Chapter 18

SeeKimberley,Cape Colony,TransvaalandOrange Free State. For the early history of the country and an account of life at the diggings, 1871-1875, consult G. M‘Call Theal’sCompendium of the History and Geography of South Africa(London, 1878), chapters xl. and xli.; Gardner F. Williams,The Diamond Mines of South Africa(New York and London, 1902); and the works bearing on the subject quoted in that book. See also Theal’sHistory of South Africa ... 1834-1854(London, 1893); J. Campbell,Travels in South Africa(London, 1815),Travels ... A Second journey ...(2 vols., London, 1822); the Blue Books C. 459 of 1871 and C. 508 of 1872 (the last-named containing the Keate award, &c.); the Griqualand West report inPapers relating to Her Majesty’s Colonial Possessions, part ii. (1875), and the Life ofSir Richard Southey, K.C.M.G., by A. Wilmot (London, 1904). For the Griqua people consult G. W. Stow,The Native Races of South Africa, chapters xvii.-xx. (London, 1905).

1The Griquas, as a distinct tribe, numbered at the Cape census of 1904 but 6289. They have largely intermarried with Kaffir and Bechuana tribes.2The order of discovery of the chief mines was:—Dutoitspan, Sept. 1870; Bultfontein, Nov. 1870; De Beers, May 1871; Colesberg Kop (Kimberley), July 1871.3Sir Richard Southey (1809-1901) was the son of one of the emigrants from the west of England to Cape Colony (1820). He organized and commanded a corps of Guides in the Kaffir war of 1834-35, and was with Sir Harry Smith at Boomplaats (1848). From 1864 to 1872 he was colonial secretary at the Cape. He gave up his appointment in Griqualand West in 1875, and lived thereafter in retirement. In 1891 he was created a K.C.M.G.

1The Griquas, as a distinct tribe, numbered at the Cape census of 1904 but 6289. They have largely intermarried with Kaffir and Bechuana tribes.

2The order of discovery of the chief mines was:—Dutoitspan, Sept. 1870; Bultfontein, Nov. 1870; De Beers, May 1871; Colesberg Kop (Kimberley), July 1871.

3Sir Richard Southey (1809-1901) was the son of one of the emigrants from the west of England to Cape Colony (1820). He organized and commanded a corps of Guides in the Kaffir war of 1834-35, and was with Sir Harry Smith at Boomplaats (1848). From 1864 to 1872 he was colonial secretary at the Cape. He gave up his appointment in Griqualand West in 1875, and lived thereafter in retirement. In 1891 he was created a K.C.M.G.

GRISAILLE,a French term, derived fromgris, grey, for painting in monochrome in various shades of grey, particularly used in decoration to represent objects in relief. The frescoes of the roof of the Sistine chapel have portions of the design ingrisaille. At Hampton Court the lower part of the decoration of the great staircase by Verrio is ingrisaille. The term is also applied to monochrome painting in enamels, and also to stained glass; a fine example ofgrisailleglass is in the window known as the Five Sisters, at the end of the north transept in York cathedral.

GRISELDA,a heroine of romance. She is said to have been the wife of Walter, marquis of Saluces or Saluzzo, in the 11th century, and her misfortunes were considered to belong to history when they were handled by Boccaccio and Petrarch, although the probability is that Boccaccio borrowed his narrative from a Provençalfabliau. He included it in the recitations of the tenth day (Decamerone), and must have written it about 1350. Petrarch related it in a Latin letter in 1373, and his translation formed the basis of much of the later literature. The letter was printed by Ulrich Zel about 1470, and often subsequently. It was translated into French asLa Patience deGriselidisand printed at Bréhan-Loudéac in 1484, and its popularity is shown by the number of early editions quoted by Brunet (Manuel du libraire, s.v.Petrarca). The story was dramatized in 1395, and aMystère de Griselidis, marquise de Saluses par personnaigeswas printed by Jehan Bonfons (no date). Chaucer followed Petrarch’s version in theCanterbury Tales. Ralph Radcliffe, who flourished under Henry VIII., is said to have written a play on the subject, and the story was dramatized by Thomas Dekker, Henry Chettle and W. Haughton in 1603.

An example of the many ballads of Griselda is given in T. Deloney’sGarland of Good Will(1685), and the 17th-century chap-book,The History of Patient Grisel(1619), was edited by H. B. Wheatley (1885) for the Villon Society with a bibliographical and literary introduction.

GRISI, GIULIA(1811-1869), Italian opera-singer, daughter of one of Napoleon’s Italian officers, was born in Milan. She came of a family of musical gifts, her maternal aunt Josephina Grassini (1773-1850) being a favourite opera-singer both on the continent and in London; her mother had also been a singer, and her elder sister Giudetta and her cousin Carlotta were both exceedingly talented. Giulia was trained to a musical career, and made her stage début in 1828. Rossini and Bellini both took an interest in her, and at Milan she was the first Adalgisa in Bellini’sNorma, in which Pasta took the title-part. Grisi appeared in Paris in 1832, as Semiramide in Rossini’s opera, and had a great success; and in 1834 she appeared in London. Her voice was a brilliant dramatic soprano, and her established position as a prima donna continued for thirty years. She was a particularly fine actress, and in London opera her association with such singers as Lablache, Rubini, Tamburini and Mario was long remembered as the palmy days of Italian opera. In 1854 she toured with Mario In America. She had married Count de Melcy in 1836, but this ended in a divorce; and in 1856 she married Mario (q.v.). She died in Berlin on the 29th of November 1869.

GRISON(Galictis vittata), a carnivorous mammal, of the familyMustelidae, common in Central and South America and Mexico. It is about the size of a marten, and has the upper surface of a bluish-grey tint, and the under surface is dark brown. The grison lives on small mammals and birds, and in settled districts is destructive to poultry. Allamand’s grison (G. allamandi), with the same range, is somewhat larger. Another member of the genus is the tayra or taira (G. barbara), about as large as an otter, with a range from Mexico to Argentina. This species hunts in companies (seeCarnivora).

GRISONS(Ger.Graubünden), the most easterly of the Swiss cantons and also the largest in extent, though relatively the most sparsely populated. Its total area is 2753.2 sq. m., of which 1634.4 sq. m. are classed as “productive” (forests covering 503.1 sq. m. and vineyards 1.3 sq. m.), but it has also 138.6 sq. m. of glaciers, ranking in this respect next after the Valais and before Bern. The whole canton is mountainous, the principal glacier groups being those of the Tödi, N. (11,887 ft.), of Medels, S.W. (Piz Medel, 10,509 ft.), of the Rheinwald or the Adula Alps, S.W. (Rheinwaldhorn, 11,149 ft.), with the chief source of the Rhine, of the Bernina, S.E. (Piz Bernina, 13,304 ft.), the most extensive, of the Albula, E. (Piz Kesch, 11,228 ft.), and of the Silvretta, N.E. (Piz Linard, 11,201 ft.). The principal valleys are those of the upper Rhine and of the upper Inn (or Engadine,q.v.). The three main sources of the Rhine are in the canton. The valley of the Vorder Rhine is called the Bündner Oberland, that of the Mittel Rhine the Val Medels, and that of the Hinter Rhine (the principal), in different parts of its course, the Rheinwald, the Schams valley and the Domleschg valley, while the upper valley of the Julia is named the Oberhalbstein. The chief affluents of the Rhine in the canton are the Glenner (flowing through the Lugnetz valley), the Avers Rhine, the Albula (swollen by the Julia and the Landwasser), the Plessur (Schanfigg valley) and the Landquart (coming from the Prättigau). The Rhine and the Inn flow respectively into the North and the Black Seas. Of other streams that of Val Mesocco joins the Ticino and so the Po, while the Maira or Mera (Val Bregaglia) and the Poschiavino join the Adda, and the Rambach (Münster valley) the Adige, all four thus ultimately reaching the Adriatic Sea. The inner valleys are the highest in Central Europe, and among the loftiest villages are Juf, 6998 ft. (the highest permanently inhabited village in the Alps), at the head of the Avers glen, and St Moritz, 6037 ft., in the Upper Engadine. The lower courses of the various streams are rent by remarkable gorges, such as the Via Mala, the Rofna, the Schyn, and those in the Avers, Medels and Lugnetz glens, as well as that of the Züge in the Landwasser glen. Below Coire, near Malans, good wine is produced, while in the Val Mesocco, &c., maize and chestnuts flourish. But the forests and the mountain pasturages are the chief source of wealth. The lower pastures maintain a fine breed of cows, while the upper are let out in summer to Bergamasque shepherds. There are many mineral springs, such as those of St Moritz, Schuls, Alvaneu, Fideris, Le Prese and San Bernardino. The climate and vegetation, save on the southern slope of the Alps, are alpine and severe. But yearly vast numbers of strangers visit different spots in the canton, especially Davos (q.v.), Arosa and the Engadine. As yet there are comparatively few railways. There is one from Maienfeld (continued north to Constance and north-west to Zürich) to Coire (11 m.), which sends off a branch line from Landquart, E., past Klosters to Davos (31 m.). From Coire the line bears west to Reichenau (6 m.), whence one branch runs S.S.E. beneath the Albula Pass to St Moritz (50 m.), and another S.W. up the Hinter Rhine valley to Ilanz (20½ m.). There are, however, a number of fine carriage roads across the passes leading to or towards Italy. Besides those leading to the Engadine may be noted the roads from Ilanz past Disentis over the Oberalp Pass (6719 ft.) to Andermatt, from Disentis over the Lukmanier Pass (6289 ft.) to Biasca, on the St Gotthard railway, from Reichenau past Thusis and Splügen over the San Bernardino Pass (6769 ft.) to Bellinzona on the same railway line, and from Splügen over the Splügen Pass (6946 ft.) to Chiavenna. The Septimer Pass (7582 ft.) from the Julier route to the Maloja route has now only a mule path, but was probably known in Roman times (as was possibly the Splügen), and was much frequented in the middle ages.

The population of the canton in 1900 was 104,520. Of this number 55,155 (mainly near Coire and Davos, in the Prättigau and in the Schanfigg valley) were Protestants, while 49,142 (mainly in the Bündner Oberland, theValMesocco and the Oberhalbstein) were Romanists, while there were also 114 Jews (81 of whom lived in Davos). In point of language 48,762 (mainly near Coire and Davos, in the Prättigau and in the Schanfigg valley) were German-speaking, while 17,539 (mostly in the Val Mesocco, the Val Bregaglia and the valley of Poschiavo, but including a number of Italian labourers engaged on the construction of the Albula railway) were Italian-speaking. But the characteristic tongue of the Grisons is a survival of an ancient Romance language (thelingua rusticaof the Roman Empire), which has lagged behind its sisters. It has a scanty printed literature, but is still widely spoken, so that, of the 38,651 persons in the Swiss Confederation who speak it, no fewer than 36,472 are in the Grisons. It is distinguished into two dialects: the Romonsch (sometimes wrongly called Romansch), which prevails in the Bündner Oberland and in the Hinter Rhine valley (Schams and Domleschg), and the Ladin (closely related to the tongue spoken in parts of the South Tyrol), that survives in the Engadine and in the neighbouring valleys of Bergün, Oberhalbstein and Münster. (See F. Rausch’sGeschichte der Literatur des rhaeto-romanischen Volkes, Frankfort, 1870, and Mr Coolidge’s bibliography of this language, given on pp. 22-23 of Lorria and Martel’sLe Massif de la Bernina, Zürich, 1894.) Yet in the midst of this Romance-speaking population are islets (mostly, if not entirely, due to immigration in the 13th century from the German-speaking Upper Valais) of German-speaking inhabitants, so in the Vals and Safien glens, and at Obersaxen (all in the Bündner Oberland), in the Rheinwald (the highest part of the Hinter Rhine valley), and in the Avers glen (middle reach of the Hinter Rhine valley), as well as in and around Davos itself.

There is not much industrial activity in the Grisons. Aconsiderable portion of the population is engaged in attending to the wants of the foreign visitors, but there is a considerable trade with Italy, particularly in the wines of the Valtellina, while many young men seek their fortunes abroad (returning home after having accumulated a small stock of money) as confectioners, pastry-cooks and coffee-house keepers. A certain number of lead and silver mines were formerly worked, but are now abandoned. The capital of the canton is Coire (q.v.).

The canton is divided into 14 administrative districts, and includes 224 communes. It sends 2 members (elected by a popular vote) to the FederalStänderath, and 5 members (also elected by a popular vote) to the FederalNationalrath. The existing cantonal constitution was accepted by the people in 1892, and came into force on 1st January 1894. The legislature (Grossrath—no numbers fixed by the constitution) is elected for 2 years by a popular vote, as are the 5 members of the executive (Kleinrath) for 3 years. The “obligatory referendum” obtains in the case of all laws and important matters of expenditure, while 3000 citizens can demand (“facultative referendum”) a popular vote as to resolutions and ordinances made by the legislature. Three thousand citizens also have the right of “initiative” as to legislative projects, but 5000 signatures are required for a proposed revision of the cantonal constitution. In the revenue and expenditure of the canton the taxes are never counted. This causes an apparent deficit which is carried to the capital account, and is met by the land tax (art. 19 of the constitution), so that there is never a real deficit, as the amount of the land tax varies annually according to the amount thatmustbe provided. In the pre-1799 constitution of the three Raetian Leagues the system of the “referendum” was in working as early as the 16th century, not merely as between the three Leagues themselves, but as between the bailiwicks (Hochgerichte), the sovereign units within each League, and sometimes (as in the Upper Engadine) between the villages composing each bailiwick.

The greater part (excluding the three valleys where the inhabitants speak Italian) of the modern canton of the Grisons formed the southern part of the province of Raetia (probably the aboriginal inhabitants, the Raeti, were Celts rather than, as was formerly believed, Etruscans), set up by the Romans after their conquest of the region in 15B.C.The Romanized inhabitants were to a certain extent (The Romonsch or Ladin tongue is a survival of the Roman dominion) Teutonized under the Ostrogoths (A.D.493-537) and under the Franks (from 537 onwards). Governors calledPraesidesare mentioned in the 7th and 8th centuries, while members of the same family occupied the episcopal see of Coire (founded 4th-5th centuries). About 806 Charles the Great made this region into a county, but in 831 the bishop procured for his dominions exemption (“immunity”) from the jurisdiction of the counts, while before 847 his see was transferred from the Italian province of Milan to the German province of Mainz (Mayence) and was thus cut off from Italy to be joined to Germany. In 916 the region was united with the duchy of Alamannia, but the bishop still retained practical independence, and his wide-spread dominions placed him even above the abbots of Disentis and Pfäfers, who likewise enjoyed “immunity.” In the 10th century the bishop obtained fresh privileges from the emperors (besides the Val Bregaglia in 960), and so became the chief of the many feudal nobles who struggled for power in the region. He became a prince of the empire in 1170 and later allied himself with the rising power (in the region) of the Habsburgers. This led in 1367 to the foundation of the League of God’s House or theGotteshausbund(composed of the city and chapter of Coire, and of the bishop’s subjects, especially in the Engadine, Val Bregaglia, Domleschg and Oberhalbstein) in order to stem his rising power, the bishop entering it in 1392. In 1395 the abbot of Disentis, the men of the Lugnetz valley, and the great feudal lords of Räzuns and Sax (in 1399 the counts of Werdenberg came in) formed another League, called theOber Bund(as comprising the highlands in the Vorder Rhine valley) and also wrongly the “Grey League” (as the word interpreted “grey” is simply a misreading ofgravenor counts, though the false view has given rise to the name of Grisons or Graubünden for the whole canton), their alliance being strengthened in 1424 when, too, the free men of the Rheinwald and Schams came in, and in 1480 the Val Mesocco also. Finally, in 1436, the third Raetian League was founded, that of theZehngerichtenbundor League of the Ten Jurisdictions, by the former subjects of the count of Toggenburg, whose dynasty then became extinct; they include the inhabitants of the Prättigau, Davos, Maienfeld, the Schanfigg valley, Churwalden, and the lordship of Belfort (i.e.the region round Alvaneu), and formed ten bailiwicks, whence the name of the League. In 1450 theZehngerichtenbundconcluded an alliance with theGotteshausbundand in 1471 with theOber Bund; but of the so-called perpetual alliance at Vazerol, near Tiefenkastels, there exists no authentic evidence in the oldest chronicles, though diets were held there. By a succession of purchases (1477-1496) nearly all the possessions of the extinct dynasty of the counts of Toggenburg in the Prättigau had come to the junior or Tyrolese line of the Habsburgers. On its extinction (1496) in turn they passed to the elder line, the head of which, Maximilian, was already emperor-elect and desired to maintain the rights of his family there and in the Lower Engadine. Hence in 1497 the Ober Bund and in 1498 theGotteshausbundbecame allies of the Swiss Confederation. War broke out in 1499, but was ended by the great Swiss victory (22nd May 1499) at the battle of the Calven gorge (above Mals) which, added to another Swiss victory at Dornach (near Basel), compelled the emperor to recognize thepracticalindependence of the Swiss and their allies of the Empire. The religious Reformation brought disunion into the three Leagues, as theOber Bundclung in the main to the old faith, and for this reason their connexion with the Swiss Confederation was much weakened. In 1526, by the Articles of Ilanz, the last remaining traces of the temporal jurisdiction of the bishop of Coire was abolished. In 1486 Poschiavo had at last been secured from Milan, and Maienfeld with Malans was bought in 1509, while in 1549 the Val Mesocco (included in theOber Bundsince 1480) purchased its freedom of its lords, the Trivulzió family of Milan. In 1512 the three Leagues conquered from Milan the rich and fertile Valtellina, with Bormio and Chiavenna, and held these districts as subject lands till in 1797 they were annexed to the Cisalpine Republic. The struggle for lucrative offices in these lands further sharpened the long rivalry between the families of Planta (Engadine) and Salis (Val Bregaglia), while in the 17th century this rivalry was complicated by political enmities, as the Plantas favoured the Spanish side and the Salis that of France during the long struggle (1620-1639) for the Valtellina (seeJenatschandValtellina). Troubles arose (1622) also in the Prättigau through the attempts of the Habsburgers to force the inhabitants to give up Protestantism. Finally, after the emperor hadformallyrecognized, by the treaty of Westphalia (1648), the independence of the Swiss Confederation, the rights of the Habsburgers in the Prättigau and the Lower Engadine were bought up (1649 and 1652). But the Austrianenclavesof Tarasp (Lower Engadine) and of Räzuns (near Reichenau) were only annexed to the Grisons in 1809 and 1815 respectively, in each case France holding the lordship for a short time after its cession by Austria. In 1748 (finally in 1762) the three Leagues secured the upper portion of the valley of Münster. In 1799 the French invaded the canton, which became the scene of a fierce conflict (1799-1800) between them and the united Russian and Austrian army, in the course of which the French burnt (May 1799) the ancient convent of Disentis with all its literary treasures. In April 1799 the provisional government agreed to the incorporation of the three Leagues in the Helvetic Republic, though it was not till June 1801 that the canton of Raetia became formally part of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803, by Napoleon’s Act of Mediation, it entered, under the name of Canton of the Grisons or Graubünden, the reconstituted Swiss Confederation, of which it then first became a full member.

Authorities.—A. Andrea, Das Bergell (Frauenfeld, 1901);Bündnergeschichte in 11 Vorträgen, by various writers (Coire, 1902);Codex diplomaticus Raetiae(5 vols., Coire, 1848-1886); W. Coxe,Travels in Switzerland, vol. ii. of the 1789 London edition; E. Dunant,La Réunion des Grisons à la Suisse(1798-1799) (Basel, 1899); G. Fient,Das Prättigau(2nd ed., Davos, 1897); P. Foffa,Das bündnerische Münsterthal(Coire, 1864); F. Fossati,Codice diplomatico della Rezia(originally published in thePeriodicoof theSocietà storica a Comenseat Como; separate reprint, Como, 1901); R. A. Ganzoni,Beiträge zur Kenntnis d. bündnerischen Referendums(Zürich, 1890); Mrs Henry Freshfield,A Summer Tour in the Grisons(London, 1862); C. and F. Jecklin,Der Anteil Graubündens am Schwabenkrieg(1499) (Davos, 1899); C. von Moor,Geschichte von Curraetien(2 vols., Coire, 1870-1874), andWegweiser(Coire, 1873); E. Lechner,Das Thal Bergell(2nd ed., Leipzig, 1874); G. Leonhardi,Das Poschiavinothal(Leipzig, 1859); A. Lorria and E. A. Martel,Le Massif de la Bernina(Upper Engadine and Val Bregaglia) (Zürich, 1894); P. C. von Planta,Das alte Raetien(Berlin, 1872);Die curraetischen Herrschaften in d. Feudalzeit(Bern, 1881);Geschichte von Graubünden(Bern, 1892); andChronik d. Familie von Planta(Zürich, 1892); W. Plattner,Die Entstehung d. Freistaates der 3 Bünde(Davos, 1895), R. von Reding-Biberegg,Der Zug Suworoffs durch die Schweiz in 1799(Stans, 1895); N. Salis-Soglio,Die Familie von Salis(Lindau, 1891); G. Theobald,Das Bündner Oberland(Coire, 1861), andNaturbilder aus den rhätischen Alpen(3rd ed., Coire, 1893); N. Valaer,Johannes von Planta(d. 1572) (Zürich, 1888); R. Wagner and L. R. von Salis,Rechtsquellen d. Cant. Graubünden(Basel, 1877-1892); F. Jecklin,Materialen zur Standes- und Landesgeschichte Gem. iii. Bünde(Graubünden),1464-1803(pt. i.,Regesten, was published at Basel in 1907). See alsoCoire,Engadine,JenatschandValtellina.

(W. A. B. C.)

GRISWOLD, RUFUS WILMOT(1815-1857), American editor and compiler, was born in Benson, Vermont, on the 15th of February 1815. He travelled extensively, worked in newspaper offices, was a Baptist clergyman for a time, and finally became a journalist in New York City, where he was successively a member of the staffs ofThe Brother Jonathan,The New World(1839-1840) andThe New Yorker(1840). From 1841 to 1843 he editedGraham’s Magazine(Philadelphia), and added to its list of contributors many leading American writers. From 1850 to 1852 he edited theInternational Magazine(New York), which in 1852 was merged intoHarper’s Magazine. He died in New York City on the 27th of August 1857. He is best known as the compiler and editor of various anthologies (with brief biographies and critiques), such asPoets and Poetry of America(1842), his most popular and valuable book;Prose Writers of America(1846);Female Poets of America(1848); andSacred Poets of England and America(1849). Of his own writings hisRepublican Court: or American Society in the Days of Washington(1854) is the only one of permanent value. He edited the first American edition of Milton’s prose works (1845), and, as literary executor, edited, with James R. Lowell and N. P. Willis, the works (1850) of Edgar Allan Poe. Griswold’s great contemporary reputation as a critic has not stood the test of time; but he rendered a valuable service in making Americans better acquainted with the poetry and prose of their own countrymen.

SeePassages from the Correspondence and Other Papers of Rufus W. Griswold(Cambridge, Mass., 1898), edited by his son William McCrillis Griswold (1853-1899).

GRIVET,a monkey,Cercopithecus sabaeus, of the guenon group, nearly allied to the green monkey. It is common throughout equatorial Africa. The chin, whiskers and a broad band across the forehead, as well as the under-parts, are white, and the head and back olive-green. These monkeys are very commonly seen in menageries.

GROAT(adapted from the Dutchgroot, great, thick; cf. Ger.Groschen; the Med. Lat.grossusgives Ital.grosso, Fr.gros, as names for the coin), a name applied as early as the 13th century on the continent of Europe to any large or thick coin. The groat was almost universally a silver coin, but its value varied considerably, as well at different times as in different countries. The English groat was first coined in 1351, of a value somewhat higher than a penny. The continuous debasement of both the penny and the groat left the latter finally worth four pennies. The issue of the groat was discontinued after 1662, but a coin worth fourpence was again struck in 1836. Although frequently referred to as a groat, it had no other official designation than a “fourpenny piece.” Its issue was again discontinued in 1856. The groat was imitated in Scotland by a coin struck by David II. in 1358. In Ireland it was first struck by Edward IV. in 1460.

GROCER,literally one who sells by the gross, a wholesale dealer; the word is derived through the O. Fr. form,grossia, from the Med. Lat.grossarius, defined by du Cange,Glossarium, s.v.Grossares, assolidae mercis propola. The name, as a general one for dealers by wholesale, “engrossers” as opposed to “regrators,” the retail dealers, is found with the commodity attached; thus in theMunimenta Gildhallae(“Rolls” series) ii. 1.304 (quoted in theNew English Dictionary) is found an allusion togrossours de vin, cf.groser of fysshe,Surtees Misc.(1888) 63, for the customs of Malton (quotedib.). The specific application of the word to one who deals either by wholesale or retail in tea, coffee, cocoa, dried fruits, spices, sugar and all kinds of articles of use or consumption in a household is connected with the history of the Grocers’ Company of London, one of the twelve “great” livery companies. In 1345 the pepperers and the spicers amalgamated and were known as the Fraternity of St Anthony. The name “grocers” first appears in 1373 in the records of the company. In 1386 the association was granted a right of search over all “spicers” in London, and in 1394 they obtained the right to inspect or “garble” spices and other “subtil wares.” Their first charter was obtained in 1428; letters patent in 1447 granted an extension of the right of search over the whole county, but removed the “liberties” of the city of London. They sold all kinds of drugs, medicines, ointments, plasters, and medicated and other waters. For the separation of the apothecaries from the grocers in 1617 seeApothecary. (See furtherLivery Companies.)

SeeThe Grocery Trade, by J. Aubrey Rees (1910).

GROCYN, WILLIAM(1446?-1519), English scholar, was born at Colerne, Wiltshire, about 1446. Intended by his parents for the church, he was sent to Winchester College, and in 1465 was elected to a scholarship at New College, Oxford. In 1467 he became a fellow, and had among his pupils William Warham, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. In 1479 he accepted the rectory of Newton Longville, in Buckinghamshire, but continued to reside at Oxford. As reader in divinity in Magdalen College in 1481, he held a disputation with John Taylor, professor of divinity, in presence of King Richard III., and the king acknowledged his skill as a debater by the present of a buck and five marks. In 1485 he became prebendary of Lincoln cathedral. About 1488 Grocyn left England for Italy, and before his return in 1491 he had visited Florence, Rome and Padua, and studied Greek and Latin under Demetrius Chalchondyles and Politian. As lecturer in Exeter College he found an opportunity of indoctrinating his countrymen in the new Greek learning.

Erasmus says in one of his letters that Grocyn taught Greek at Oxford before his visit to Italy. The Warden of New College, Thomas Chaundler, invited Cornelius Vitelli, then on a visit to Oxford, to act as praelector. This was about 1475, and as Vitelli was certainly familiar with Greek literature, Grocyn may have learnt Greek from him. He seems to have lived in Oxford until 1499, but when his friend Colet became dean of St Paul’s in 1504 he was settled in London. He was chosen by his friend to deliver lectures in St Paul’s; and in this connexion he gave a singular proof of his honesty. He had at first denounced all who impugned the authenticity of theHierarchia ecclesiasticaascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, but, being led to modify his views by further investigation, he openly declared that he had been completely mistaken. He also counted Linacre, William Lily, William Latimer and More among his friends, and Erasmus writing in 1514 says that he was supported by Grocyn in London, and calls him “the friend and preceptor of us all.” He held several preferments, but his generosity to his friends involved him in continual difficulties, and though in 1506 he was appointed on Archbishop Warham’s recommendation master or warden of All Hallows College at Maidstone in Kent, he was still obliged to borrow from his friends, and even to pledge his plate as a security. He died in 1519, and was buried in the collegiate church at Maidstone. Linacre acted as his executor, and expended the money he received in giftsto the poor and the purchase of books for poor scholars. With the exception of a few lines of Latin verse on a lady who snowballed him, and a letter to Aldus Manutius at the head of Linacre’s translation of Proclus’sSphaera(Venice, 1499), Grocyn has left no literary proof of his scholarship or abilities. His proposal to execute a translation of Aristotle in company with Linacre and Latimer was never carried out. Wood assigns some Latin works to Grocyn, but on insufficient authority. By Erasmus he has been described as “vir severissimae castissimae vitae, ecclesiasticarum constitutionum observantissimus pene usque ad superstitionem, scholasticae theologiae ad unguem doctus ac natura etiam acerrimi judicii, demum in omni disciplinarum genere exacte versatus” (Declarationes ad censuras facultatis theologiae Parisianae, 1522).

An account of Grocyn by Professor Burrows appeared in the Oxford Historical Society’sCollectanea(1890).

GRODNO,one of the Lithuanian governments of western Russia, lying between 51° 40′ and 52° N. and between 22° 12′ and 26° E., and bounded N. by the government of Vilna, E. by Minsk, S. by Volhynia, and W. by the Polish governments of Lomza and Siedlce. Area, 14,926 sq. m. Except for some hills (not exceeding 925 ft.) in the N., it is a uniform plain, and is drained chiefly by the Bug, Niemen, Narev and Bobr, all navigable. There are also several canals, the most important being the Augustowo and Oginsky. Granites and gneisses crop out along the Bug, Cretaceous, and especially Tertiary, deposits elsewhere. The soil is mostly sandy, and in the district of Grodno and along the rivers is often drift-sand. Forests, principally ofConiferae, cover more than one-fourth of the area. Amongst them are some of vast extent,e.g.those of Grodno (410 sq. m.) and Byelovitsa (Bialowice) (376 sq. m.), embracing wide areas of marshy ground. In the last mentioned forest the wild ox survives, having been jealously preserved since 1803. Peat bogs, sometimes as much as 4 to 7 ft. thick, cover extensive districts. The climate is wet and cold; the annual mean temperature being 44.5° F., the January mean 22.5° and the July mean 64.5°. The rainfall amounts to 21½ in.; hail is frequent. Agriculture is the predominant industry. The peasants own 42½% of the land, that is, about 4,000,000 acres, and of these over 2¼ million acres are arable. The crops principally grown are potatoes, rye, oats, wheat, flax, hemp and some tobacco. Horses, cattle and sheep are bred in fairly large numbers. There is, however, a certain amount of manufacturing industry, especially in woollens, distilling and tobacco. In woollens this government ranks second (after Moscow) in the empire, the centre of the industry being Byelostok. Other factories produce silk, shoddy and leather. The government is crossed by the main lines of railway from Warsaw to St Petersburg and from Warsaw to Moscow. The population numbered 1,008,521 in 1870 and 1,616,630 in 1897; of these last 789,801 were women and 255,946 were urban. In 1906 it was estimated at 1,826,600. White Russians predominate (54%), then follow Jews (17.4%), Poles (10%), Lithuanians and Germans. The government is divided into nine districts, the chief towns, with their populations in 1897, being Grodno (q.v.), Brest-Litovsk (pop. 42,812 in 1901), Byelsk (7461), Byelostok or Bialystok (65,781 in 1901), Kobrin (10,365), Pruzhany (7634), Slonim (15,893), Sokolsk (7595) and Volkovysk (10,584). In 1795 Grodno, which had been Polish for ages, was annexed by Russia.

GRODNO,a town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name in 53° 40′ N. and 23° 50′ E., on the right bank of the Niemen, 160 m. by rail N.E. of Warsaw and 98 m. S.W. of Vilna on the main line to St Petersburg. Pop. (1901) 41,736, nearly two-thirds Jews. It is an episcopal see of the Orthodox Greek church and the headquarters of the II. Army Corps. It has two old castles, now converted to other uses, and two churches (16th and 17th centuries). Tobacco factories and distilleries are important; machinery, soap, candles, vehicles and firearms are also made. Built in the 12th century, Grodno was almost entirely destroyed by the Mongols (1241) and Teutonic knights (1284 and 1391). Stephen Bathory, king of Poland, made it his capital, and died there in 1586. The Polish Estates frequently met at Grodno after 1673, and there in 1793 they signed the second partition of Poland. It was at Grodno that Stanislaus Poniatowski resigned the Polish crown in 1795.

GROEN VAN PRINSTERER, GUILLAUME(1801-1876), Dutch politician and historian, was born at Voorburg, near the Hague, on the 21st of August 1801. He studied at Leiden university, and graduated in 1823 both as doctor of literature and LL.D. From 1829 to 1833 he acted as secretary to King William I. of Holland, afterwards took a prominent part in Dutch home politics, and gradually became the leader of the so-called anti-revolutionary party, both in the Second Chamber, of which he was for many years a member, and outside. In Groen the doctrines of Guizot and Stahl found an eloquent exponent. They permeate his controversial and political writings and historical studies, of which hisHandbook of Dutch History(in Dutch) andMaurice et Barnevelt(in French, 1875, a criticism of Motley’sLife of Van Olden-Barnevelt) are the principal. Groen was violently opposed to Thorbecke, whose principles he denounced as ungodly and revolutionary. Although he lived to see these principles triumph, he never ceased to oppose them until his death, which occurred at the Hague on the 19th of May 1876. He is best known as the editor of theArchives et correspondance de la maison d’Orange(12 vols., 1835-1845), a great work of patient erudition, which procured for him the title of the “DutchGachard.” J. L. Motley acknowledges his indebtedness to Groen’s Archives in the preface to hisRise of the Dutch Republic, at a time when the American historian had not yet made the acquaintance of King William’s archivist, and also bore emphatic testimony to Groen’s worth as a writer of history in the correspondence published after his death. At the first reception, in 1858, of Motley at the royal palace at the Hague, the king presented him with a copy of Groen’sArchivesas a token of appreciation and admiration of the work done by the “worthy vindicator of William I., prince of Orange.” This copy, bearing the king’s autograph inscription, afterwards came into the possession of Sir William Vernon Harcourt, Motley’s son-in-law.

GROIN.(1) An obsolete word for the grunting of swine, from Lat.grunnire, and so applied to the snout of a pig; it is probably the origin of the word, more commonly spelled “groyne,” for a small timber framework or wall of masonry used on sea coasts as a breakwater to prevent the encroachment of sand and shingle. (2) (Of uncertain origin; from an older formgryndeorgrinde; the derivation from “grain,” an obsolete word meaning “fork,” cannot, according to theNew English Dictionary, be accepted), in anatomy the folds or grooves formed between the lower part of the abdomen and the thighs, covering the inguinal glands, and so applied in architecture to the angle or “arris” formed by the intersection of two vaults crossing one another, occasionally called by workmen “groin point.” If the vaults are both of the same radius and height, their intersections lie in a vertical plane, in other cases they form winding curves for which it is difficult to provide centering. In early medieval vaulting this was sometimes arranged by a slight alteration in the geometrical curve of the vault, but the problem was not satisfactorily solved until the introduction of the rib which henceforth ruled the vaulting surface of the web or cell (seeVault). The name “Welsh groin” or “underpitch” is generally given to the vaulting surface or web where the main longitudinal vault is higher than the cross or transverse vaults; as the transverse rib (of much greater radius than that of the wall rib), projected diagonally in front of the latter, the filling-in or web has to be carried back from the transverse to the wall rib. The term “groin centering” is used where, in groining without ribs, the whole surface is supported by centering during the erection of the vaulting. In ribbed work the stone ribs only are supported by timber ribs during the progress of the work, any light stuff being used while filling in the spandrils. (SeeVault.)

GROLMANN, KARL WILHELM GEORG VON(1777-1843), Prussian soldier, was born in Berlin on the 30th of July 1777. He entered an infantry regiment when scarcely thirteen, became an ensign in 1795, second lieutenant 1797, first lieutenant 1804 and staff-captain in 1805. As a subaltern he had become one ofScharnhorst’s intimates, and he was distinguished for his energetic and fearless character before the war of 1806, in which he served throughout, from Jena to the peace of Tilsit, as a staff officer, and won the rank of major for distinguished service in action. After the peace, and the downfall of Prussia, he was one of the most active of Scharnhorst’s assistants in the work of reorganization (1809), joined theTugendbundand endeavoured to take part in Schill’s abortive expedition, after which he entered the Austrian service as a major on the general staff. Thereafter he journeyed to Cadiz to assist the Spaniards against Napoleon, and he led a corps of volunteers in the defence of that port against Marshal Victor in 1810. He was present at the battle of Albuera, at Saguntum, and at Valencia, becoming a prisoner of war at the surrender of the last-named place. Soon, however, he escaped to Switzerland, whence early in 1813 he returned to Prussia as a major on the general staff. He served successively under Colonel von Dolffs and General von Kleist, and as commissioner at the headquarters of the Russian general Barclay de Tolly. He took part with Kleist in the victory of Kulm, and recovered from a severe wound received at that action in time to be present at the battle of Leipzig. He played a conspicuous part in the campaign of 1814 in France, after which he was made a major-general. In this rank he was appointed quartermaster-general to Field Marshal Prince Blücher, and, after his chief and Gneisenau, Grolmann had the greatest share in directing the Prussian operations of 1815. In the decision, on the 18th of June 1815, to press forward to Wellington’s assistance (seeWaterloo Campaign), Grolmann actively concurred, and as the troops approached the battle-field, he is said to have overcome the momentary hesitation of the commander-in-chief and the chief of staff by himself giving the order to advance. After the peace of 1815, Grolmann occupied important positions in the ministry of war and the general staff. His last public services were rendered in Poland as commander-in-chief, and practically as civil administrator of the province of Posen. He was promoted general of infantry in 1837 and died on the 1st of June 1843, at Posen. His two sons became generals in the Prussian army. The Prussian 18th infantry regiment bears his name.

General von Grolmann supervised and provided much of the material for von Damitz’sGesch. des Feldzugs 1815(Berlin, 1837-1838), andGesch. des Feldzugs 1814 in Frankreich(Berlin, 1842-1843).

See v. Conrady,Leben und Wirken des Generals Karl von Grolmann(Berlin, 1894-1896).

GROMATICI(fromgromaorgruma, a surveyor’s pole), orAgrimensores, the name for land-surveyors amongst the Romans. The art of surveying was probably at first in the hands of the augurs, by whom it was exercised in all cases where the demarcation of atemplum(any consecrated space) was necessary. Thus, the boundaries of Rome itself, of colonies and camps, were all marked out in accordance with the rules of augural procedure. The first professional surveyor mentioned is L. Decidius Saxa, who was employed by Antony in the measurement of camps (Cicero,Philippics, xi. 12, xiv. 10). During the empire their number and reputation increased. The distribution of land amongst the veterans, the increase in the number of military colonies, the settlement of Italian peasants in the provinces, the general survey of the empire under Augustus, the separation of private and state domains, led to the establishment of a recognized professional corporation of surveyors. During later times they were in receipt of large salaries, and in some cases were even honoured with the titleclarissimus. Their duties were not merely geometrical or mathematical, but required legal knowledge for consultations or the settlement of disputes. This led to the institution of special schools for the training of surveyors and a special literature, which lasted from the 1st to the 6th centuryA.D.The earliest of the gromatic writers was Frontinus (q.v.), whoseDe agrorum qualitate, dealing with the legal aspect of the art, was the subject of a commentary by Aggenus Urbicus, a Christian schoolmaster. Under Trajan a certain Balbus, who had accompanied the emperor on his Dacian campaign, wrote a still extant manual of geometry for land surveyors (Expositio et ratio omnium formarumormensurarum, probably after a Greek original by Hero), dedicated to a certain Celsus who had invented an improvement in a gromatic instrument (perhaps the dioptra, resembling the modern theodolite); for the treatises of Hyginus see that name. Somewhat later than Trajan was Siculus Flaccus (De condicionibus agrorum, extant), while the most curious treatise on the subject, written in barbarous Latin and entitledCasae litterarum(long a school text-book) is the work of a certain Innocentius (4th-5th century). It is doubtful whether Boëtius is the author of the treatises attributed to him. TheGromatici veteresalso contains extracts from official registers (probably belonging to the 5th century) of colonial and other land surveys, lists and descriptions of boundary stones, and extracts from the Theodosian Codex. According to Mommsen, the collection had its origin during the 5th century in the office of a vicarius (diocesan governor) of Rome, who had a number of surveyors under him. The surveyors were known by various names:decempedator(with reference to the instrument used);finitor,metatorormensor castrorumin republican times;togati Augustorumas imperial civil officials;professor,auctoras professional instructors.

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