GNU 



:i.l.i|.t. the Old 'I'.-i.-iiiM-iii t<> their i. lea of a universal 

 religion. Cerinthus held that Christianity wan 

 identical witli pure Mosaism, laying great strew 

 on p. in of the ceremonial law, and holding the 

 creator of the world to IKS siiltordinnte to the 

 Supreme Being ; others traced the ceremonial laws 

 of t lie Old Testament to the devil, ami lirld the 

 d.i.lof the Jews to he the highest God. Other-. 

 again, entirely discarded Judaism, and connected 

 thru < 'liristiitnity with allegorical interpretations 

 of Syrian and Babylonian mythology. The chief 

 representatives of Syrian Gnosticism were Satur- 

 niniis (or Katornil) of Anti<Mrh, and the various 

 of the Ophites (including the Naasenes, 

 Peratai, and others). It is uncertain in what 

 relation these isolated Syrian sects may have stood 

 to tin- great Gnostic schools of Egypt and the 

 West, the Basilidians and Valentinians. After the 

 confederation of the Christian communities into 

 tin- Catholic Church even these great schools were 

 not long able to maintain a separate existence, and 

 liy the end of the first decade of the 3d century 

 their ecclesiastical influence hat! well-nigh dis- 

 appeared. But, though the organic energy of 

 Gnosticism was thus quickly exhausted, Gnostic 

 ideas held their ground to a much later date, and 

 may be traced in the writings of some of the most 

 higlily reputed Christian fathers. The Pistis 

 S<>/ili in, edited by Schwartze and Petertnann 

 (Berlin, 1853), is the only Gnostic work that has 

 come down to us in a complete form, except those 

 aiMX-ryphal Gospels and Acts of the apostles which 

 show a Gnostic tendency. Tatian's Diatessaron was 

 used in the Syrian Church down to the 5th century. 

 The Gnostic Bardesaries of Edessa, one of the last 

 of the Syrian Gnostics, was the founder of Syrian 

 hymnology. 



See Neander, Genetixche Entwickeluwi dcr vornchmsten 

 Gnostischen Systeme ( 1818 ) ; Matter, Hintoire critique du 

 Gnosticitnv. (2 vols. 1828; 2d ed. 1843); J. A. Miihler, 

 Versuche ilber den Gnost. ( 1831 ; also forming vol. i. of 

 his Gesamm. Schrift., ed. by Dollinger); Baur, Die 

 c/irixt/ichr Gnoitis (1835); Moller, Geschichle der Kosmo- 

 Itx.iie in der Griecftischen Kirche bis auf Oruienes ( 1860 ) ; 

 Lipsius, Der Gnostizismus (1860); King, The Gnostics 

 aiid their Remains ( 1873 ) ; Mansel, The Gnoxtic Heresies 

 (e.l. by Lightfoot, 1875) ; Joel, Blicke in die Relujious- 

 (leschichte zu Anfang des 2 Christlichen Jahrhunderts 

 (2 parts, 1880-83); Koffiuanne, Die Gnosis nach Hirer 

 Tendenz und Organisation (1882); Hilgenfeld, Die 

 Ketzfnjetchichte des Urchristenthums (1884), with the 

 Gnostic fragments, and lists of books relating to the 

 various Gnostic teachers; Kenan, Orujines du Christian- 

 itme (vols. v. to vii.); Harnack, Ziir Quelletikritik der 

 <;-. <:/!. df Gnott, (1873) and Doymetu/eschichtc (vol. i., 

 2d ed. 1888 ) ; and for a concise account of the different 

 systems, Moller, Kirchenyeschichte (vol. i. 1889). 



Gnu (Catoblepas), a genus of antelopes (termed 

 Wililelircjt by the Boers), of which the best- 

 known species has been often described as appar- 

 ently made up of parts of different animals, not 

 only of the antelope and the ox or buffalo, but 

 even of tin- horse. This species(G'. Gnu) isanative 

 of South Africa; it has disappeared from the more 

 settled parts of Cape Colony, but is to be seen in 

 In-rds on the arid plains beyond these l>oundaries 

 in company with small troops of zebras, and with 

 flocks of ostriches. The form and action of gnus 

 so much resemble those of zebras and quaggas 

 that at a distance they may be readily mistaken 

 for them. The size of the gnu is that of a large 

 ass ; the general colour is yellowish-tawny. Both 

 MM have horns. The limos are slender, like those 

 of deer and antelopes. The gnu gallops with great 

 speed. It has been usually represented as a very 

 fierce animal, and certainly shows much ability to 

 defend itself with its horns, when unable to escape 

 from danger by flight ; hut when taken young it is 

 easily tamed, and readily associates with oxen, 



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accompanying them to ami from the field. There 

 are two or three specie**, all South African, nearly 



Onu ( Catoblepat Gnu ). 



resembling the common gnu, and one considerably 

 larger. Millais in A Breath from the Veldt ( 1895), 

 reported that only 550 were left alive in South 

 Africa, of which one herd were quite wild, nnd 

 some were preserved by a wealthy Boer. 



<oa, a Portuguese possession on the west coast 

 of India, between the Western Ghats and the sea, 

 with an area of 1450 sq. in., and a pop. (1891) of 

 495,000. A hilly country, it is intersected by 

 many small streams. Half of the land under cul- 

 tivation, a third of the entire area, is devoted to 

 rice ; stately forests cover nearly a fourth of the 

 remainder. The territory is divided for adminis- 

 trative purposes into two sections known as the 

 Velhas ana Novas Conquistas (Old and New 

 Conquests), which are subdivided into nine 'pro- 

 vinces.' The chief civil and military authority 

 is vested in a governor-general of Portuguese 

 India, appointed by the king ; he is aided by 

 a general council, and bv three subordinate juntas 

 or councils. An archbishop, with the title of 



firimate of the East, is at the head of the Roman 

 Catholic Church ; the native Christians constitute 

 more than half of the total population, and the 

 church's festivals are celebrated in Goa with great 

 pomp. In 1871, in consequence of a rebellion, the 

 native army was disbanded, and the colony is 

 now held by a European force of little over 

 300 men ; the police force is nearly 1000 strong. 

 The revenue slightly exceeds the expenditure : the 

 imports have long exceeded the exports. Cap- 

 tured by Albuquerque in 1510, 'Golden Goa' 

 reached by the end of the century a pitch of 

 military and ecclesiastical splendour and com- 

 mercial prosperity such as finds a parallel in India 

 only in the most brilliant davs of the Mogul 

 capitals. The decline of the "Portuguese power 

 quickly followed the appearance of the Dutch 

 (see EAST INDIA COMPANY), and in 1759 the 

 city of Old Goa, once the chief emporium of 

 trade between the east and west, was deserted by 

 all but its ecclesiastical inhabitants, and left to the 

 decay in which it has since lain. Its one-time 

 population of 200,000 has sunk to less than 1900; 

 its arsenal, its palaces, its quays, even many of its 

 churches are in ruins, their sites covered with 

 cocoa-nut plantations, and the streets overrun with 

 grass. Among the edifices that survive are the 

 majestic cathedral, where services are held regu- 

 larly every day, and the splendid church of Bom 

 Jesus, containing the magnificent tomb which 

 enshrined the remains of St Francis Xavier. The 

 new capital is Nova Goa or Panjim, on the Man- 

 davi, 3 miles from its mouth. It presents a pietur 

 esque appearance ; its streets are wide and clean : 



