GEN 



Gititut is alfo ufcd, in a more reilrained fenfe, for a na- 

 tural talent, or difpofition to one thing mort; tlian another. 

 Ill which fenfe we lay, a genius for verfe, for the fcienccs, &c. 



Dr. Blair, in his " Leftures on Rhetoric, &c." (vol. i.) 

 diftinguifhes between Tafle and Geniu8. Tafte, he fays, 

 confilts in the power of judging : Genius, in the power of 

 executing. One may have a confiderable degree of talle in 

 poetry, eloquence, or any of the fine arts, who has little or 

 hardly any genius for compofition or execution in any of 

 thefe arts. But genius cannot be found witliout including 

 tafte alfo. Genius, therefore, deferves to be confidercd as a 

 higher power of the mind than tafte. Genius always im- 

 ports fomething inventive or creative ; which does not rell in 

 mere fenfibility to beauty, where it is perceived, but which 

 can, moreover, produce new beauties, and exhibit them in 

 fuch a manner, as ftrongly to imprcfs the minds of others. 

 Refined talle forms a good critic : but genius is furtlier ne- 

 ceflTary to form t lie poet, or the orator. Befides, genius is 

 a word, which, in common acceptation, extends much fur- 

 ther than to the objecl of tafte. It is ufed to fignify that 

 talent, or aptitude, which we receive from nature, for excel- 

 ling in any one thing whatever. Accordingly, we fpeak of 

 a genius for mathematics, as well as a genius for jjoetry ; or a 

 genius for war, for politics, or for any mechanical employ- 

 ment. This talent or aptitude, for excelling in any one par- 

 ticular, is received from nature; and though it may be great- 

 ly improved by art and ftudy, it cannot by them alone be ac- 

 quired. As genius is a higher faculty than tafte, it is more 

 limited in the fphereof its operations. AVhilll v.e i'nd many 

 perfons, who have an excellent tafte in feveral of the polite 

 arts, fuchasmufic, poetry, painting, and eloquence, all toge- 

 ther ; it is much more rare to nieet with one who is an ex- 

 cellent performer in all thefe arts. Indeed, an univerfal ge- 

 nius, or one who is equally and indifFercntly turned towards 

 feveral diftcrent profefiions and arts, is not likely to excel in 

 any. The rays muft converge to a point, in order to glow 

 intenfely. A genius for any of the fine arts always fuppofes 

 tafte ; and the improvement of tafte will ferve to forward and 

 corredl the operations of genius. But genius, in a poet or 

 orator, may fonietimcs exift in a higher degree than tafte ; 

 that is, genius may heboid and ftrong, when tafte is neither 

 very delicate, nor very correct. This is often the cafe 

 in the infancy of arts ; a period when genius freque tly 

 exerts itfelf with great vigou,-, and executes with much 

 warm.th ; while tafte, which requires experience, and 

 improves by flower degrees, iiath not yet attained its full 

 growth. Homer and Shakfpcare may be referred to as ex- 

 amples in proof of this affertion. (See Taste.) Longi- 

 mis, in his " Treatife on the Sublime," remarks, ih.at li- 

 berty is the nurfeof true genius : it animates the fpirit, and 

 invigorates the hopes of man ; excites honourable emulation, 

 and a dcfire of excelling in every art. It is obfcrvable, that 

 writers and artifts molt diftinguiftied for genius have gene- 

 rally appeared in confiderable numbers at the fame period. 

 Befides the moral caulcs which have been alleged to account 

 for this phenomenon, fuch as favourable circumftances of 

 government and manners, encouragement from great men, 

 and emulation excited among men of genius, the Abbe du 

 Bos, in his " Refleftions on Poetry and Painting," has col- 

 lected a great many obfervutions on the influence which the 

 air, the climate, and other natural caufes, may be fuppofed 

 to have upon genius. The opinion of the Abbe du Bos, 

 that geniu.i chiefly depended on foil, food, air and climate, 

 has been favoured by Montefquieu in his " Spirit of Laws :" 

 and it occalionally occurs in other writers. Mr. Hume, 

 ■however, has attacked this hypothelis with great ingenuity 

 and ftrengili of rcafoning in liis " Eftay on National C'lia- 



GEN 



rafters." In that Eftay he has clearly proved, that the dif. 

 ferences we obferve in nations, with regard to genius, fcience, 

 and manners, arife from moral, and not from phylical caufes. 

 (See Climate.) The fafl, iiowever, is unqueftionable, 

 that fome periods or ages of tlie world have been much more 

 diftinguiftied than others for the extraordinary produftions 

 of genius. (See Agc, in lli; Hi/lory of I.iteralure, &c.) If 

 we inftitute a comparifon between the ancients and moderns 

 in this refpeft, we mull allov.-, that while the advancing age 

 of the world brings along with it more Icience and more re- 

 finement, its earlier periods may lay claim to more vigour 

 more fire, more enthufiafm of genius. Among the ancienH, 

 we find higher conceptions, greater fimplicity, more original 

 fancy : among the moderns, fometimes more art and cor- 

 reCtnefs, but feebler exertions of genius. Admitting this to 

 be in general a mark of diftindtion between the ancients and 

 moderns, it cannot be admitted without exceptions ; for, in 

 point of poetical lire and original genius, Milton and Sliak- 

 fpeare are not inferior to any poets in any age. 



Gknius, is not a mufical term, nor does it appertain to 

 one of tlie polite arts more than another ; but Roufteavj 

 (Dlft. de Mus. ) has volunteered an article for it among 

 mufical terms, and has written it with peculiar eloquence 

 and enthufiafm. 



Roufieau, paradoxical on almoft all other fubjefts, is 

 fometimes not only capricious, but mifchicvous ; yet his 

 bittereft enemies admit, that mufic is his bright fide : 

 and though he is not allowed by the prefent French mufical 

 critics to be a profound contrapuntift, yet his tafte in mufic 

 and poetry was refined, and of the highcft clafs ; and his 

 views concerning dramatic mufic were enlarged, rational, 

 ingenious, and free from all caprice and paradox. 



GENLIS, in Geogrnphy, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Cote d'Or, and chief place of a canton, in 

 the diftriit of Dijon. The place contains 707, and the canton 

 8599 inhabitants, on a territory of 187;!; kiliometres, in 27 

 communes. 



GENNABA, a town of Perfia, in Farfiftan, in the 

 Perfian gulf; 15 miles N.W. of Bender Rigk. 



GENNADIUS I., in i!;ci^ra/>/.js patriarch of Conftan- 

 tinople, was elected to that dignity, having been fome years 

 an ordained prefbyter of the church, in the year 458, on 

 tlie death of Anatolinus. In the following year, in a coun- 

 cil of 73 biftiops, he procured the pafting of a canon 

 againft fimoniacal ordinations, and eilablllhed tlie equitable 

 regulation, that the oblations made in the churches, which 

 it liad been cuftomary to claim for the patriarch's treafurv, 

 ftiould thenceforward belong to the officiating clergy. He 

 died in 471, leaving behind him a liigh char.iditer for great 

 zeal and dilinteicftednefs in correcting the relaxed ftate of 

 dlfcipline which prevailed in his fee. He is plated by 

 thole who lived about tlie fame period among the ecelefiafti- 

 cal writers of the dav, and is appljuded for the extent of 

 his learning and the elegance of his ftyle. The proofs of 

 this have not come to us, excepting in '• A fvncdal Epif- 

 tle" againft fimouy, infeited in tlie fourth volume of the 

 Colledt. Concil. ; and fragments againll the aiJ.Uhemas of 

 Cyril of Alexandria, quoted by Facundus, bifliop of Her- 

 miana, and another from a treatife addrefled to Parthenius, 

 and quoted by Leontius. Moreri. 



Gf:NN'.\Dlus II., another patriarch of Conftantincple, in 

 the fifteenth century, affumed the name upon embracing the 

 ecclefiaftical life, having, prior to this, the name of George 

 Scholarlus. He was a native of Conftantinople, «here he 

 was educated, and attracted much notice by his talents and 

 remarkable progrefs in the different branches of learning. 

 He became fecretary to the emperor Jolin Palxologu.-;^ 



and 



