GROSCHEN GROTIUS. 



569 



black, and bill rea ; the female is of a drab red 

 colour. The other species are, evening grosbeak 

 (L. vespertina), rose-breasted grosbeak (L. ludovisia- 

 na), blue grosbeak (L. coerulea). 



GROSCHEN; a silver coin, so called from the 

 Latin grossus (thick) ; thick coins, in opposition to 

 thin lead coins. The oldest groschen known were 

 struck in Treves, in 1104. The first Bohemian 

 groschen were coined in 1296, at Kuttenburg. In 

 1525, the groschen was divided into twelve pfennige. 

 In 1504, the small groschen, now in use, were first 

 struck at the city "Gosslar. The Marien-groschen 

 are valued at eight pfennige, and thirty modern gro- 

 schen of Prussia are equal to a thaler. Grosc/i is 

 also the name of a Russian copper coin, worth two 

 copecks. 



GROSS (ItaL), in opposition to net, is applied to 

 merchandise, including that in which it is packed. 

 It refers particularly to weight. Thus we say, " The 

 bag of coH'ee weighs nine hundred weight gross,'' that 

 is, including the weight of the bag. 



GROSS-BEEREN ; a town of Prussia, near Ber- 

 lin, noted as being the scene of an obstinate conflict 

 between the allied powers and Napoleon Bonaparte, 

 on' the 23d August, 1813. The armistice having 

 expired on the 17th of August in that year, the war 

 between the allies and Napoleon commenced anew, 

 and the emperor of France desired to hurl his bolts, 

 at the same time, into the camps at Breslau, Prague, 

 and Berlin. They recoiled upon himself on the Katz- 

 bach, at Culm, and Gross-Beeren. Berlin was pro- 

 tected by the militia and the northern army, com- 

 manded by Bernadotte, then crown-prince of Sweden, 

 and consisting of the third and fourth Prussian 

 divisions, the Russian corps under Woronzow, Win- 

 ningerode, and Czernitschef, and about 22,OOO Swedes. 

 The French army, reinforced by the forces of Wur- 

 temberg, Bavaria, Darmstadt, and Saxony, was 

 formed into four divisions, led by Oudinot (the gene- 

 ral-in-chief ), Victor, Regnier, and Bertrand, and was, 

 together with the cavalry, under Arrighi, from 80,000 

 to 90,000 strong. Its destination was the capture of 

 Berlin, and it was supported by general Girard, with 

 the garrison of Magdeburg; but the crown-prince 

 performed, in detail, the same operations against this 

 body as the allies against the main body of the enemy. 

 His army formed a curve from Buchholtz, the extre- 

 mity of the left wing, through Mittenwalde, Klein- 

 Beeren, Heinersdorf, Blankenfeld, Ruhlsdorf, to 

 Belitz and Truenbriezen, the extreme right wing, from 

 which the Russian line inclined inwards towards 

 Juterbock ; while the Prussians, in the centre, were 

 advanced to Trebbin. The Prussian generals Hirsch- 

 feld and Puttlitz observed Magdeburg beyond Bran- 

 denburg. On both wings, the light troops were dis- 

 persed as far as Wittenberg, Guben, andBaruth. On 

 the 22d, the enemy entered the curve Regnier in the 

 centre, Bertrand on the right, and Oudinot on the left 

 wing. They attacked the Prussians at Trebbin, who 

 gave way. On the 23d, Bertrand fell upon general 

 Tauenzien at Blankenfeld, but was repulsed. Regnier 

 forced his way to Gross-Beeren, the key-stone ot the 

 arch, about ten miles from Berlin. Here he was unex- 

 pectedly attacked by the brave Bulow. At the same 

 time, Borstell surrounded the right wing of the enemy. 

 The Prussians fought with great courage, in sight 

 of their capital. A mounted Saxon battery having 

 been outflanked and taken,they advanced to a charge. 

 The discharge of fire-arms being rendered impossible 

 by the rain, the soldiers fought with the butt-ends of 

 their muskets and with bayonets. Gross-Beeren was 

 taken by storm ; the Saxon and the second French 

 division were driven from the field, and the cavalry 

 of the duke of Padua routed. Oudinot now brought 

 up the three divisions of reserve, which were attacked 



by the Russians and Swedes as they deployed from 

 the wood. Cardell, colonel of the Swedish forces, 

 supported by an attack of cavalry, took the enemy's 

 artillery. Oudinot now abandoned the struggle, and 

 retreated to Wittenberg and Torgau, on the Elbe. 

 He lost thirty cannons and more than 2000 prisoners. 

 The Prussians gained possession of Juterbock, and, 

 on the 28th, of Luckau. A pyramid of cast iron ha8 

 been erected on the spot by Frederic William III. 



GROTESQUES, in painting, are often confounded 

 with arabesques. All ornaments compounded in a 

 fantastical manner, of men, beasts, flowers, plants, 

 &c., are called sometimes arabesques, and sometimes 

 grotesques ; but there is a distinction between them. 

 Arabesques are flower-pieces, consisting of all kinds 

 of leaves and flowers, real or imaginary. They are 

 so called from the Arabians, who first used them, 

 because they were not permitted to copy beasts and 

 men. As they were also used by the Moors, they 

 are sometimes called moresques. The Romans orna- 

 mented their saloons with paintings, in which flowers, 

 genii, men and beasts, buildings, &c., are mingled to- 

 gether according to the fancy of the artist. These 

 ornaments are properly called grotesques, because 

 they were found in the ruined buildings of the ancient 

 Romans, and in subterranean chambers, which the 

 Italians call grottoes. The origin of these fantastic 

 compositions is traced, by Bottiger, to the carpets of 

 Persia and India, adorned with all the wonders of 

 Oriental fable. In the baths of Titus and Livia, at 

 Rome, in Adrian's villa at Tivoli, in the houses in 

 Herculaneum and Pompeii, and many other places, 

 such grotesques have been found ; sometimes, indeed, 

 showing an excess of ornament, but generally valu- 

 able for their arrangement and execution. Raphael 

 was well aware of their beauty, and caused his pupils, 

 particularly Giov. Nanni da Udine, to use them as 

 patterns in painting the porticoes of the Vatican. He 

 likewise used them, as the ancients did, for borders. 

 The taste for grotesques has, in part, degenerated 

 into the monstrous and unnatural ; grotesque has 

 therefore become a term of art to express a distorted 

 figure, a strange monster, the offspring of an unre- 

 strained imagination. 



GROTIUS, or DE GROOT, HCGO, a scholar and 

 statesman of the most diversified talents, was born at 

 Delft, April 10, 1583. He was descended from a 

 noble family, and received an excellent education. 

 In his fifteenth year, he sustained, with general ap- 

 plause, theses on philosophy, mathematics, and law. 

 The next year, he accompanied Barneveldt (q. v.), 

 the Dutch ambassador, to France, where he gained 

 the approbation of Henry IV., by his genius and de- 

 meanour, and was everywhere admired as a prodigy. 

 After his return, he conducted his first lawsuit in his 

 seventeenth year ; and, in his twenty- fourth, was 

 appointed advocate-general. In 1613, he became 

 syndic, or pensioner, of Rotterdam. The disputes of 

 the Remonstrants and their opponents then disturbed 

 the tranquillity of Holland. (See jlrminians.) Bar- 

 "neveldt was the defender of the former party. Gro- 

 tius, who had declared himself on the side of Barne- 

 veldt, supported him by his pen and influence. This 

 involved him in the trial which terminated in the 

 beheading of Barneveldt, in 1619, and the condem- 

 nation of Grotius to imprisonment for life in the for- 

 tress of Louvestein. He succeeded in escaping from 

 this fortress by concealing himself in a chest, in 

 which his wife had sent him books. After wander- 

 ing about for some time in the Catholic Netherlands, 

 he escaped to France. Louis XIII. gave him a pension 

 of 3000 livres. The Dutch ambassadors endeavoured 

 in vain to prejudice the king against him. Richelieu 

 was unfavourably disposed towards him, and, in 

 1631, even his pension was withdrawn. Grotius then 



