Balthasar Laurent, the most witty epicure of modern France, member of the Arcadians in Rome, and of several learned societies, born at Paris, 1758, was the son of a farmer-general. A defect in the formation of his hands obliges him to use artificial fingers, with which he draws, writes and carves with great dexterity. Till 1780 he was an advocate; but a bitter satire, of which he was the author, having caused him to be exiled, he subsequently devoted himself entirely to literature, passing his time in literary clubs, in the foyer of the theatres, &c. This eccentric character, in the splendid circle of his parents, used to make himself merry at the pride of rank of the noble world. He gave a celebrated banquet, to which no one was admitted who could not prove himself a bourgeois. Another time he invited to his house some persons of rank, and received them in a room hung with black, where a coffin was placed behind each of them. His epicurism equals that of Apicius or Vitellius. He lived peaceably through the revolution. In the beginning of Napoleon's reign, he became known throughout Europe by his witty Almanach des Gourmands, which he dedicated to the cook of Cambacérès (from 1803 to 1812, 8 vols., 18mo.). For the parvenus, who do not know how to use their wealth, he wrote, in 1808, Le Manuel des Amphitryons. His zeal in promoting the science of the palate, as Montaigne terms it, led him to form a jury of epicures (dégustateurs), who held a monthly session in the Rocher de Cancale, at a select table, where judgment was passed with black and white balls, on a juicy salmi or a fine blanc-manger, with all the solemnity of the Roman senate of yore, in the well known turbot session. Since 1814, Grimod has lived in the country, but without neglecting his literary pursuits. (See Cookery.)

GRISELDA; the ever-patient wife of the marquis di Saluzzo, the subject of the tenth novella in the tenth giornata of Boccaccio's Decameron. The marquis's beau idéal of a wife was a woman of all-enduring patience. He chooses Griselda, the daughter of one of his tenants, ill-treats her in a variety of ways, takes away her two sons, and makes her believe that they are killed. At last he turns her out of doors in her shift, and celebrates a marriage with a noble lady. But finding that Griselda endures every thing patiently, he takes her back, restores her two sons, and treats her as marchioness. No one can suppose that Griselda is held up as a

model. One might as well have a wax image for a wife. This subject has been treated by poets of many other nations; for instance, by Chaucer. Griselda is, therefore, not unfrequently used to designate a woman whose patience is trial-proof.

GRISETTE (French); originally a dress of coarse gray cloth, worn by the females of the lower classes; hence it is used for the females themselves, and is generally used to signify a belle of the lower classes. In the language of the theatre, grisette signifies an intriguing young girl, of the class of soubrettes.

GRISONS, THE (Graubündten); the Upper Rhætia of the ancients; since 1788 a canton of the Swiss confederacy. It is the largest in the confederacy, containing 3000 square miles, with 75,000 inhabitants, and is bounded N. by Glarus, St. Gall and the Vorarlberg; E. by the Tyrol; S. by the Valteline, Milan and the canton Ticino; W. by Uri. The Grison Alps rise 11,000 feet above the level of the sea; the line of perpetual snow is from 8200 to 8400 feet; they contain 241 glaciers and 56 waterfalls. The Inn and the Rhine have their sources here. The lowest point of the populous valley Engadin, at Martinsbruck, is 3234 feet above the level of the sea; the highest village is situated at an elevation of 5600 feet. The varieties of climate are, therefore, very striking in the Grisons. The country is divided into five great valleys:—1. The valley of the posterior Rhine, which includes the Rheinwald, and the valleys of the Schamser, the Via Mala and the Ďomlesch. The latter is formed by the posterior Rhine, is the mildest district in the Grisons, and contains 22 villages, in which the Romansh, a mixture of Latin, German and Italian, is spoken. The Schamser-Valley contains 9 villages, and is about 7 miles long. Between this and the Rheinwald is the terrible Via Mala, which is formed by the posterior Rhine. In this and in the Rheinwald, the winters last 9 months, on account of their elevated situation. Two formidable roads lead to Italy, one over the Splugen, the other over the St. Bernard. The former was passed, in 1800, by the French, under Macdonald. Lecourbe, with a considerable corps, ventured to enter the latter in 1797.--2. The second valley is that of the anterior Rhine, which extends from the western frontier and the St. Gothard to Coire and Luciensteig. Here are the most interesting points-the old Benedictine abbey Disentis, whose literary treasures and buildings were destroyed, in 1799, by the French;

also Ilantz (the town), the old Coire (q. v.), where Roman antiquities and coins are found.-3. The third valley is that of Engadin, or the valley of the Upper Inn, which stretches from south-west to northeast, and contains, indeed, no important town, but incomparable views and picturesque scenery. It is one of the most romantic spots on earth.-4. The fourth valley is formed by the Albula, a river which rises in the Julian or Septimian mountains, and falls into the Posterior Rhine at Thusis.--5. The fifth valley is that of the Prettigau, situated on the northern frontier, in the neighborhood of the Vorarlberg; Mayenfield is the principal town.-The people of the Grisons are divided into three leagues (in German, Bünde; hence the German name of the canton, Graubündten); the League of God's house, the capital of which is Coire; the Gray League, with Ilantz; and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, of which Davos is considered as the chief place. In these three places 63 deputies of the leagues assemble annually in September, under three heads, deliberate on the affairs of the canton, and decide, finally, in legal cases. The canton sends 1600 men to the army of the confederacy, and contributes 12,000 guilders. About two thirds of the inhabitants profess the Helvetic Protestant religion. But the ministers have so scanty an income, that they are obliged to maintain themselves by their industry. The only Latin school is in Coire. About 10,000 of the inhabitants speak an Italian dialect; these are in Engadin. About 28,000 speak the Swiss dialect of the German, and more than 36,000, chiefly near the sources of the Rhine, speak the Romansh or Ladin. This language is a relic of the old Romana rustica. Commerce is much interrupted by the narrowness of the passes on the frontiers. The exports (chiefly to Milan) are cattle, cheese, coals and rare minerals; for which grain, salt, linen and cloth are received in return.

GRIST MILL. (See Mill.)

GRISWOLD, Roger, a governor of Connecticut, was born at Lyme, in that state, May 21, 1762. His father had also been governor, and his mother was the daughter of the first and the sister of the second governor Wolcott. He was graduated at Yale college in 1780, and, three years afterwards, admitted to the bar, where he soon acquired the highest distinction. In 1794, he was elected a member of congress, in which body his intimate knowledge of the public affairs and true interests of his country, joined to his great talents,

general information and urbane demeanor, gave him great influence. President Adams offered him, in 1801, the secretariship of war, which was, however, declined. In 1807 he resigned his seat in the house of representatives. In this year he became a judge of the supreme court of Connecticut, and filled the office with much reputation. In 1808 he was one of the electors of president and vice-president. In 1809 he was chosen lieutenant-governor, and in 1811 governor, of his native state. He died in October, 1812. Governor Griswold was uncommonly amiable and dignified, as well as able. He was, for several years, an eminent leader of the federal party.

GRITTI; a noble Venetian family. Andrew, having been taken prisoner by the Turks, concluded a treaty between the Porte and Venice (1501). At a later period, he commanded the Venetian armies in the war against the league of Cambray, was made prisoner by Gaston de Foix (q. v.), and persuaded Louis XII to secede from the league, and, in 1513, to conclude a treaty with the republic. From 1523 to 1538, he was doge.-Ludovico Gritti, son of Andrew, was born in Constantinople, during his father's captivity; served in the armies of the Turks, among whom he enjoyed a high reputation; commanded at the siege of Vienna; defended Buda, in 1531; became governor of Hungary, but drew upon himself the popular hatred by the murder of the bishop of Wardein. The Hungarians besieged him in Medwisch, which they took in 1534. They cut off his hands in the morning, his feet at noon, and his head in the evening.

GROG; a general name for any spirituous liquor and water mixed together; but is more particularly applied to rum and water cold, without sugar.

GRÖGER, Frederic Charles, and ALDENRATH, Henry; the former born 1766, in Holstein; the latter, 1774, in Lubeck; two inseparable friends and artists. Gröger is a historical painter, and Aldenrath a miniature painter. Both have distinguished themselves by lithographic productions. Gröger had to struggle, in his youth, with the greatest obstacles, having been an apprentice to a tailor, a turner and a house painter, and was often punished for following his inclinations for drawing. They live in Hamburg.

GROIN, among builders, is the angular curve made by the intersection of two semi-cylinders or arches, and is either regular or irregular:-regular, as when the intersecting arches, whether semicircular

or semi-elliptical, are of the same diameters and heights; and irregular, when one of the arches is semicircular, and the other semi-elliptical.

GROLMAN, Charles Louis William von, late minister of justice and the interior, and president of the council of ministers of the grand-duke of Hesse-Darinstadt, was born July 23, 1775, in Giessen. In 1798, he was appointed professor of law in the university of Giessen. In 1816, he was called to Darmstadt, to preside over a commission for drawing up a new code. He rose gradually to the post of minister, in which he managed all branches of the government, except the military. Grolman, during his long career as professor of law, has written many works, some of distinguished merit, as his Principles of the Science of Criminal Law (4th edit., 1826), in which he lays down the theory of prevention, as the German lawyers call it, and several others. He has also edited or written for several law periodicals of high reputation.

GRONINGEN; a province of the kingdom of the Netherlands, between 52° 50′ and 53° 28' N. lat., and 6° 10′ and 7° 13′ E. lon., forming the north-eastern extremity of the kingdom, on the coast of the German ocean, containing 780 square miles; is protected against the encroachments of the sea by dikes. It is very level, and is intersected by innumerable canals, partly for the purpose of safety, and partly to drain the land, which is in some parts fertile, in others sandy, and in others marshy. In the south-east are the vast morasses of Bourtange. There are many lakes, of which the Zuidlaader, the Schild and the Foxholster are the principa!. The climate is damp. The 142,575 inhabitants are mostly Calvinists, and raise great numbers of cattle. Groningen takes the sixteenth place in the kingdom, and sends four deputies to the states-general. The provincial states consist of 36 members. In 1810, it was made a department of the French empire, under the name of the Western Ems. The capital of this province is Groningen. (See the following article.)

GRONINGEN; a city in the Netherlands, capital of the province of Groningen, on the rivers Hunse and Fivel, 81 miles west of Bremen, 100 miles north-east of Amsterdam; lat. 53° 13′ 13′′ N.; lon. 6° 34' 26 E.; 27,800 inhabitants; churches, 12. It is large, rich, strong, well peopled, and adorned with many excellent buildings, public and private; its figure is nearly round, encompassed with good ramparts, guarded by large ditches filled with water,

besides many bastions and other fortifications, which would render an attack upon it very difficult. Its port is very commodious; ships enter with great case by means of a canal, whose sides are lined with large stones for about nine miles from the sea. The university of Groningen, founded in 1614, and endowed with the revenues of several monasteries, has long been respectable. It consists of five faculties, and has a good library. Here are also academies for drawing, navigation and agriculture, an institution for the deaf and dumb, and societies of lawyers and physicians. In 1826, an epidemic, caused by the great drought, did great injury. Some authors think this city to be on the spot of the ancient fortress which Tacitus mentions under the name of Corbulonis monumentum, but there is no historical proof of it.

GRONOVIUS (properly Gronov); the name of several celebrated critics and philologists. 1. John Frederic, one of the most learned students of antiquities, was born at Hamburg in 1611. He studied at Leipsic and Jena, and went through a course of law at Altdorf, spent some time in Holland and England, was appointed professor of history and eloquence at Deventer, and, after the death of Daniel Heinsius, succeeded him, as professor of belles-lettres at Leyden (1658), where he died 1671. With extensive knowledge he combined indefatigable industry and amiable man

ners.

His editions of Livy, Statius, Justin, Tacitus, Gellius, Phædrus, Seneca, Sallust, Pliny, Plautus, &c., and his Observations, are valuable for their notes and improved readings. His Commentarius de Sesterciis displays a thorough acquaintance with the Roman language and antiquities; and his edition of Hugo Grotius's work, De Jure Belli et Pacis, is justly valued, on account of the notes. 2. His son James, born at Deventer, in 1645, studied there and at Leyden. He spent some months at Oxford and Cambridge, and returned to Leyden, where he published, in 1676, an edition of Polybius, which met with such applause, that he received an offer of a professorship at Deventer. He refused it, however, from a desire to travel through France, Spain and Italy. The grand-duke of Tuscany conferred on him a professorship at Pisa, which he relinquished in 1679, and was appointed professor of belles-lettres at Leyden and geographer to the university. He died at Leyden in 1716. This learned and industrious critic edited Tacitus, Polybius, Herodotus, Pomponius Mela, Cicero, Ammianus Marcellinus, &c., and compiled the valuable The-'

saurus Antiquitatum Græcarum (Leyden, 1697, 13 vols. fol.) He also promoted the publication of the collections of Grævius. (See Gravius.) These two works should be united, and, to form a complete library of antiquities, the Novus Thesaur. Ant. Rom. by Sallengre (Hague, 1716, 3 vols. fol.), the Utriusque Thes. nova Supplementa, by Poleni (Venice, 1737, 5 vols. fol.), the Inscriptiones Antiquæ totius Orbis Rom., by Gruter (Amsterdam, 1707, 4 vols. fol.), and the Lexicon Ant. Rom., by Pitiscus (Leuwarden, 1713, 2 vols. fol.), should be added. He had many weak points in his character, and his vanity led him to assail and calumniate men of the greatest merit, such as Henry Stephens, Spanheim, Vossius, Salmasius, Bochart and Grævius. 3. His son Abraham, born at Leyden, 1694, showed himself a good philologist, by his editions of Justin, Pomponius Mela, Tacitus and Ælian. He died there in 1775, librarian to the university.

GROS (French); thick, strong; a word used in many compositions for silks, as gros de Naples, gros de Tours, gros de Berlin, &c., all strong fabrics.

GROS, Anthony John, born in Paris, 1771, a pupil of David, is the most celebrated painter of battle-scenes of the age. Gros first made himself known by his skill in portrait painting; but he soon devoted himself to the path of rich and noble composition, in which he seems to have taken Paul Veronese for his model. His first celebrated work was the picture of the Sick of the Plague at Jaffa, finished in 1804. An officer is represented holding a handkerchief before his face, to avoid inhaling the infection, while the hero of the piece fearlessly approaches and touches one of the sick. All the figures in this work are portraits. All that is terrible in such a subject is represented in the clearest light, but softened by skill of execution and happy conception. This painting excited general admiration. It was purchased by the government, and Gros was commissioned to execute the battle of Aboukir. This splendid painting he completed in about 14 months. His Battle of Eylau is painted with exquisite skill. There is much that is overcharged in it, however; and a delicate taste must be particularly offended with the profusion of mutilated soldiers. In 1814, Gros executed a picture, representing the visit of Francis I and Charles V to the abbey of St. Dénis, which excited great admiration. It was designed for the sacristy of the church. The departure of the king, on the night of March 20,

1815, formed the subject of another work, which he executed in 1817. The prevailing confusion and want of nobility in the principal character are looked upon as unfortunate defects. A group of national guards, however, is very expressive. The light on the back ground and the figure of an old servant are exquisite. In 1824, he completed his painting for the dome of the church of St. Geneviève, covering a space of 3250 feet, and therefore requiring the figures to be colossal. It represents Geneviève protecting the French throne. Clovis, Charlemagne, St. Louis, and (instead of Napoleon, who furnished the plan) Louis XVIII, with the duchess of Angoulême, form the principal groups. When Charles X saw the picture, he saluted the artist as baron, and the minister granted him 50,000 francs, in addition to the price of the picture (100,000 francs). All the works of this artist are marked by bold design and powerful coloring. Gros is a member of the academy, and of the legion of honor, and professor in the school of painting and sculpture.

GROSBEAK (loria, L.) These birds are in general shy and solitary, chiefly living in woods, at a distance from the habitations of man. Their vocal powers are not great, and hence they are little sought after as song birds. Their most conspicuous characteristics are the thickness and strength of their bills, which enable them to break the stones of various kinds of fruits. There are many species of them, the best known of which is the L. coccothraustes. This species is an inhabitant of the temperate parts of Europe. Buffon says it is a shy and solitary bird, with no song. The female builds her nest in trees; it is composed of small, dry roots and grass, and lined with warmer materials. The eggs are roundish, of a bluish green, spotted with brown. The green grosbeak (L. chloris) is common in every part of Great Britain, and may be seen in every hedge, especially in winter. It does not migrate. The female builds in hedges or low bushes; she lays five or six eggs, of a pale greenish color, marked at the larger end with spots of a reddish brown. The pine grosbeak (L. enuchleator) inhabits the cold regions of both continents, whence it occasionally visits temperate climates in the winter. The female makes her nest on trees, at a small distance from the ground, and lays four white eggs. There are several species peculiar to North America, as the cardinal bird (L. cardinalis), which is found from Now England to South America, and is most