GEN 



GEN 



the Card, and chief place of a canton, in the ditlrift of 

 Alais; 15 miles N. W. of Alais. The phce contains ivSOZ, 

 and the canton 9,5 9 inhabitants, on u territory of 195 kilio- 

 mctres, in 13 communes. 



GENOPLE8IUM, in Botany, from v-''. a gemis, and 

 •vX-n-m, n arly akin, indicating its great affinity to Prnfoph;!- 

 hni, anotlier new orthidean genus of Mr. Brown's. Tiie 

 rame is but too expreflive of many genera recently eilabliftied, 

 iiifomuch that it is wonderful no writer has hit upon it be- 

 fore. Brown Prod. Nov. Holl. v. I. 3 19. Clafs and order, 

 Gyrdp.dria Monandiia. Nat. Ord. Orchidia. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth ringent, helmet-like in front, 

 its two lower or pollerior leaves longer and fpreadmg. Cor. 

 Petals, (inner calyx-leaves of Mr. Brown,) attached belov/ 

 to the column. Nettary, or hp, afcending, undivided, 

 hooded at the bafe, without a fpur. Stylt, or column, 

 cloven half %vay dov/n, without any lateral membranous feg- 

 me.^t3, in which laft particular alone it differs from Prafo- 

 phylium. Aiitkcr parallel to the lligma, permanent, its cells 

 clofe together. Mafles of pollen not obferved. The only 

 fpecies is 



G. B:v.ir,i, feen by Mr. Brown growing near Port Jack- 

 fon, New South Waies, but the above character was drawn 

 up by him from Mr. Ferdinand Bauer's coloured figure. 



GENOSA, in Geography, a town of Naples, in the pro- 

 vince of Otranto ; 10 miles S. E. of Otranto. 



GENOVESI, Anthony, in Biography, a man of letters, 

 and philufopher, was born of parents of very moderate cir- 

 cumftances, at Caftiglione, a fmall town in the did rift of 

 SiJerno, in the year 1712. He was intended for the church, 

 and received an education fuitable to the purpofc. An early 

 attachment to the daughter of a neighbouring peafant in- 

 duced his father to place him, at a diftance from home, under 

 the care of a lay ecclefiaftic, who was an able clafilcal fcho- 

 lar, a? well as deeply ikilled in tlieology and jurifprudence. 

 Here the young man made fuch progrels in learning as 

 ailonifhed all about him. His rekdution to marry the objeft 

 of his love created in him a zeal and diligence that lul'- 

 mounted all difficulties ; before, however, he was in a fitua- 

 tion to maintain a wife, (lie, at tlie inftigation of his father, 

 married. This difappointmcnt made him rcfolve to devote 

 himfelf to the church, and he was in due time, coniecrated 

 3 prieft, and obtained the patronage of the arclibilhop of 

 Conza. Unfortunately for Gcnovefi the prelate died, which 

 made him repair to Naples, to follow the praiSice of the 

 law, an employment highly lucrative in that city. He was 

 foon diffatisfied with his bufmefs, and after diligently ftu- 

 dying the elements of modern and ancient philofophy, he 

 obtained the office of extraordinary-profeffor of metaphyfics. 

 He began his lectures in November 174I, and his fchool 

 was crowded with pupils ; the boldnefs of his manner, and 

 the novelty of many parts of his fyftem, excited his enemies, 

 who accufed him not only of infidelity, but of opening the 

 door of free-thinking in Italy ; merely, it is faid, becaufe 

 he recommended the v.orks of Galileo, Grotius, and Nev/- 

 ton. His friends, however, powerfully iupported him, 

 and by the influence of Galiani, tlie director of the Neapo- 

 litan univerfities, he was appointed to the office of pro- 

 felTor of ethics, vi hich afforded him ample field for combat- 

 ing the ignorance and prejudices of the fchools. Tlie 

 principle of his fyftem was, that the happinefs of man is the 

 only object of the philofophical doftrine of morals, and he 

 deduced liis duties from analytical confiderations. He in- 

 terwove in his iedturcs tlie hillorv of the h\iman paffious, 

 Voi. XVI. 



and enlivened them by a boldnefs and fpirlt pecuh'arly his ovjri. 

 He compofed a nev/ fyftem of logic, which he dictated in 

 his lectures, and v.hlch was afterwards publilhed in 1745, 

 under the title of " Elemcntoruni Artis I>ogico<ritici;, 

 I.ibri qniiique." This might be confidered as an introdec - 

 tion to his metaphyfics, the firft part of which had bren 

 publiflied before this period, but the fecond and third paits 

 made their appearance in the years 1747 — 1751- In 1743, 

 he put U]) for the vacant chair of theology, but, as this wa» 

 always connefted with the epifcopal dignity, he was imme- 

 diately regarded as unfit for fo high an ofSce in the church, 

 on account of his heretical notions. His enemies now dif- 

 covered the moil ferious and alarming doArines, in the pub- 

 lilhed and unpublifhed pieces of which he liad been the 

 author. He was obliged therefore to renounce the fcience 

 of theology, and to lupprcfs fome valuable works on this 

 fubjedt. He now turned his attention to political economy, 

 and in a few years he not only made hinjfelf mafter of every 

 thing deferving of notice on this fcience, but ftruck out fome 

 new lights. He publiHied, in 1753, the firll fruits of Ins rc- 

 fcarchcs, entitled " Effays on Agriculture, vith confidera- 

 tions on the true Objeft of the Sciences." He was nov/, at 

 the inftance of his friend Intieri, made profefTor of pohlical 

 economy, with a confiderable falary. The office h.ad been 

 initituted folely for him, and it was agreed that th.c leflures 

 fliould always be delivered in the Italian language, a circum- 

 llance, at that time, wholly unknown at Naples. His 

 letture room was crowded, and in a fnort fpace of time lie 

 was obliged to take a ftill larger place for the difplay of his 

 talents, which alio was ififufficient to contain all who came 

 to be benefited by his inllruttions. His chief and avowed 

 ohjeft was, while he taught the principles of political eco- 

 nomy, to infpire the Neapolitan youth with the focial and 

 civil virtues, and above all v/ith a public fpirit of patriotifra, 

 without which no nation, he contended, could attain to that 

 height of profperity of which it is fufceptible. He caufed 

 to be tranflated Carey's Hiftory of the Enghfh Trade into 

 the Italian, and then publifiied it with ufeful notes. After 

 this he pointed out in a fhort treatife the caufes of the 

 decline and negleft of agriculture in the kingdom of Naples, 

 In 1765 he publiflied another work, in which he examined 

 the queftion, " Why countries, the moft fruitful by nature, 

 are often expofed to the miferies of fcarcity." He was 

 author of many other works, but his mailer-piece was the 

 "' Italian Syilem of Morality," of which the firft part was 

 publiflied in the year 1767, under the title of " Dicofyna. ' 

 His health now gave way, and he was unable to profecute his 

 ftudies, and, in 1768, he was obhgedto difcontinue his lec- 

 tures, and in the following year he expired, in the fifty- 

 feventh )-ear of hij age. He had attained, as a man of 

 fcience, a very high reputation, and his moral character was 

 in every refpeft worthy of a true philofopher. He poffeffcd a 

 moft ardent love of truth, and a defire to extend its dominion, 

 in which he was aware the happinefs of his fellow-creatures 

 was deeply concerned. " He was," fays his biographer, 

 " an irreconcileable enemy to injidlice and deception : his 

 countenance difplayed cheerfulnefs, tranquiUity, and invin- 

 cible courage. He was too proud to floop to flattery in 

 order to become rich, and was contented with a very mode- 

 rate income." He died poor, and would have been in 

 diftreflcd circumftances in the latter years of his life, had 

 not the ibvereign fupported liim unfolicited. He was held 

 in high eftimation by pope BenediiSt XIV. and many of tlie 

 cardinals ; and by inipiring in the breafts of his pupils an 

 ardent love of their country, with a well regulated zeal for 



M itB 



