consist chiefly of tragedies: a collection of which was published at Venice 1583, in 8vo, by his son Celso Giraldi; who, in his dedication to the duke of Ferrara, takes occasion to observe, that he was the youngest of five sons, and the only one who survived his father. There are also some prose works of Giraldi: one particularly upon comedy, tragedy, and other kinds of poetry, which was printed at Venice by himself in 1554, 4to. Some make no scruple to rank him among the best tragic writers that Italy has produced; but perhaps the work by which he now is best known is his "Hecatommiti," an hundred novels in the manner of Boccaccio, which have been frequently printed. There is a scarce volume of his poems printed at Ferrara in 1537, at the close of which is a treatise of Culio Calcagnini, "De Imitatione," addressed to Giraldi.'

GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS. See BARRY.

GIRARD (GABRIEL), an ingenious French writer, was born at Clermont in Auvergne in 1678, and educated for the church. In his youth he had a canonry in the collegiate church of Notre Dame de Monferrand, but resigned it to one of his brothers, that he might be at liberty to go to Paris and devote his time to literary pursuits. There by the interest of some friends he was made almoner to the duchess of Berri, daughter of the regent, and also obtained the place of king's interpreter for the Sclavonian and Russian languages. In 1744 he was admitted a member of the French academy. He died Feb. 4, 1748. The work by which he is best known, and to which indeed he chiefly owed his reputation in France, is his " Synonymes Français," 12mo, of which a new edition, with some posthumous pieces by Girard, was published by M. Beauzée in 1769, 2 vols. 12mo. No grammatical work was ever more popular in France, nor more useful in defining the precise meaning of words apparently synonymous; and the elegance and moral tendency of the examples he produces have been much admired. The abbé Roubaud has since published "Les Nouveaux Synonymes Français," 1786, 4 vols. 8vo, which may be considered as a supplement to Girard. Our author published also a grammar under the title of "Les vrais principes de la langue Français," 2 vols. 12mo, far inferior in ingenuity to his former, and

1 Moreri.-Niceron, vol. XXIX.-Ginguenè Hist. Litt. d'Italie, vol. VI. p. 66. -Saxii Onomast. in Gyraldus.

full of metaphysical whims on the theory of language, not unmixed with those infidel principles which were in his time beginning to be propagated.

1

GIRTIN (THOMAS), an ingenious young landscapepainter, was born Feb. 18, 1773, and received his first instructions from Mr. Fisher, a drawing-master in Aldersgatestreet, and was, for a short time, the pupil of Mr. Dayes. He early made nature his model; but the first master that struck his attention forcibly was Canaletti, and, in the latter part of his life, he sedulously studied the colouring of Rubens. He was the first who introduced the custom of drawing upon cartridge-paper; by which means he avoided that spotty, glittering glare so common in drawings made on white paper; and some of his later productions have as forcible and spirited an effect as an oil-picture, and are more clear.

In his first manner he made the outline with a pen, but afterwards did away that hard outline, which gives so edgy an effect to drawings that are not, in other respects, destitute of merit; and, having first given his general forms with Indian ink, finished his work by putting on his different tints. This, if judiciously managed, is certainly a great improvement in the art. It has been said, that he made great use of the rule, and produced some of his most forcible effects by trick, but this was not the case. His eye was peculiarly accurate; and by that he formed his judgment of proportions. Whoever inspected his pallet would find it covered with a greater variety of tints than almost any of his, contemporaries employed. Mr. Moore was his first patron, and with him he went a tour into Scotland. The prospects he saw in that country gave that wildness of imagery to the scenery of his drawings by which they are so pre-eminently distinguished. He also went with Mr. Moore to Peterborough, Lichfield, and Lincoln; and, indeed, to many other places remarkable for their rich scenery, either in nature or architecture. That gentleman had a drawing that Girtin made of Exeter cathedral, which was principally coloured on the spot where it was drawn; for he was so uncommonly indefatigable, that, when he had made a sketch of any place, he never wished to quit it until he had given it all the proper tints. He was early noticed by lord Harewood, Mr. Lascelles, and Dr. Monro; in whose collections are some of

! Dict. Hist.

those fine specimens of the arts by the study of which he formed his taste. The doctor has in his possession some of his earliest, and many of his finest, drawings. He painted two pictures in oil; the first was a view in Wales, which was exhibited, and much noticed, in 1801; and the second, the panorama view of London, which was exhibited in Spring-gardens. About twelve months before his death he went to France, where he staid till May. His last, and indeed his best, drawings were the views of Paris, which were purchased by lord Essex, and from which aqua-tinta prints by other artists have since been made. This promising young artist died Nov. 9, 1802, of an asthmatic disorder, which Mr. Edwards seems to attribute to irregularity.'

GIRY (LEWIS), advocate to the parliament of Paris, and to the council, and member of the French academy, was born at Paris in 1596. His abilities and probity recommended him to some very honourable employments, and he particularly enjoyed the confidence of cardinal Mazarin. He was author of the following translations: "Dialogues des Orateurs," 4to.; "l'Apologie de Socrate;" "l'Hist. Sacrée de Sulpice Severe;" "l'Apologetique de Tertullien," for which he was received into the academy; "la Cité de Dieu, de St. Augustin," 1 vol, 4to.; "Epitres Choisies de St. Augustin," 5 vols. 12mo. He died in 1665, at Paris. His son, Francis, who was provincial of the Minim order, gained great reputation by some devotional works; but deserves little credit for his principal publication, "Les Vies des Saints," fol. which although esteemed for its piety, is full of fables, and far from accurate as to facts. P. Raffron, of the same order, has written his life, .12mo. 2

GLABER (RODOLPH), a Benedictine monk, first of St. Germaine d'Auxerre, and afterwards of Cluni, and a man of superstitious credulity, flourished in the eleventh century, and wrote a "Chronicle or History of France," in the Latin language. It consists of five books, of which the first relates to the events of the monarchy previously to Hugh Capet, and the four subsequent ones to those following it, as far down as 1046. This work is defective as a composition, and, at the same time, full of fabulous

1 Gent. Mag. LXXII, and LXXIII.-Pilkington.-Edwards's Sapplement to Walpole. 2 Moreri.-Dict. Hist.

putation of legal ability for which his family had long been distinguished. When he had been a barrister of some years standing, he was elected recorder of Plymouth, and burgess for that place in several parliaments. In the 5th of Charles I. he was Lent reader of his inn, and in May 1639 was made serjeant at law. Being chosen speaker of the parliament which assembled in April 1640, he shewed himself more active in the king's cause, than formerly, when he joined in the common clamour against the prerogative. In August 1641, being then one of the king's serjeants, he received the honour of knighthood; and when his majesty was obliged to leave the parliament, sir John followed him to Oxford. In 1645, being accused as a delinquent, or adherent to the king, he was deprived of his seat in parliament, and afterwards committed to prison, in which he remained until 1648, when he made a composition with the usurping powers. After the restoration he was made king's serjeant again, and would have probably attained promotion had he not died soon after, on Oct. 2, 1661. He was buried in the church of Broad Hinton in Wiltshire, the manor of which he had bought some years before. His works consist chiefly of speeches and arguments, most of which are in Rushworth's "Collections." His "Reports of Cases of controverted Elections," were published in 1775, by John Topham, esq.

GLANVIL (JOHN), a grandson of the preceding, was born at Broad Hinton in 1664, and became at the age of fourteen a commoner of Trinity-college, Oxford. He studied law afterwards in Lincoln's-inn, and was admitted to the bar. He is known by some minor poems, the best of which may be seen in Mr. Nichols's Collection. He made the first English translation of Fontenelle's “Plurality of Worlds." He died at Broad Hinton in 1735.9

GLANVIL (JOSEPH), a distinguished writer, was born in 1636, at Plymouth in Devonshire, where he probably received the first rudiments of his education, and was entered at Exeter-college, Oxford, April 19, 1652. He was placed under Samuel Conant, au eminent tutor, and having made great proficiency in his studies, he proceeded B. A. Oct. 11, 1655. The following year, he removed to Lincoln-college, probably upon some view of preferment.

1 Prince's Worthies of Devon.-Ath. Ox. vol. II.-Fuller's Worthies.-Lloyd's Memoirs, fol. 585.

2 Prince's Worthies.-Ath. Ox, vol. II.-Nichols's Poems, vol. IV.

Taking the degree of M. A. June 29, 1658, he assumed the priestly office, according to the forms used by the sectaries at that time, and became chaplain to Francis Rouse, esq. then made provost of Eton-college, by Oliver Cromwell, and designed for one of his house of lords. Had this patron lived a little longer, Glanvil's expectations would, no doubt, have been fully answered; since according to Wood, he entirely complied with the principles of the then prevailing party, to whom his very prompt pen must needs have been serviceable. But Rouse dying the same year, he returned to his college in Oxford, and pursued his studies there during the subsequent distractions in the state. About this time, he became acquainted with Mr. Richard Baxter, who entertained a great opinion of his genius, and continued his respect for him after the restoration, when they espoused different causes. The friendship was equally warm on Glanvil's side, who, Sept. 3, 1661, addressed an epistle to his friend, professing himself to be an admirer of his preaching and writings; he also offered to write something in his defence, but yielded to his advice, not to sacrifice his views of preferment to their friendship.

Accordingly, he had the prudence to take a different method; and turning his thoughts to a subject not only inoffensive in itself, but entirely popular at that time, viz. a defence of experimental philosophy against the notional way of Aristotle and the schools, he published it this year, under the title of "The Vanity of Dogmatizing, or confidence in opinions, manifested in a discourse of the shortness and uncertainty of our knowledge and its causes, with some reflections on Peripateticism, and an apology for philosophy," 1661, 8vo. These meetings, which gave rise to the Royal Society, were much frequented at this time, and encouraged by learned men of all persuasions; and this small discourse introduced him to the knowledge of the literary world in a very favourable light. He had an opportunity of improving by the weakness of an antagonist, whom he answered in an appendix to a piece called "Scepsis Scientifica, or confessed ignorance the way to science, in an Essay on the Vanity of Dogmatizing, and confident opinion," 1665, 4to. Our author dedicated this piece to the royal society, in terms of the highest respect for that institution; and the society being then in a state of infancy, and having many enemies, as might be ex