G R A 



riano, preat and graceful as they frequently were, never- 

 thelefs belong too often to the latter clafs, and even their 

 txtraordinary brilliancy of talent does not fecure them, from 

 inft cenfure when that is the cafe. 



The bell examples of grace are to be. found m ancient 

 fculuture and paintings, and in the works of Raphael. 

 Some few of llie xvorks of Corregglo, of Parniigiano, and 

 of Guido Rheni, poffefs it, perhaps, more rctined than 

 Raphael's ; but the)- are fo near tlie extreme boundary 

 vhcrein real unaffeaed grace rehdes, tliat they are dan- 

 gerous exemplars to a iludent. A confirmed artill may 

 obferve them to advantage. 



Sir JoHuia Reynolds poffeffed it largely, and perliaps we 

 ouo-ht to have added his name to Raphael's. But yet he 

 is not always i>ure: a little too much of the Correggiefque 

 is admitted in feme of his fancy pidures; and particularly 

 in the exprefTions of the featin-es. 



GiiACK, ^/i7 of, properly denotes an aft of anineily,_ or 

 oblivion, for the pardon of all offenders who are qualified, 

 or come within the conditions of it. 



Tlie term is alfo fometimes extended to an aft made for 

 relief of infolvent debtors in the feveral prifons; by fetting 

 thofe who are qualified, at liberty from tlieir debts and con- 

 finement. 



GuACE, Covenant of. See CoVEK.vXT. 

 Grace Cup, fo called becaufe the beverage contained in 

 it was circulated amongil tlie community, or other com- 

 pany, at a particular time, and by a fpecial favour. It 

 was alfo called Poculum ChnnUUis, or the Cup of Ckirily, as 

 beino- intended to indicate and promote brotherly love. At 

 otlier times it was termed the ll^iilpl Cup or Bowl, becaufe 

 each one of the company, in drinking out of it, drank 

 health to his next neighbour in the old terms, IVas heil. Wil- 

 liam of Malmefbury, defcribing tlie cuftoms of Glallonbury 

 abbey foon after tlie conquell, fays, that on fuch and fuch 

 particular days, the monks had " Medonem in julHs et 

 vinum in charitatem:" Mead in their cans, and wine in the 

 rrace cup. A large cup or bow-l uf this nature was always 

 heretofore placed on tlie table of princes, &c. as well as of 

 abbots. In the eleventh volume of the Archsologia there 

 is an engraving of a grace cup, which formerly belonged to 

 Glallonbury abbey, and a dilTertation upon it by Dr. Mil- 

 ner. The inlide of this cup, which holds two quarts, is 

 furnilhcd with eight pegs, at equal diftances, one below the 

 other, in conformity with Edgars law, to rcpreis cxcefs in 

 ih-inking. This incafurement allowed of lialf a pint to each 

 perfon. 



Gha< K, Days of. See Day, in Laxu and Commerce. 

 Grace, Herb of. .See Rii:. 



GRACES, Gkati.e, in the Canon Law, are the fame 

 with what we other wife c^ provlfiom ; wliicli fee. 



Guace.s, Expeetative, Gratia: Expeclativn:. See ExPECTA- 



tive. 



Gii-tCK-s, Gratis, Charities, in the Heathen Theology, were 

 fabulous deities, thi-ee in number, who attended on Venus. 



Their names are Aglaia or Egle, Thalia, and Euphro- 

 fvne ; ;. e. fliining, flourilhing, and gay ; and they were fup- 

 p'ofed by fome to be the daughters of Jupiter and Eury- 

 nome, the daughter of Oceanus, and by others to be the 

 daughters of Bacchus and Venus. VolTuis de Idol lib. xiii. 

 cap. If. Homer (Iliad, lib. xiv.) changes the name of 

 one of the graces, and calls her Palithee, and he is followed 

 by Statius. (Theb. lib. ii.) 



Some will have the graces to have been four, and malce 

 them the fame with the Horit, Hours, or rather with the 

 four feafons of the year. See Houu.s. 



Tiie Lacedxmonians admitted only two of them, whom 



G R A 



they worfliipped under the Barnes of Clito and Phaenni.' 

 The Athenians allowed the fame number, but denominated 

 them Au\o and Hcgemonc. 



A marble in the king of PruHia's cabinet reprefents the 

 three graces in the ufual manner, with a fourth, feated, and 

 covered with a large veil, with tlie words underneath, ad 

 souoRES lui. Yet Monf. Beger will by no means allow the 

 graces to have been four: the company there prefent, he 

 underftands to be the three graces, and Venus, who was 

 their filler, as being daughter of Jupiter and Dione. 



They are always fuppofed to have hold of each other's 

 hands, and never parted. Thus Horace, (lib. iii. od. 21.)' 

 defcribes them: 



" Segnefque nodum folvere gratia:," 



They were alfo reprefented in the attitude of perfons 

 dancing; whence Horace lays (lib. i. od. 4.): 



" Alterno terram quatiunt pede." 



They were comnwnly thought to be young virgins. In 

 the earher ages they were reprefented only by mere Itones, 

 that were not cut; but they afterwards were reprefented 

 under human figures, at firft clad in gauze. But the cuf- 

 tom of giving them drapery was laid aiide; and they were 

 painted naked to iliew that the Graces borrow nothing from 

 art, and that they have no other beauties than what arc 

 natural. 



Yet, in the firft ages, they were not reprefented naked, 

 as appears from Paufanias, lib. vi. and lib. ix. who defcribes 

 their temple and ftatues. They were of wood, all but their 

 head, feet, and hand."!, which were white marble. Their 

 robe or gown was gilt; one of them held in her hand a 

 rofe, another a die, and the third a fprig of myrtle. 



They liad temples, as we learn from Pauianias, at 

 Elis, Delplios, Perga, Perinthus, Byzantium, and in fe- 

 veral other places of Greece and Thrace. The temples 

 confecrated to Cupid were alfo confecrated to tlie Graces : 

 and it was alfo cullomary to give them a place in thofe of 

 Mercury, in order to teach men, tliat even the god of elo- 

 quence needed their affillance. Indeed fome authors rec- 

 koned the goddcfs^of perfuaiion in the number of the Graces, 

 thus intimating, that the great fecret of perfuaiion is to 

 pleafe. The Mufes and the Graces had commonly but one 

 temple ; and Pindar invokes the Graces almoft as often as 

 he does the Mufes. Fellivals were appropriated to their 

 lionour through the whole courfe of tlie year, but the 

 fpring was chiefly confecrated to them as well as to Venus. 

 Greece abounded with monuments facred to thefe goddefles ; 

 and their figures were to be feen in moll cities, done by tlie 

 greatell mailers. They were alfo reprefented on many 

 medals. The favours which thefe goddeffes were thought 

 to difpenfe to mankind, were not only a good grace, gaiety, 

 and equahty of temper, but alfo hberality, eloquence, and 

 wifdom, as Pindar informs us ; but the moil noble of all 

 tlie prerogatives of the Graces was,tliat they prefided over all 

 kindnefles and gratitude ; infomuch that, in almoll all lan- 

 guages, their names are ufed to exprefs both gratitude and 

 favours. 



Graces. There is a good article for Fr. mulic, by 

 M. Framery, under tlie term /igremens, New Encycl. Meth. 

 p. 54 : in this he candidly acknowledges all the defefts afcribed 

 to Fr. finging by Roulfeau and Burney. See AGiitME.Ns, 

 RiFioRA.MENTi, SiiAKE, Beat, Trill, and Mufical CnA- 



KACTER.S. 



GRACIAN, Balthasar, \n Biography, an eminent Spa- 

 nilh writer, was born in 1603. He entered among the 

 Jefuits at the age of fixteen, and became a teacher iu their 



fociety, 



