 4. Liturgia Graeca, Hague, 1715, in 8vo; 5. De forma consecrationis Eucharistiae, hoc est, Defensio Ecclesiae Graecae [7:10:635]contra Romanam, London, 1721, in 8vo; 6. Editions of the First Apology of St Justin Martyr, of the works of George Bull, and of the treatise of Daubuz pro Testimonio Flavii Josephus de Jesu Christo ; 7. Doubts presented to the Consistory of Sambia, in German, two writings in English against Whiston, and some polemical pieces of little importance. (a.)
GRACES, Gratiae, Charites, in the heathen theology, were fabulous deities, three in number, who attended on Venus. Their names were, Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne; or, according to some authors, Pasithea, Euphrosyne, and Aegiale. They were supposed by some to be the daughters of Jupiter and Eurynome, and by others to be the daughters of Bacchus and Venus. Some suppose the Graces to have been four in number; and make them the same with the Hora or Hours, or rather with the four seasons of the year. A marble in the king of Prussia’s cabinet represents the three Graces in the usual manner, with a fourth seated and covered with a large veil, having underneath the words Ad 8orores 1III. But this group we may understand to be the three Graces, and Venus, who was their sister, as being daughter of Jupiter and Dione. The Graces were always supposed to hold one another by the hands, and never to have parted. They were painted naked, to show that they borrowed nothing from art, and that they had no other beautie¢ than such as were purely natural. Yet in the first ages they were not represented naked, as appears from Pausanias (lib. vi. and ix.), who describes their temple and statues. They were [7:10:637]of wood, all but the head, the feet, and the hands, which were of white marble. Their robe or gown was gilt; and one of them held in her hand a rose, another a dye, and the third a sprig of myrtle.
GRAFTING, or Engrafting, in Gardening, is the taking a shoot from one tree, and inserting it into another, in such a manner that both may unite closely and become one tree. By the ancient writers on husbandry and gardening, this operation is called incision, to distinguish it from inoculation or budding, which they call inserere oculos.
GRAMINA, Grasses, one of the seven tribes or natural families, into which all vegetables are distributed by Linnaeus in his Philosophia Rotanica. They are defined to be plants which have very simple leaves, a jointed stem, a husky calyx termed gluma, and a single seed.
GRAMMARIAN, one who is skilled in or teaches grammar. Anciently the name grammarian was a title of honour in literature and erudition, being given to persons accounted learned in any art or faculty whatsoever. But it is otherwise now, being frequently used as a term of reproach, to signify a dry plodding person, employed about words and phrases, but inattentive to the true beauties of expression, and also to delicacy of sentiment. The ancient grammarians, called alsophilologers, must not, however, be confounded with grammatists, whose sole business was to teach children the first elements of language. Varro, Cicero, Messala, and even Julius Caesar, thought it no dishonour to be ranked as grammarians, who in fact had many privileges granted to them by the Roman emperors.
GRAMPIANS, a mountain chain in Scotland, so called from two Celtic terms, grans and bein, signifying “rugged mountains.” It runs from east to west almost the whole breadth of the kingdom. See Scotland.
GRANADIER, or Grenadier, originally a soldier armed with a sword, a firelock, a bayonet, and a pouch full of hand grenades; whence the name. Grenadiers now differ from the rest of the battalion only in their superior size and stature, and in certain distinctive peculiarities of uniform. They are always composed of the tallest and stoutest men, and employed on services where strength and courage united are necessary to ensure success; and, in some armies, they have more pay than the common soldiers. Every battalion of infantry has generally attached to it a company of grenadiers, who take the right of the battalion, the left being occupied by the light company. Grenadiers were first instituted in France in 1667, when four or five were attached to each company; but in the year 1670 they were formed into companies, and, in 1685, introduced into the British service.