and stationary; the first, composed of men from 20 to 30 years of age, inclusive, and only to be called into service by a law, or, while the chambers are not in session, by an ordinance, which must become a law during the next session, is to be "an auxiliary of the army for the defence of the territory, the guard of the frontiers, to repel invasion, and maintain public order in the interior." Corporals, subalterns and sub-lieutenants are to be elected by the members; the other officers are to be appointed by the king. When this body is organized, the members are subject to military discipline; yet, when the national guards refuse to obey orders, or leave their corps without authority, they are to be punished only by imprisonment, not to exceed five years. The Prussian Landwehr is something similar, but more military in its organization, without the privilege of choosing officers, and subjected to an absolute military discipline. (See Militia.) The citizen guards established in Belgium during the revolution of the year 1830, were an imitation of the French national guards.

GUARINI, Giovanni Battista, born at Ferrara, 1537, was descended from a noble family, distinguished for its influence on the revival of learning and of poetry. After having studied in Ferrara, Pisa and Padua, and lectured, in his native city, on the ethics of Aristotle, he entered the service of the duke Alphonso II, who appreciated his talents, knighted him, and sent him as his ambassador to the Venetian republic, to Emanuel Filibert, duke of Savoy, to Gregory XIII, Maximilian II, and Henry of Valois, who was chosen king of Poland; and, when the latter ascended the throne of France under the name of Henry III, Guarini was sent to the Polish estates to propose the duke as a candidate for the throne of Poland. The failure of this embassy, which involved the sacrifice of a part of Guarini's own property, was taken advantage of, by his jealous rivals, to deprive him of the favor of his prince; and, after all his services, he was dismissed. He now passed his time in literary retirement, partly in Padua, and partly on his own estate, but was recalled, in 1585, to the office of secretary of state. He again attained a distinguished rank in the court, but, two years after, retired a second time, because the duke, in a dispute between Guarini and his daughterin-law, gave a decision which displeased him. He then continued some time in private life. In 1597, he entered the service of Ferdinand I, grand-duke of Tuscany,

which he soon quitted. Suspecting that the duke had favored the marriage of his youngest son, which had been concluded privately, against Guarini's will, he left his court, and retired to that of the duke of Urbino. After some time, he returned to Ferrara, but resided alternately at Venice, Padua and Rome, on account of the numerous lawsuits in which his litigious spirit involved him. In 1605, he went as an ambassador of his native city to the court of Rome, to congratulate Paul V on his elevation. He died at Venice, in 1612. Guarini is one of the most elegant authors and poets of Italy, as is shown by his letters, his Segretario, a dialogue, his comedy L'Idropica, his Rime, and, above all, by his Pastor Fido. This pastoral drama, which was first represented at Turin, on the marriage of Charles Emanuel, duke of Savoy, with Catharine of Austria, and afterwards frequently brought upon the stage, and translated into many languages, has rendered him immortal. The slightest glance shows that this piece is by no means an imitation of the Aminta, to which it is superior in ingenuity, epigrammatic turns and poetical ornament,

characteristics which have brought upon him undeserved reproach, as being ill adapted to the pastoral drama. Guarini's works appeared at Ferrara, in 1737 (four volumes, 4to.). His Trattato della politica Libertà (written about 1599) was first printed at Venice, in 1818, with his life by Ruggieri.

GUASTALLA; a duchy in Upper Italy, on the Po, in the Austrian dominions, and the duchy of Modena, containing 33 square miles, with 7200 inhabitants. Its chief place, of the same name, on the Crostolo and Po, contains 5500 inhabitants. Guastalla formerly belonged to the dukes of Mantua. The line becoming extinct in 1746, it was given to Parma, and, in 1795, was comprised, with all the dominions of this house, in the Italian republic. In 1815, it was annexed to the duchy of Parma, and given to Maria Louisa, wife of Napoleon, as duchess of Parma.

GUATIMALA (for an account of the country of this name, see Central America). Guatimala is also the largest of the five states of the republic of Central America, formed from the old captaingeneralship of the same name. It lies in the north-western part of the republic, bordering on Mexico, the gulf of Honduras, and the Pacific ocean. It is divided into 14 partidos.

GUATIMALA, LA NUEVA (the New); seat

of the federal government of Central America, archiepiscopal see, situated on the river Vacas, near the Pacific ocean, with a good harbor; lat. 14° 40′ N.; lon. 91° 25′ W. In April, 1830, it was nearly destroyed by an earthquake. Previous to this, the inhabitants were about 40,000; the houses were handsome, but built low, on account of the frequency of earthquakes; the streets broad, and the numerous churches and public buildings distinguished for their elegance. It was founded in 1775, in consequence of the destruction of the old city by an earthquake.

GUAVA (psidium); a genus of plants, allied to the myrtle, containing nearly 40 species, natives of the intertropical parts of America, with one or two exceptions. They are trees or shrubs, with opposite entire leaves, and axillary white flowers. The P. pysiferum attains the height of 18 or 20 feet, and is now cultivated in all the intertropical parts of the globe, for the sake of its fruit, which has a sweet, agreeable flavor, and is considered very wholesome. The young branches of this tree are quadrangular; the leaves, oval-acute, and the fruit shaped like a pear, and about as large as a pullet's egg, yellow without, with a fleshy pulp, and is eaten either in a crude state, or in the form of jellies. The wood, which is very hard, is much used for various mechanical purposes, as also for burning, and makes excellent charcoal. This tree has been cultivated, with complete success, in the south of France.

GUAXACA, or OAXACA; a state of Mexico, situated between Puebla and Guatimala, about 240 miles in length and 120 in breadth. The soil is fertile, producing corn, maize, cocoa, cochineal, sugar, honey, and fruits of every kind. Here are mines of gold, silver and crystal. Mulberry trees, for the cultivation of silk, have been introduced by the Spaniards. There are 150 Indian towns, besides 300 villages and upwards of 150,000 natives, who are tributary to the Spaniards. Population, 534,000.

GUAXACA; a town in Mexico, capital of the state of the same name; 90 miles S. by W. of Vera Cruz, 195 miles S. S. E. of Mexico; lon. 98° 36′ W.; lat. 17° 30′ N. Population in 1792, 24,000. This town, also called Antequera, is the see of a bishop. It is agreeably situated in a valley, on a river abounding with fish, which runs into the Alvarado.

GUAYAQUIL, a province of Colombia, in New Granada, lies along the Pacific

ocean, on the Guayaquil river, and on the north side of the gulf of the same name. Population, about 90,000. Staples, cocoa, cotton, tobacco, salt, wax, rice and honey. GUAYAQUIL; a city of Colombia, and capital of the province of the same name, on the west side of Guayaquil river. It possesses an excellent seaport. Ship-timber abounds in the vicinity, from which many vessels have been built. It is 150 miles S. S. W. of Quito; lon. 79° 56′ W.; lat. 2° 11′ S.

GUAYAQUIL BAY, or GULF, extends from cape St. Helena to Pontade Picos, upwards of 100 miles; and, extending inland, in the form of a triangle, receives, at its head, Guayaquil river. The gulf is chequered by numerous islands, one of which, Puna, is of considerable size.

GUBITZ, Frederic William, one of the best wood-engravers in Germany, was born in 1784. He is professor in the academy at Berlin, and teacher of the art of engraving on wood, which he has carried to great perfection. He is also a writer of some talent, and has edited a periodical (Der Gesellschafter) in Berlin, since 1817.

GUDGEON (gobio, Cuv.). These fish are distinguished by having the dorsal and anal fins short, and without spines. At the angle on each side of the mouth, there is a small beard of a quarter of an inch in length. Neither jaw is furnished with teeth, but, at the entrance of the throat, there are two triangular bones, that perform the office of grinders. These fish are taken in gentle streams, and are generally of small size, measuring only about six inches. They are brought together by raking the bed of the river, which makes them crowd in shoals to the spot, expecting food from this disturbance. are spoken of by Aristotle; and old Willoughby says that they are preferred, by the English, to every other river fish.

They

GUEBERS, OF GUEBRES, or GAUERS (i. e., infidels); the fire-worshippers in Persia; in India called Parsees. They call themselves Behendie, or followers of the true faith, and live chiefly in the deserts of Caramania, towards the Persian gulf, and in the province Yerd Keram.. These people, who are but little known, are laborious and temperate cultivators of the ground. The manners of the Guebers are mild. They drink wine, eat all kinds of meat, marry but one wife, and live chastely and temperately. Divorce and polygamy are prohibited by their religion; but if a wife remains barren during the first nine years of marriage, the husband may take

a second wife. They worship one Supreme Being, whom they call the Eternal Spirit, or Yerd. The sun, moon and planets they believe to be peopled with rational beings, acknowledge light as the primitive cause of the good, darkness as that of evil, and worship fire, as it is said, from which they have received their name. But they themselves say, that they do not worship fire, but only find in it an image of the incomprehensible God; on which account they offer up their prayers before a fire, and maintain one uninterruptedly burning on holy places, which their prophet Zoroaster (q. v.), they say, kindled 4000 years ago. Their holy book is called Zend-Avesta. (q. v.) One of the peculiarities of the Guebers is, that they do not bury their dead, but expose the bodies upon the towers of their temples, to be devoured by birds. They observe which part the birds first eat, from which they judge of the fate of the deceased.

GUELFS, or GUELPHS (from the Italian Guelf and the German Welfen); the name of a celebrated family, which, in the 11th century, was transplanted from Italy to Germany, where it became the ruling race of several countries. The family still continues in the two lines of Brunswick, the royal in England, and the ducal in Germany. According to Eichhorn's Urgeschichte des Hauses der Welfen, this house first appears distinctly in the 9th century, in the reign of Charlemagne. The memory of this ancient name has lately been revived by the foundation of the Hanoverian Guelf order. (See Hanover.) The term Guelf is also applied to a powerful party in the middle ages, which, in Germany, and, at a later period, in Italy, opposed the German emperors and their adherents, called the Gibelines. (See Frederic von Raumer's Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, Leipsic, 1823.) The family of the Guelfs, in different branches, possessed considerable estates in Germany, in the 11th century. Azzo, of the family of Este in Italy, lord of Milan, Genoa and other cities of Lombardy (died in 1097), acquired some of these estates by his marriage with Cunigunde, the heiress of the Guelfs. His son, Guelf I (died 1101), became duke of Bavaria, and inherited the estates of the other Guelf lines. The son of Guelf I acquired, by marriage, the estates in Saxony which belonged to his wife's father, duke Magnus. The emperor Lothaire gave (1137) the duchy of Saxony to his son-in-law, Henry the Generous, grandson of Guelf I. This Henry, on the death of Lothaire, opposed Conrad

III, of the house of Hohenstaufen, who had been elected emperor, was put under the ban of the empire, and most of his vast possessions confiscated. After his death, his son, the famous Henry the Lion, received, in 1139, only the duchy of Saxony, and his hereditary estates in this country, the Bavarian fiefs having been given to his uncle Wolf. In 1140, war having broken out between Wolf and Frederic, brother to the emperor Conrad, the words Welf and Waiblingen became the war-cries of the respective parties in the battle at Weinsberg. Waiblingen, in the present kingdom of Würtemberg, was an estate of the house of Hohenstaufen (q. v.), to which Conrad belonged, and the Italians afterwards changed the word (as w is often changed into g, q. v.) into Ghibellini. The contest, which, in the beginning, was merely between the two families, spread, at length, more and more widely, and became an obstinate struggle between two political parties. This contest was not a mere family quarrel, like many of the disputes of the middle ages. It was a strife of opinions, involving important interests, conducted, it is true, in many instances, with a senseless disregard both of justice and expediency, owing to the crude notions of the period respecting the rights and well-being of nations, but still having great objects in view. The wars of the Guelfs and Gibelines became the struggle between the spiritual and secular power, through which it was necessary that western Europe should pass, to shake off the dominion of the popes, which was now on the point of crushing all national independence, after having completed its proper work of raising Europe from a state of barbarism. (See Gregory VII.) The popes, who endeavored to reduce the German emperors to acknowledge their supremacy, and the cities of Italy, struggling for independence and deliverance from the oppressive yoke of these same emperors, formed the party of the Guelfs. Those who favored the emperors were called Gibelines. Italy underwent great sufferings during this contest, as did Germany also, which sent army after army to be swallowed up in this lion's cave whence none returned, as a German emperor called it. There is little doubt that the inconsiderable progress of Germany in public law and political well-being was, in a great measure, owing to this struggle, which consumed her strength and engrossed her attention. The contest continued, with bitterness, for almost 300 years. These parties appeared

in Italy under many different names, as the bianchi and neri (white and black), in Florence, &c. History shows no instance of a more untiring and cruel party spirit.

GUERCINO (properly Gianfrancesco Barbieri, surnamed Guercino da Cento from his squinting), a celebrated painter, was born at Cento, near Bologna, in 1590. By his own genius he discovered the first principles of his art, and afterwards perfected himself in the school of Lodovico Caracci. An academy which he opened in 1616, attracted a great number of scholars from all parts of Europe. The king of France offered him the situation of his first painter; but he preferred to accept an apartment in the palace of the duke of Modena. In his character he was mild, upright, courteous and benevolent, and ready to assist his fellow artists. He died in 1666, at Bologna, where he had settled after the death of Guido. His principal works are to be found in the museums of Rome, Parma, Piacenza, Modena, Reggio and Paris. The manner which he first adopted was too strong, and resembled that of Caravaggio. His second and best period was compounded of the Roman, Venetian and Bolognese schools, blended, however, with somewhat of Caravaggio's bold opposition of light and shade. His last manner was a palpable imitation of Guido, and is inferior to the other in power and elegance. He acquired great wealth by his profession, which he bestowed liberally in acts of charity, building chapels and founding hospitals. Few painters have labored with so much facility and rapidity. Having been requested by some monks, on the eve of a festival, to paint God the Father, for the grand altar, he finished the picture in one night, by torch light. We have, also, an introduction to the art of drawing from his pen. Guercino, moreover, etched some prints in a style of excellence.

GUERICKE, Otto von, burgomaster of Magdeburg, was one of the most distinguished experimental philosophers of the 17th century. He was born at Magdeburg, Nov. 20, 1602; studied law at Leipsic, Helmstädt and Jena; mathematics, and particularly geometry and mechanics, at Leyden; travelled in France and England; acted as chief engineer at Erfurt; became, in 1627, counsellor at Magdeburg; and, in 1646, burgomaster, and counsellor of the elector of Brandenburg, but resigned his offices five years before his death, and repaired to his sons, at Hamburg, where he died May 11, 1686. In 1650, 8

VOL. VI.

he invented the air-pump, about the time that a similar idea occurred to Robert Boyle in England. This discovery changed the whole aspect of natural philosophy, and gave rise to a more intimate acquaintance with the nature and effects of air. In 1654, he made the first public experiments with his machine, at the diet at Ratisbon, before the emperor Ferdinand III, his son Ferdinand IV, king of Rome, several electors and other estates of the empire. The first air-pump, with which Guericke almost exhausted the air from two hemispheres, is preserved in the royal library at Berlin. Guericke also invented an air-balance, and the small glass figures, which were used before the invention of the barometer (q. v.), to show the variations of temperature. The pressure of the atmosphere he exhibited by means of two large hollow hemispheres of copper and brass, an ell in diameter. These being fitted closely together, the air contained in the hollow sphere thus formed was exhausted by means of an airpump. Guericke then harnessed horses to strong rings, attached to the hemispheres, and they attempted in vain to separate them. The number of the horses was increased to 30 without success. An additional number at length made them part with a loud report. He was also an astronomer. His opinion, that the return of comets might be calculated, has been confirmed. His most important observations, collected by himself, appeared at Amsterdam, in folio (in 1672), entitled Experimenta nova, ut vocant Magdeburgica, de vacuo Spatio, &c. (See Air-Pump.)

GUERILLAS (Spanish diminutive of guerra, war), in the war for Spanish independence, was the name of the light, irregular troops, who did much injury to the enemy, while their disconnected character and active movements secured them from suffering much in return. They consisted chiefly of peasants, who, in the ardor of patriotic zeal and religious fanaticism, having put to death such Frenchmen as fell into their hands on the first retreat of the French forces, fled to the mountains, on their return, to avoid their resentment, collected in numbers, chose leaders, and carried on a partisan warfare, without being paid or dressed in uniform. They appeared sometimes in small bands, sometimes to the number of 1000, hanging on the outskirts, picking off single soldiers, attacking small detachinents, intercepting couriers; and it was with difficulty that the French could keep up any communications. The general Juan Martin Diaz,