356 



GRATRY, AUGUSTE J. A. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



Germany, having been absent six years. He 

 shortly afterward published, in two volumes, 

 the first of a series of observations in America, 

 entitled " Excursions and Travels across the 

 United States of North America," Dresden, 

 1844. This was followed in 1846 by "The 

 Regulators in Arkansas," a novel in 3 vols., 

 Leipsic; in 1847 by "Pictures of the Missis- 

 sippi," 2 vols., Dresden; the same year, by 

 another novel, "The Pirates of the Mississippi 

 River," in 3 vols., Leipsic; and in 1849, by 

 " Pictures of the American Rivers and For- 

 ests," 2 vols., Leipsic. In 1849 Herr Ger- 

 stacker undertook another journey to America, 

 with the double purpose of obtaining materials 

 for further literary labors, and of procuring 

 information which would be useful to emi- 

 grants. For the accomplishment of these ends 

 he received a salary from the foreign minister 

 of the German Empire, and from the publisher, 

 Cotta. He went to Rio de Janeiro, and thence 

 to Buenos Ayres, Valparaiso, and California. 

 He returned to Germany in 1852, after having 

 visited the Sandwich and Society Islands, and 

 Australia. He gave an account of his travels 

 in I)as Ausland and the Augslurger Allge- 

 meine Zeitung, under the title of " Travels." 

 These sketches were afterward collected and 

 published at Stuttgart and Tubingen in five 

 volumes, and translated into English. He also 

 published several other novels and stories of 

 travel, among which were: "On the Sea;" 

 "In North and South America;" both pub- 

 lished in the "Library of German Romances," 

 in 1855; " Voyages round the World," Leip- 

 sic, 6 vols., 1847-'4S ; " Adventures of Ger- 

 man Emigrants," 1847; "In America," 1855; 

 and "Echoes of the Virgin Forests," 1847. 

 He also translated an American romance, 

 " The Quaker City and its Mysteries," 4 vols., 

 Leipsic, 1847. Most of his novels and travels 

 have been translated and republished both in 

 England and the United States. 



GRATRY, the Abbe" AUGUSTS JOSEPH AL- 

 PHONSE, a French Catholic theologian and 

 author, born at Lille, March 30, 1805 ; died 

 in Paris, February 4, 1872. After passing 

 through the usual course of studies in the Ly- 

 ceum of his native city, he studied 'mathemat- 

 ics, and entered the Polytechnic School in 

 1825, but, finding himself unable to obtain an 

 appointment in the branch of science he pre- 

 ferred, he resigned, and turned his attention to 

 ecclesiastical studies. In 1841 he was appoint- 

 ed director of the College of Stanislas, and, 

 in 1846 almoner to the Superior Normal 

 School. The publication of the third volume 

 of the "History of the School of Alexandria," 

 by M. Vacherot, then director of studies in 

 the Normal School, led to a controversy be- 

 tween Gratry and Vacherot, which terminated 

 in the resignation of the latter in 1851. A 

 year later the Abbe Gratry himself withdrew 

 from the Normal School, in order to devote 

 himself, with the Abbe" Petetot, to the recon- 

 stitution of the order of the Oratorians of the 



Immaculate Conception. He had received the- 

 decoration of the Legion of Honor in April, 

 1845. In 1861 Monseigneur Dupanloup, then 

 Bishop of Orleans, chose him as his vicar-gen- 

 eral, and on the 28th of October, 1863, he was 

 appointed Professor of Evangelical Morals at 

 the Sorbonne. The Abbe Gratry was a warm 

 and intimate friend of Charles Loyson, the fa- 

 mous preaching friar, better known as Father 

 Hyacinthe, and in one of his public services he 

 had given expression to his liberal views, in 

 connection with his avowed adherence, with 

 Father Hyacinthe, to the principles of the so- 

 called League of Peace. These views drew 

 upon him, in 1869, the displeasure of, and a 

 public reprimand from, the Superior of the 

 Order of Oratorians. Following this repri- 

 mand, he withdrew from the order, and subse- 

 quently made common cause with his friend 

 Father Hyacinthe. It is said, however, that 

 a short time before his death he made 'peace 

 with the Roman Catholic dignitaries, and died 

 in "the odor of sanctity." The Abb6 Gratry 

 was elected a member of the French Academy 

 in 1867, as a successor to M. Barante, and his 

 reception took place in March of the following 

 year. His published works were: "Letters 

 and Replies to M. Vacherot," 1851 ; a course of 

 philosophy in three parts, namely, " On the 

 Knowledge of God," 2 vols., 1855 ; " Logic," 2 

 vols., 1856; and "On the Knowledge of the 

 Soul," 2 vols., 1857; "The Philosophy of the 

 Creed," 1861 ; "Sources; Advice for the Con- 

 duct of Life," 2 vols., 1861-'62 ; "A Commen- 

 tary on the Gospel of St. Matthew," 2 vols , 

 1863-'65; "Jesus Christ; an Answer to M. 

 Kenan," 1864 ; " The Sophists and their Criti- 

 cisms," 1864 ; " Henri Perreyve," 1866 ; " The 

 Little Manual of Criticism," 1866 ; " The Moral 

 Law and the Law of History," 2 vols., 1868. 



GREAT BRITAIN, OB, THE UNITED KING- 

 DOM OF GEEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Area, 

 121,115 square miles, or 77,513,585 statute 

 acres. Population, according to census of 1871, 

 31,817,108 ; estimated population, July 1, 1872, 

 31,858,933. Government, a limited constitu- 

 tional monarchy, consisting of the sovereign and 

 the Houses of Lords and Commons, without 

 whose joint approval no legislative measure is 

 complete, though a large discretion is left to the 

 executive ; and for the proper exercise of this 

 discretion the ministers of the Crown are re- 

 sponsible, as it is a legal maxim that " the sov- 

 ereign can do no wrong." Practically the ad- 

 ministration of the Government is in the 

 hands of the Prime-Minister for the time be- 

 ing, who is the head of the cabinet, and First 

 Lord of the Treasury. The premier can only 

 retain power so long as he represents tlje 

 dominant majority in the House of Commons. 

 But, having an assured majority on his side in 

 the popular branch of Parliament, his power 

 and theirs are wellnigh absolute, overriding 

 even the opposition of the House of Lords, 

 and compelling them, even against their wills, 

 to assent to his measures. The present sov- 



