in circumference, and fluted two lines deep. They are confined at both ends, so as to leave no more distance between them than is necessary for the seed to slip through. At one end is a little millstone, which, being put in motion by the foot, turns the rods in contrary directions. They separate the cotton, and throw out the seed contained in it. See COTTON.

GOT, participle of get. See GET. GOTHA-ELF, a considerable river in the south-west of Sweden, formed by the junction of a number of torrents flowing from the Norwegian Alps. Before falling into the lake Wener, it bears the name of Clara-Elf: after flowing out of that lake, near Wenersborg, and about fifty miles from Gottenburg, it forms the famous cataracts of Trolhata. It is now navigable, and in its course divides into two branches, both of which fall into the Cattegat, the one passing through Gottenburg, the other a few miles to the north. A great obstacle to the navigation of this river being the cataracts of Trolhata. An association was formed, in 1793, to conduct a canal parallel to its course at the place of the cataracts. They completed this undertaking in 1800: and it is said to be the intention of the Swedish government to prolong the line of navigation by the Wetter and other lakes, so as to unite the German Ocean and the Baltic, through the centre of that kingdom.

GOTHA, SAXE, DUCHY OF, is a small state of Germany, which comprises a great part of the southern regions of Thuringia, and a portion of the principality of Altenburg. The whole surface is about 1170 square miles. It is bounded by Saxe-Weimar, Prussia, and Schwartzburg. South-west it is hilly and covered with forests; but the other parts are fertile, and grain is raised in considerable quantities. Flax and woad are also grown. rivers are the Leine and the Neisse. Among its mineral products are iron, coal, manganese, and cobalt. Many of the inhabitants are also engaged in manufacturing ticken and woollen cloth.

The

Saxe-Gotha is altogether independent. The executive power is possessed by the duke and his privy council, but there is a diet composed of the land-holders and deputies from the towns, who meet every fourth year. The religion is Lutheranism, but all persuasions are tolerated. The duke maintains a small armed force; his contingent to the general army of the confederation of Germany is 1875 men, and the annual revenue of the state about £150,000. Gotha and Altenburg are the chief towns.

GOTHA, the capital of the foregoing duchy, is, according to a recent traveller, a beautiful object. It is built round a hill of considerable elevation, and towers above the surrounding country, presenting fine prospects in every direction. The suburbs, which are extensive, contain a number of houses in the midst of elegant gardens, and give a cheerful aspect to the environs. The streets within the city, though some of them are steep, are handsome many of the houses are very large, and the whole has the appearance of opulence and comfort. The most

prominent object is the Schloss, or duca palace, in which the reigning duke resides. Here is a large and valuable library, with a good collection of curiosities. Among the MSS. are more than 3000 charters and other official documents, with a number of scarce works on coins. Gotha is partly surrounded by rows of stately trees, and the suburbs are ornamented with fountains. Its manufactures are porcelain, woollen, and cotton, and it partakes in the trade between Leipsic and the south-west of Germany. Population 12,000.

GOTHARD (St.), one of the highest mountains west of Switzerland. From the top, where there is an hospital for travellers and a monastery for monks, is one of the most pleasing prospects in the world. It is eight miles from Altorf, and is situated in the canton of Uri, on the confines of the Vallais, the Grisons, and Italy. Its ancient name, according to Ptolemy and Strabo, was Adula. The Rhine, the Reuss, the Rhone, and the Aar rise in it. Considered in its utmost extent, it comprehends, besides St. Gothard, properly so called, the mountains of Crispias, Fourche, Grimsel, and Vogelsburg. Its top is covered with eternal snow, varying in height from 8000 to 12,000 feet. It has some mines of fine crystals. No fewer than thirty lakes are situated in this range. The Reuss particularly fixes the attention of the traveller, as it runs parallel with the road a great part of the way, and over it is erected that singular arch called the Devil's Bridge, the abutments of which rest on each side on peaks of rock at an immense elevation.

The road across these mountains into Italy is from ten to fifteen feet broad, and not sc steep and difficult as might be expected. It is well paved with granite, but in winter the passage is rendered inconvenient by the snow which lies to the depth of twenty or thirty fect, and the winter lasts long. But the carrying trade is still prosecuted actively, and takes place chiefly on sledges, drawn by a couple of oxen. Other carriages have not as yet been used here. There is a subterraneous passage cut through a mass of rock, which was too high to be climbed, and too vast to be removed; the opening is about twelve feet in height, and as much in width; in length about 200; it is almost dark, the light being admitted only at the ends and at a small crevice. Nothing can exceed the contrast exhibited to the traveller coming from the north, who, after seeing nature in her most frigtful form, and passing this dreary cavern, opens all at once on the vale of Urseren. This gallery is called the Urnerloch or Rochepercée. This tremendous mountain was passed on the 25th and 26th of May, 1800, by a division of the French army under general Moncey, consisting of 25,000 men.

GOTHLAND, the southern and most fertile division of Sweden, or all the country to the southward of the lake Wener, has the Cattegat, the Sound, and the Baltic, for its maritime boundaries. It is mentioned in history both under the general name of Gothland, or by the divisions of East, West, and South Gothland; but none of these are recognised in the recent dis

tribution of Sweden into provinces, which are much smaller, and consist, in the case of Gothland, of the provinces of Smaland, Halland, Christianstadt, Culmar, Gottenburg, Skaraborg, Cronoberg, Blekingen, Ionkoping, Linkoping, and Malmohuns. It contains 40,000 square miles and 1,500,000 inhabitants. See SWEDEN. GOTHLAND, or GOTTLAND (i. e. Swed. goodland), an island eighteen leagues distant from the nearest point of Sweden, and from Windau the nearest point of Courland. It is twenty leagues long and seven at its greatest breadth, forming an elevated plain from 150 to 200 feet above the level of the sea. In some places the shore ascends gradually, but in others it resembles a wall. It has two hills, Torsberg on the east, and Hoberg on the south. The first is a steep and naked rock, on the summit of which is a hollow plain, 1200 feet in circumference, and always covered with water. The Hoberg is also a steep rock, remarkable for its caverns, one of which, called the bedchamber of the old man of the mountain, resembles a well-proportioned apartment, and is the subject of many popular tales.

This island is composed of calcareous substances, such as marble, breaches, calcareous spath, and earth, distributed in strata, and often mixed with free,stone containing mica. Besides the extensive beds of madrepores, &c., found round it, entroques, anomias, and mytilus, are also met with petrified, as well as fragments of carneolas, agates, and granite. The soil towards the north is a compact clay producing forests of pines; on the south it is a mixture of sand, clay, and earth. The interior has several lakes and rivers; of the latter the principal is the Lummeland, which issues from lake Morteba, sinks into the earth, and after having made itself a subterraneous passage twelve feet wide and six high, re-appears as a rapid torrent.

The climate is more temperate than that of the neighbouring coast of Sweden, the walnut-tree producing fruit. The grains are, wheat, barley, rye, and oats, cultivated in farms spread all over the island. Cattle are reared in considerable numbers, particularly sheep, of which the breed has been lately improved by a cross of the Merino. The forests in the north part furnish plank, tar, and potash for exportation, and the quarries, marble, building, and limestone. Population about 35,000.

There is but one town here and two or three villages. Wisby, the former, is built on a rock on the west coast, and contains 3000 to 4000 inhabitants. It was once a depôt of the Hanse league; and the ruins of several large churches, and other buildings, prove it to have been of more consequence than at present. Its port can only receive a few small vessels. The havens of Capelshamn on the north and Slitehamn on the east, are more capacious; particularly the latter, which is one of the best ports of the Baltic, and defended by the fort of Carlsbelt.

Until the thirteenth century, the Gottlanders enjoyed a degree of independence under the protection of Sweden, but their internal disputes at last caused their entire submission to that power. The island for a short time, in the

middle of the fourteenth century, fell under the dominion of Denmark, and, towards the end of that century, a horde of pirates occupied its coasts. The Teutonic knights at last attacked and destroyed them, and the island acknowledged the sovereignty of the grand master of the order, who sold it to Sweden for 9000 gold nobles. It was ceded to Sweden from Denmark by the peace of Bromesbro in 1644.

Gothland forms a government, and has a bishop of its own, together with a small militia for its defence; it also furnishes a considerable number of seamen to the Swedish fleet. A considerable number of runic stones have been found on this island, but none more ancient than the introduction of Christianity.

GOTHIC LANGUAGE. Our principal connexion with the fragments that remain of this language is in the etymology of our own. This we shall be found to remember in our Lexicon; and for some original remarks on the subject generally, see GRAMMAR, part I. sect. 2.

GOTHOFRED, or GODFREY (Dionysius, or Denis), an eminent lawyer, born of an illustrious family at Paris, in 1549. France being involved in confusion by the leaguers, he accepted of a professor's chair at Geneva, until he was employed by Henry IV.; but, being afterwards stripped of his employments as a Huguenot, he retired to Heidelburg, whence no offers could detach him. The disturbances in the Palatinate obliged him, in 1621, to take refuge in Strasburg, where he died in 1622. He wrote a great number of books; his principal work is the Corpus Juris Civilis, cum notis.

GOTHOFRED (Theodore, or Theodosius), son of Denis, was born at Geneva in 1580. As soon as he had finished his studies he went to Paris; where he conformed to the Romish religion, and applied with indefatigable industry to the study of history, (that of France particularly), wherein he became very eminent. In 1632, Louis XIII. made him one of his historiographers, with a stipend of 3000 livres; and, in 1636, he was sent to Cologne, to assist at the treaty of peace negociating there, on the part of France, by the cardinal of Lyons. This treaty being removed to Munster, Gothofred was sent thither, where he drew up memoirs on the subject; and continued in that city, in the king's service, to his death in 1649. His principal

work is his Account of the Ceremonial of the Kings of France.

GOTHOFRED (James), brother of Theodore, was born at Geneva in 1587. Applying himself to the study of the law, he obtained the professor's chair there, and was made counsellor of the city, and was several times in France, Germany, Piedmont, and Switzerland, to nego ciate the affairs of the republic. He died in 1562; and his chief work is his Codex Theodosianus, cum perpetuis commentariis, &c.

GOTHOFRED (Denis), son of Theodore, was born at Paris in 1615. He studied history after his father's example; became as eminent in that department of knowledge; and obtained the reversion of his father's place of historiographer royal, from Louis XIII., when he was but twenty

five years of age. He published his father's Ceremonial of France; finished his Memoirs of Philip de Commines; and was preparing a History of Charles VIII., when he died in

1681.

GOTHS, a warlike nation, famous in the Roman history, who came originally out of Scandinavia, the name given by the ancients to Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Finmark. According to the most probable accounts, they were the first inhabitants of those countries; and thence sent colonies into the islands of the Baltic, the Cimbrian Chersonesus, and the adjacent places. The time of their first settling in Scandinavia, and of their first peopling the above-mentioned islands and Chersonesus, are equally uncertain; though the Gothic annals state the latter to have happened in the time of Serug the great-grandfather of Abraham. The first migration of the Goths is said to have been conducted by their king Eric; in which all the ancient Gothic chronicles, as well as the Danish and Swedish ones, agree. Their second migration is said to have happened many ages after; when, being overstocked with people, Berig, then king of the Goths, went out with a fleet in quest of new settlements. He landed in the country of the Ulmerugians, now Pomerania, drove out the ancient inhabitants, and divided their lands among his followers. He fell next upon the Vandals, whose country bordered on that of the Ulmerugians, and overcame them; but, instead of forcing them to abandon their country, he only made them share their possessions with the Goths. The Goths, who settled in Pomerania and the adjacent parts of Germany, being greatly increased, undertook a third migration in great numbers under Filimer the Great, their fifth prince after leaving Scandinavia; and, taking their route eastward, entered Scythia, advanced to the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and, driving out the Cimmerians, settled near the Palus Mæotis. Thence, in process of time, being greatly increased in Scythia, they resolved to seek new settlements; and accordingly, taking their route eastward, they traversed several countries, and at length returned into Germany. Their leader in this expedition was the celebrated Woden. See ODIN and WODEN.

At what time Woden reigned in this country, is quite uncertain; but all historians agree, that he went in quest of new settlements with incredible numbers of people following him. He first entered Roxolania, comprehending the countries of Prussia, Livonia, and a great part of Moscovy: thence he went by sea into the north parts of Germany; and, having reduced Saxony and Jutland, he at last settled in Sweden, where he reigned till his death, and became so famous that his name reached all countries, and he was by the northern nations worshipped as a god. He is said to have brought the Runic characters out of Asia, and to have taught the northern nations the art of poetry; whence he is styled the father of the Scaldi or Scaldri, their poets, who described in verse the exploits of the great men of their nation, as the bards did among the Gauls and Britons. The Romans distinguished the Goths into two classes; the Ostrogoths and VOL. X.

They encouraged,

Visigoths. These names they received before they left Scandinavia; the Visigoths being softened by the Latins from Westerogoths, or those who inhabit the western part of Scandinavia, as the Ostrogoths were those who inhabited the eastern part of that country. Their history affords nothing of importance till the time of their quarrelling with the Romans; which happened in the reign of Caracalla. After that period it becomes so closely interwoven with that of the Romans that, for the most remarkable particulars of it, we must refer to the article ROME. After the destruction of the Roman empire, by the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, under Theodoric, became masters of the greatest part of Italy, having overcome and put to death Odoacer king of the Heruli in 494. They retained their dominion in this country till A. D. 553; when they were finally conquered by Narses, Justinian's general: se ITALY. The Visigoths settled in Spain, in the time of Honorius, where they founded a kingdom which continued till the country was subdued by the Saracens. See SPAIN. The Goths were famous for their hospitality and kindness to strangers, even before they embraced Christianity. Nay, it is said, that from their being eminently good, they were called Goths, by the neighbouring nations; that name, according to Grotius and most other writers, being derived from the German word goten, which signifies good. says Dio, the study of philosophy above all other barbarous or foreign nations, and often chose kings from among their philosophers. Polygamy was not only allowed but countenanced among them; every one being valued or respected according to the number of his wives. By so many wives they had an incredible number of children, of whom they kept but one at home, sending out the rest in quest of new settlements; and hence those swarms of people which over-ran so many countries. With them adultery was a capital crime, and irremissibly punished with death. Polygamy prevailed among them when they were known to the Romans only by the name of Getes (their most ancient name); as appears from the poet Menander, who was himself of that nation; and from Horace who greatly commends the chastity of their women. Their laws fell little short of those of the ancient Romans. Their government was monarchical; their religion was much the same with that of the ancient Germans or Celtes; and their dress is described by Appollinaris Sidonius in the following words: They are shod, says he, with high shoes made of hair, and reaching up to their ankles; their knees, thighs, and legs, are without any covering; their garments of various colors scarcely reaching to the knee; their sleeves only cover the top of their arms; they wear green cassocks with a red border; their belts hang on their shoulder; their ears are covered with twisted locks; they use hooked lances and missile weapons.

GOTTENBURG, or GOTHENBURG, is an important town of Sweden, standing on a marsh interspersed with ridges of rock rising from 100 to 300 feet in height. The town occupies the plain, and one of the ridges on the west side;

X

y which it is divided into upper and lower. The houses are built upon piles. Great harbour runs from east to west, and divides the town into two nearly equal parts; it consists of well-built houses of three stories high, and is crossed at right angles by two other principal streets. Several of the streets of Gottenburg are traversed by canals, bordered with trees. The Upper Town, has an imposing appearance, the houses rising one above another in the form of an amphitheatre; and the streets being wide and clean, but without any side pavement. The houses are generally built of stone or brick, and are large, having pillars in front, and flat concealed roofs. The circumference, exclusive of the suburbs of Haga, is about three miles. The public edifices of Gottenburg are the exchange, the extensive buildings belonging to the East India Company, an hospital, and a magnificent church built since 1812, with stones from Scotland. The ouly curiosities are a few private collections of paintings.

The harbour is the best situated for foreign trade of any in Sweden, and is formed by two long chains of rocks. It is about a quarter of a mile in breadth, commodious for vessels of moderate size; and has a fort on a small rocky island at the entrance. Gottenburg ranks next to Stockholm, as a trading town; the principal manufactures are coarse linen, and woollen stuffs, sail-cloth, ropes, some silk and cotton goods, soap, tobacco, and sugar refining. Its mercantile transactions extend to America and the Indies: but a very large connexion is kept up with Scotland. Iron and steel, furnished by the mines of Warmeland, are the principal articles of export; and after these, linen, timber, tar, train oil, alum, and herrings.

Gottenburg is the seat of the Swedish East India Company; and a Greenland whale fishery was set on foot in 1775. The number of vessels belonging to the port is upwards of 250; that of vessels of all nations that enter it annually, about 1000. This port flourished greatly during the exclusion of the English from the continental ports, when it was a depot of British as well as Baltic goods. It has a large provincial school, a mercantile academy, and an academy of sciences and literature, and the English language is pretty generally spoken. It is the see of a bishop, the seat of a chamber of manufactures, and of various courts of justice.

Charles IX., when duke of Gothland, in 1607 founded a town of this name on the island of Hisingen; it was, however, destroyed by the Danes in 1611, and was rebuilt by Gustavus Adolphus in its present position. Few places have suffered more from fire; two calamities of this kind took place in December 1802 and November 1804; by the former, 179 houses and the cathedral were burned down, and the latter consumed upwards of 200 houses, the barracks and several granaries. The fortifications have been lately demolished. The province comprises the adjacent country, (part of West Gothland) to the extent of 760 square miles. The town contains about 25,000 inhabitants. Forty miles south of Uddevalla.

GOTTINGEN, a province of the south of

Hanover, bounded by Brunswick, Hildesheim, the Prussian states, and Hesse-Cassel. It includes several distinct tracts of country, viz. the quarter of Gottingen, the principality of Grubenhagen, Elbingeroda, Hohenstein, the bailiwics of Plesse, and Gleichen, with a small portion of the Eichsfeld, lately ceded by Prussia. Its superficial extent is 1225 square miles, and its population (chiefly Lutherans) 176,000. The eastern side includes the Hartz and the adjoining mountains, and is cold. The Weser forms its boundary on one side, and it is also watered by the Leine and the Rhume. This province abounds in flax, tobacco, and fruit, and grows some little corn: it has extensive pasturages and forest lands, and contains all the mines of silver, copper, lead, and iron in the kingdom. The country is now divided into bailiwics and jurisdictions, like the rest of Hanover.

GOTTINGEN, the capital of the above province, stands in a valley on a canal branching from the Leine, at the foot of the Haimberg Mountain. The streets are wide and well paved, and lighted at night; and its situation is healthy. It was formerly fortified; but the walls are demolished, or laid out in walks, which command a pleasant prospect. Gottingen was, some centuries ago, included in the list of Hanse towns; but its chief title to notice arises from its university founded by George II. in 1734. It is on a nobly comprehensive plan, embracing divinity, philosophy, law, and medicine. The number of professors is unlimited, and generally exceeds forty.

A lively modern traveller gives the following picture of this university and some of its most distinguished literati :

"Gottingen, though not yet 100 years old, has already exhibited more celebrated men, and done more for the progress of knowledge in Germany, than any other similar institution in the country. Meyer, Mosheim, Michaelis, and Heyne, are names not easily eclipsed; and, in the present day, Blumenbach, Gauss, whom many esteem second only to La Place, Hugo, Hieren, and Sartorius, fully support the preeminence of the Georgia Augusta. Europe has placed Blumenbach at the head of her physiologists; but, with all his profound learning, he is in every thing the reverse of the dull, plodding, cumbersome, solidity, which we have learned to consider as inseparable from a German savanta most ignorant and unfounded prejudice. Göthe is the greatest poet, Wolff the greatest philologist, and Blumenbach the greatest natural historian of Germany; yet it would be difficult to find three more jocular and entertaining men. Blumenbach has not an atom of academical pedantry or learned obscurity about him; his conversation is a series of shrewd and mirthful remarks on any thing that comes uppermost, and such likewise I have heard it said, is sometimes his lecture. Were it not for the chaos of skulls, skeletons, mummies, and other materials of his art, with which he is surrounded, you would not easily discover, unless you brought him purposely on the subject, that he had studied natural history. He sits among all sorts of odd things, which an ordinary person would call lumber,