G R A 
GOV 
cleft ; corolla none ; anthers five, under a 
veil ; style three-cleft ; fruit inferior, tri- 
partite : male, similar, but without germ 
and stigma. There is only one species, 
viz. G. domingensis, chavstick, a native of 
St. Domingo in the woods. 
GOVERNMENT, in general, is the po- 
lity of a state, or an orderly power consti- 
tuted for the public good. 
Civil government was instituted for the 
preservation and advancement of mens’ 
civil interests, and for the better security of 
their lives, liberties, and properties. The 
use and necessity of government is such, 
that there never was an age or country 
without some sort of civil authority ; but as 
men are seldom unanimous in the means of 
attaining their ends, so their difference, in 
opinion, in relation to government, lias 
produced a variety of forms of it. To enu- 
merate them would be to recapitulate the 
history of the whole earth. But they may, 
in general, be reduced to one of these 
heads; either the civil authority is delegated 
to one or more, or else it is still reserved 
to the whole body of the people ; whence 
arises the known distinction of government 
into monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. 
See Aristocracy, Constitution, Demo- 
cracy, &c. 
A mixed government is composed by the 
combination of the simple forms of govern- 
ment which have already been, or will 
hereafter be, described ; and, in whatever 
proportion each form enters into the con- 
stitution of a government, in the same pro- 
portion may both the advantages and evils, 
which have been attributed to that form, 
be expected. The government of this 
country is unquestionably a mixed govern- 
ment, though by some writers it is denomi- 
nated a limited monarchy'. It is formed by 
a combination of the three regular species 
of government ; the monarchy residing in 
the King, the aristocracy in the House of 
Peers, and the republic, being represented 
by the House of Commons. The perfec- 
tion intended, and, with regard to the 
United Kingdoms, in a considerable degree 
effected, is to unite the advantages of the 
several simple forms, and to exclude the 
inconveniencies. “ For, as with us,” says 
Sir William Blackstone, “ the executive 
power of the laws is lodged in a single per- 
son, they have all the advantages of strength 
and dispatch that are to be found in the 
most absolute monarchy ; and as the legis- 
lature of the kingdom is entrusted to three 
distinct powers, entirely independent of 
each other : first, the King ; secondly, the 
Lords, spiritual and temporal, which is an 
aristocratical assembly of persons selected 
for their piety, their birth, their wisdom, 
their valour, or their property; and, thirdly, 
the House of Commons, freely chosen by 
the people from among themselves, which 
makes it a kind of democracy ; as this ag- 
gregate body, actuated by different springs, 
and attentive to different interests, com- 
poses the British Parliament, and has the 
supreme disposal of every thing ; there can 
be no inconvenience attempted by either of 
the three branches, but will be withstood 
by one of the other two ; each branch be- 
ing armed with a negative power sufficient 
to repel any innovation which it shall 
think inexpedient or dangerous.” See Mo- 
narchy. 
GOUGE, an instrument or tool used by 
divers artificers, being a sort of round hol- 
low cliissel for cutting holes, channels, 
grooves, &c. either in wood or stone. 
GOUST, or Gout, signifies taste or skill 
in. poetry, painting, &c. 
GOUT. See Medicine. 
GRACE, in music, either in vocal or in- 
strumental performances, consists not only 
in giving due place to the decorative addi- 
tions, but in that easy, smooth, and natural 
expression of the passages, which best con- 
veys the beauties of the composition, and 
forms one of the principal attributes of a 
good performer. 
GRADUATE, a person who has taken a 
degree in the university. See Degree. 
GRADUATION, in mathematics, the 
act of graduating or dividing any thing into 
degrees, or equal parts. 
GRAFT, or Graff, in gardening, a scion 
or shoot of a tree inserted into another, so 
as to make it yield fruit of the same nature 
with that of the tree from whence the graft 
was taken. See Gardening, Budding, 
&c. 
GRACULA, the grakle, in natural his- 
tory, a genus of birds of the order Pic®. 
Generic character : the bill convex, thick, 
sharp-edged, somewhat naked at the base; 
nostrils small, near the base of the bill ; 
tongue entire, rather sharp at the end ; 
claws hooked and sharp. No species of 
this bird is found in Europe. There are 
thirteen species, of which we shall notice 
the following : G. kelegiosa, or the minor 
grakle, is of the size of a blackbird, is 
found in various districts of the East Indies, 
and almost in every island beyond the 
Ganges. It is rendered familiar with the 
