GAZA, THEODORE. 



OEE, JOSHUA. 



why the members of the institute had suffered the prize to be taken by a 

 stranger, and he was told there was no pile in France powerful enough 

 to obtain any grand results. He ordered a colossal one to be constructed 

 immediately, and with it Gay-Lussac and M. Thenard commenced 

 their experiments in 1808. The result was a work in 2 vols. pub- 

 lished in 1S11, 'Rechercb.es physico-cbimiques sur la pile, sur les 

 alcalia, BUT les acidcs, 1'analysa ve'ge'tale, et animale,' &c. Their dis- 

 coveries, and the improvements on methods of Davy, detailed in this 

 work, were of great importance. In 1816 he was created Professor of 

 Chemistry in the Polytechnic school. 



Gay-Lussac' a life wag one of constant activity. Though he has only 

 published two works, and those little more than pamphlets, ' Memoire 

 sur 1'Iode,' and 'Me'moire sur le Cyanogene,' both highly esteemed, 

 he haa written more than a hundred papers on various subjects, and 

 all of great ability. Besides the subjects already mentioned, he wrote 

 on hygrometry, on capillary attraction, on the distinction between 

 ozydes and hydratides; and to him is due the discovery of the 

 hydro-sulphuric and ozy-chloride acids. A course of chemical 

 lectures delivered by him at the Sorboune, taken down in short-hand, 

 has been also published in two volumes. 



The merits of Gay-Lussac were not unrewarded by his country. 

 After 1830, he wag repeatedly chosen a member of the Chamber 

 of Deputies ; and in 1839 he was created a peer of France. He was a 

 member of the Academy of Sciences, honorary professor of natural 

 philosophy at the Sorbonne, professor of chemistry at the JarJin du 

 Koi, verifieator at the mint of works in gold and silver, editor, with 

 M. Arago, of the ' Annales de Physique et de Chimie,' with several 

 other official employments connected with the manufacturing industry 

 of France. After a long life of useful labours, and in the enjoyment of 

 excellent health till within a short period of his decease, he died on 

 May 9. 1350, at the handsome mansion provided for him in the Jardin 

 duRoi. 



GAZA, THEODORE, a learned Greek scholar, born at Thessalonica 

 in the early pan of the IJth century, emigrated to Italy, like others 

 of his countrymen, at the time of the fall of the Eastern empire. He 

 found liberal patrons in his countryman Cardinal Bessarion, Pope 

 Nicholas V., and King Alfonso of Naples. Gaza translated into Latin 

 Aristotle's ' History of Animal* ;' the * History of Plants,' by Thao- 

 phraetus; the 'Aphorisms' of Hippocrates, and other Greek works. 

 He also wrote a Greek Grammar, which was published at Rome in 

 1495, and wai oftn reprinted. He was one of those who contributed 

 powerfully to the revival of classical studies in Italy. In the then 

 pending controversy concerning the comparative merits of Aristotle 

 and Plato, he wrote in praise of Aristotle's opinions ; but his mildness 

 and modesty kept him within the bounds of decorum. He wrote also 

 a book on the ' Origin of the Turks,' and a treatise ' De Uensibus 

 Atticis.' Uaza died at Rome, or, as some say, in Calabria, at an 

 advanced age. 



GEBHAKDI, a German author, born in 1699 at Brunswick, died at 

 Luneburg in 1 764. His most important work is a ' Universal Genealogy,' 

 published in 1730-31, in German. It is divided into three volumes, 

 each with a particular title : the first contains the pedigree of the 

 sovereign houses of Europe which existed in 1731 ; the second, the 

 pedigree! of the extinct dynasties; the third, the genealogy of 

 Mohammedan and heathen monarch*. This production served as a 

 basis to all the genealogical works published by the Germans during 

 the 18th century. Gebhardi also wrote ' Historical and Genealogical 

 Memoirs,' 3 vols. 8vo. His son published, after his father's death, a 

 collection of materials for a genealogical history of the reigning families 

 of Germany, which was left in manuscript by Gebhardi. 



GKDDES, ALEXANDER, LL.D., was born in 1737, at Arradowl, 

 in the parish of Ruthven and county of Banff, Scotland. His parents, 

 who were in humble circumstances, were enabled, by the kindness of 

 the laird of the village, to give their son a respectable education. 

 After spending seven years at Scalan, a Roman Catholic seminary in 

 the Highlands, be was removed at the age of twenty-one to the Scotch 

 college in Paris, where he diligently studied theology, and made him- 

 self master of moat of the modern European languages. On his 

 return to Scotland, he resided for some time in the house of the Earl 

 of Traqnaire ; and, after paying another visit to Paris, he accepted, in 

 1769, tic charge of a Catholic congregation at Auchinhalrig, in the 

 county of Banff, where he remained for ten years, beloved by his 

 people, and attentive to the duties of his station. He had resolved in 

 the early yean of his life to make a new translation of the Bible into 

 the English language, for the use of the Roman Catholics, but pecu- 

 niary difficulties prevented him during his residence at Auchinhalrig 

 from obtaining the necessary book*. On hi* removal to London, in 

 177'J, he was introduced to Lord Petre, who warmly approved of his 

 purpose, and engaged to allow him 200/. a year for his life, and to pro- 

 cure for him all the works that he considered requisite. Thus 

 encouraged, he published in 1780 a pamphlet, under the title of an 

 ' Idea of a New Version of the Holy Bible, for the use of the English 

 Catholics, 1 in which he proposed to make the Vulgate the basis of his 

 new translation. This plan being afterwards abandoned, he resolved 

 to make an entirely new translation from the Hebrew and Greek. In 

 accomplishing this work, his firxt object was directed to obtaining an 

 a* curate text, and no labour was (pared by this indefatigable scholar 

 to render the translation ai complete as possible. He consulted the 



most eminent biblical scholars of the day, among whom were Dr. 

 Kennicott, and Dr. Lowth, the bishop of London, who assisted him 

 with their advice. The prospectus, which contained au account of 

 his plan, was published in 1786 ; this was soon followed by a letter to 

 the Bishop of London, containing ' Queries, doubts, and difficulties, 

 relative to a vernacular version of the Holy Scriptures,' by a specimen 

 of the work, and by a ' General Answer to the queries, counsels, and 

 criticisms ' which his prospectus and specimens had called forth. It 

 was not however till 1792 that the first volume of the translation was 

 published under the title of ' The Holy Bible, or the Books accounted 

 Sacred by the Jews and Christians, otherwise called the Books of the 

 Old and New Covenants, faithfully translated from corrected texts of 

 the originals, with various readings, explanatory notes, and critical 

 remarks ; ' the second, which contained the translation to the end of 

 the historical books, appeared in 1793; and the third, which contained 

 his critical remarks upon the Pentateuch, in 1800. The remainder of 

 the work was never finished ; he was employed at the time of his 

 death on a translation of the Psalms, which he had finished as far as 

 the 118th Psalm, and which was published in 1807. He died at 

 London, on the 26th of February 1802, in the sixty-fifth year of 

 his age. 



In his commentary, Dr. Goddes maintained opinions very similar 

 to those held by that class of divines in Germany denominated 

 ' Rationalist,' and of whom Eichhorn and Paulus were the most cele- 

 brated iu his day ; and his translation was made in accordance with 

 those opinions. He considered the writers of the Scriptures to have 

 had the same degree of inspiration which has been granted to good 

 men in all ages, and which, according to the common meaning attached 

 to the word inspiration, amounts to none at all He disbelieved the 

 divine mission of Moses, and asserted that " Moses only did what all 

 other ancient legislators had done, required a greater or less degree of 

 implicit obedience to their respective laws, and for that purpose 

 feigned an intercourse with the Deity to make that obedienca more 

 palatable to the credulous multitude." He rejected the various 

 miracles ascribed to him, or laboured to reduce them to the standard 

 of natural phenomena. He explains the account of the creation in 

 the book of Genesis "as a most beautiful mjthos or philosophical 

 fiction, contrived with great wisdom, and dressed up in the garb of 

 real history." These and similar opinions exposed the author to 

 severe censure ; and charges of infidelity, and of a desire to under- 

 mine the authority of the Scriptures, were widely circulated agaiust 

 him. HU own church was the first to condemn him ; a pastoral 

 letter, signed by three out of four of the apostolical vicars of England, 

 forbad the faithful from reading his translation ; and Dr. Geddes him- 

 self was soon afterwards deposed by the apostolical vicar of the 

 London district from the exercise of his duties as a priest. To vindi- 

 cate his character, Dr. Geddes published an ' Address ta the Public on 

 the publication of the first volume of his new translation of the 

 Bible,' in which he most earnestly repelled the charge of infidelity. 

 His translation, which is for the most part plain and perspicuous, but 

 unequal, was a valuable help to the science of biblical criticism iu this 

 country ; and he had the consolation, in the midst of the virulence 

 with which he was assailed in England, to know that such men as 

 Paulus and Eichhorn appreciated his labours. 



In addition to his translation, Dr. Geddes published many other 

 works, most of which had only a temporary interest, as they were 

 written on the politics of the day, or on some theological or literary 

 dispute which has long since been settled. A complete catalogue of 

 them is given in the beginning of Dr. Mason Good's ' Memoirs of the 

 Life and Writings of the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL.D.,' published 

 in 1803. (See Graves 'On the Pentateuch,' and the 4th, 14th, 19th, 

 and 20th volumes of the ' British Critic,' old series, for a review of his 

 theological opinions.) 



GEDIKE, FRIEDRICH, was born at Boberow, near Lenzen, in 

 Brandenburg, in the year 1754. The death of his father, when he 

 was but nine years old, plunged him in great distress, and he was 

 taken to the Orphan Asylum at Zullicoau. In 1766, Steinbart, under 

 whom he had studied at the asylum, founded a school of his own, 

 where Gedike became a pupil. He went to the university at Frank- 

 furt in 1771, and studied under Tollner. On the death of Tollner, 

 Steiubart, wbo succeeded him, once more became his instructor. In 

 1775 Spalding appointed Gedike private teacher to his two sous, and 

 in 1776 he was made sub-rector of the Friedrichwerder Gymnasium 

 at Berlin, of which in a few years he became director. He now 

 showed himself to be one of the most eminent teachers iu Germany. 

 Indefatigable in devising new methods of instruction, and constantly 

 aiming at improvements, he animated both pupils and tutors, and 

 raised the almost sinking establishment to a high eminence. He 

 became in 1795 director of the Berlin Gymnasium, having previously 

 received the degree of Doctor of Theology. He died in 1803. 



The works of Gedike are chiefly school books and works on edu- 

 cation ; but he also published an edition of the ' Philoctetes ' of 

 Sophocles, and of select dialogues from Plato, as well as some trans- 

 lations of Pindar. 



GEE, JOSHUA, was an eminent London merchant of the earlier 

 part of the 13th century, but we have not been able to discover any 

 particulars of his personal history. He was one of the authors of 

 the work called 'The British Merchant,' originally published in 



