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They publish their ill-natured discoveries with a secret pride, and applaud themselves for the singularity of their judgment, which has found a flaw in what the generality of mankind admires.

Id.

Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance. Pope. Generally speaking, they have been gaining ever Swift. since, though with frequent interruptions. To conclude from particulars to generals is a false of arguing.

way

Broome.

Where the author speaks more strictly and particularly on any theme, it will explain the more loose and general expressions.

Watts.

The knights oppressed with wounds and travel past,
Did soon retire, and now were near to fainting:
With that a winged post him speeded fast
The general with these heavy news acquainting:
He soon refreshed their hearts that 'gan to tire.
But, let our weary muse awhile respire:

Shade we our scorched heads from Phoebus' parching
Fletcher's Purple Island.

fire.

I mean only to say that ludicrous writing in general is extremely subject to the injuries of time: and that herefore the wit and humour of the ancient Greeks

and Romans might have been far more exquisite than we at present have any positive reason to believe.

Beattie.

Why general, if he hath no greater fault
In war than love, he had better lead the assault.

The second object was to profit by

Byron.

The moment of the general consternation, To attack the Turk's flotilla which lay nigh Extremely tranquil anchored at its station. Id. GENERAL, in military affairs, is an officer in chief, to whom the prince or senate of a country have judged proper to intrust the command of their troops.. He holds this important trust under various titles: as captain-general in England and Spain; feldt-mareschal in Germany; or mareschal in France. In the British service the king is in his own proper right captain-general. He has ten aides-de-camp; every one of whom enjoys the brevet rank of full colonel in the army. Next to his majesty is the commander in chief. But the more general use of the word is with regard to the commander of an army in actual service in the field. The office of a general is to regulate the march and encampment of

the army; in the day of battle to choose out the most advantageous ground; to make the disposition of the army; to post the artillery, and, where there is occasion, to send his orders by his aides-de-camp. At a siege he is to cause the place to be invested, to regulate the approaches and attacks, to visit the works, and to send out detachments to secure the convoy and foraging parties. In the day of battle, the station of a general is with the reserve, where he remains so situated, that he can see every thing which is going forward; and by means of his own observations, or the communications of his aides-decamp, he is enabled to send reinforcements, as the exigencies of the conflict may require. For LIEUTENANT-GENERAL, MAJOR-GENERAL, BRIGADIER-GENERAL, &c., see their respective articles. GENERAL, ADJUTANT, in the art of war, one who attends the general, assists in councils, and carries the general's orders to the army. He distributes the daily orders to the majors of brigade. He is likewise charged with the general detail of the duty of the army. The majors of brigade send every morning to the adjutantgeneral an exact return, by battalion and company, of the men of his brigade. In a day of battle he sees the infantry drawn up; after which he places himself by the general, to receive any orders which may regard the corps of which he has the detail. In a siege he orders the number of workmen demanded, and signs the warrant for their payment. He receives the guards of the trenches at their rendezvous, and examines their condition; he gives and signs all orders for parties. He has an orderly serjeant from each brigade of infantry in the line, to carry such orders as he may have occasion to send from the general.

GENERAL is also used for the chief of an order of monks; or of all the houses and congregations established under the same rule; as, the general of the Franciscans, Cistertians, &c.

GENERAL is also used for a particular march, or beat of drum; being the first which gives notice, commonly in the morning early, for the infantry to be in readiness to march.

GENERAL TERMS, among logicians, those which are made the signs of general ideas. See LOGIC and METAPHYSICS.

GENERALISSIMO is called also captain-general, and simply general. He commands all the mili tary powers of a nation; gives orders to all the other general officers, and receives no orders himself but from the king. M. Balzac observes, that cardinal Richelieu first coined this word, of his own absolute authority, upon his going to command the French army in Italy.

GEN'ERANT, n. s.
GENERATE, v. a.
GENERATION, N. s.
GENERATIVE, adj.

Lat. genero. To cause; produce; beget or give life: the act of production progeny; family; GENERATOR, N. S. an age or period: the faculty of propagation or fruitfulness. In all these and similar meanings the radix is increase. The power or being by whose agency this is effected.

Great father he of generation

Is rightly cald, the author of life and light:
And his faire sister for creation

Ministreth matter fit, which tempred right With heate and humour, breedes the living wight. Spenser. Faerie Qucene. Every where throughout all generations and ages of the Christian world, no church ever perceived the word of God to be against it. Hooker.

Y' are a dog.
Thy mother's of my generation: what's she, if
I be a dog?
Shakspeare. Timon.

The barb'rous Scythian,

Or he that makes his generation messes, To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom Be as well neighboured. Id. King Lear. A marvellous number were excited to the conquest of Palestine, which with singular virtue they performed, and held that kingdom some few generations. Raleigh's History. He gave to all, that have life, a power generative, thereby to continue their species and kinds. Id. Sounds are generated where there is no air at all.

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Some dull MS. oblivion long has sank, One gravenstone found in a barrack's station In digging the foundation of a closet May turn his name up as a rare deposit.

Id. Don Juan.

TO GENERATE, in music, is used to signify the which every sound has in producing one or operation of that mechanical power-in nature, more different sounds. Thus any given sound, however simple, produces, along with itself, its octave, and two other sounds extremely sharp, viz. its twelfth above, that is to say, the octave of its fifth; and the other the seventh above, or, in other words, the double octave of its third major. Whether we suppose this procreation of sounds to result from an aptitude in the texture and magnitude of certain particles in the air, for conveying to our ears vibrations that bear those proportions one to another, as being determined at musical string; or from whatever economy of once by the partial and total oscillations of any nature we choose to trace it; the power of one sound thus to produce another, when in action, is said to generate. The same word is applied, by signior Tartini, and his followers, to any two sounds which, simultaneously heard, produce a third.

GENERATED, or GENITED, part. adj. is used, by some mathematical writers, for whatever is produced, either in arithmetic, by the multiplication, division, or extraction of roots; or, in geometry, by the invention of the contents, areas, and sides; or of extreme and mean proportionals, without arithmetical addition and subtraction.

GENERATING LINE, or FIGURE, in geometry, is that which, by its motion of revolution, produces any other figure, plane or solid. See GENESIS.

GENERATION is also used, though somewhat improperly, for genealogy, or the series of children issued from the same stock. Thus the gospel of St. Matthew commences with the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, &c. The latter and more accurate translators, instead of generation use the word genealogy.

GENERATION, in mathematics, is used for the formation or production of any geometrical figure; as of equations, curves, solids, &c. GENERATION, in physiology. See ANATOMY. GENERATION OF FISHES. See ICHTHYOLOGY,

and ZOOTOMY. GENERATION OF INSECTS. See ENTOMOLOGY and ZOOTOмY.

GENERATION OF PLANTS. Sée BOTANY.

GENERATOR, in music, signifies the principal sound or sounds by which others are produced. Thus the lowest C for the treble of the harpsichord, besides its octave, will strike an attentive ear with its twelfth above, or G in alt, and with its seventeenth above, or E in alt. The C, therefore, is called their generator, the G and E its products or harmonics. But in the approximation of chords, for G, its octave below is substituted, which constitutes a fifth from the generator, or lowest C; and for E, is likewise substituted its fifteenth below, which, with the above mentioned C, forms a third major. To the lowest notes, therefore, exchanged for these in alt by

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GENERICAL NAME, in natural history, the word used to signify all the species of natural bodies, which agree in certain essential and peculiar characters, and therefore comprehending all of the same genus, family or kind; so that the word used as the generical name equally expresses every one of the genus, and other words expressive of the peculiar qualities or figures of each species are added, in order to denote them distinctly, and make up what is called the specific name. See BOTANY and ZOOLOGY.

GEN'EROUS, adj. Fr. generosité; Lat. GENEROSITY, n. s. generositas. The disGEN'EROUSLY, adv. position or act of liGEN'EROUSNESS, n. s. berality and magnanimity; courage and strength in animals; nobility of birth, mind, or heart; and the exercise of these several qualities.

Lo here Semiramis, the Quene of grete Babilon, The moste generous gem and the floure of lovily favor; Whose excellent power from Mede unto Septentrion, Florished in her regally, as a mightie conqueror.

Chaucer. The Nine Ladies Worthie.

A cup of generous wine to those whose minds are still or motionless, is, in my opinion, excellent physic.

Burton.

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His opening hounds, and now he hears their cries: A generous pack. Addison. Is it possible to conceive that the overflowing generousness of the divine nature would create immorta

beings with mean or envious principles ?

Swift.

Collier on Kindness. The generous critick fanned the poet's fire, And taught the world with reason to admire. Pope. She speaks, behaves, and acts, just as she ought, But never, never reached one generous thought. Id. That generous boldness to defend An innocent or absent friend, Those who in southern climes complain, From Phœbus' rays they suffer pain, Must own that pain is well repaid, By generous wines beneath a shade. GENEROSITY, the name of an knighthood, established in 1685, by Frederick III., when elector of Brandenburg. The badge was a gold cross of eight points enamelled azure, bearing in the centre La Genérosité, and pendent to a blue riband.

Id. order of

GENESEE, a level county of the state of New York, North America, erected in 1802 from Ontario county, and situated between 42° 30′ and 43° 22′ Ñ. lat. It is bounded by that county on the east, Lake Ontario on the north, Allegany county, and a small angle of Cataraugus county, on the south, and on the west by Niagara county. Its area is reckoned at 1743 square miles. It is generally fertile and has but little of waste. The alluvial flats on the shores of the river are distinguished for their superior richness. The chief town is Batavia.

GENESEE, a river of the United States, which rises in Pennsylvania, and runs through the western part of the state of New York into Lake Ontario, between Gates and Boyle. At its entrance is a harbour of this name. Within five miles of its mouth are falls of seventy-five and ninety-six feet in height, from which the river is navigable for boats seventy miles, when other falls occur from sixty to ninety feet in height, one mile apart, south of Leicester. GENESIS, n. s. Gr. Yevoç. The first book of Moses, so called because it treats of the origin of all things.

GENESIS, the first book of the Old Testament, contains the history of the creation, and the lives of the first patriarchs. This book stands at the head of the Pentateuch. Its author is held to be Moses: it contains the relation of 2369 years, viz. from the beginning of the world to the death of Joseph. The Hebrews called it Bereschith,, in the beginning, because beginning with that word. The Greeks gave it the name reveris, q. d. production or generation, because it begins with the history of the production, or generation, of all beings. This book, besides the history of the creation, contains an account of the original innocence and fall of man; the propagation of mankind; the general defection and corruption of the world; the deluge; the restoration of the world; the division and peopling of the earth; and the history of the first patriarchs to the death of Joseph. The human means by which Moses might obtain information on the subject of the fall, &c., are worthy of more notice than a superficial reader would observe, for the account of so

many years had to travel through but few hands; for from Adam to Noah there was one man, viz. Methuselah, who lived so long as to see them both in like manner Shem conversed with Noah and Abraham; Isaac with Abraham and Joseph, from whom the facts recorded in this book might easily be conveyed to Moses by Amram, who was contemporary with Joseph.

GENESIS, in geometry, denotes the formation of a line, plain, or solid, by the motion or flux of a point, line or surface. See FLUXIONS. The genesis or formation, e. g. of a globe or sphere, is conceived by supposing a semicircle to revolve upon a right line, drawn from one extreme thereof to the other, called its axis, or axis of circumvolution: the motion or revolution of that semicircle is the genesis of the sphere, &c. In the genesis of figures, &c., the line or surface that moves is called the describent; and the line round which, or according to which, the revolution or motion is made, the dirigent.

GENET, n. s. Fr. The word originally signified a horseman, and perhaps a gentleman or knight. A small-sized, well-proportioned, Spanish horse.

You'll have your nephews neigh to you; you'll have coursers for cousins, and genets for germanes. Shakspeare. Othello. He shews his statue too, where placed on high, The genet underneath him seems to fly. Dryden. It is no more likely that frogs should be engendered in the clouds, than Spanish genets be begotten by the wind. Ray.

GENETHLI'ACAL, adj.) Gr. yeuλŋ. WhatGENETH LIACS, n.s. ever refers to calGENETHLIAT'Ic, n. s. culating nativities from the stars which were predominant at birth. The night immediately before he was slighting the art of those foolish astrologers, and genethliacal ephemerists, that used to pry into the horoscope of nati

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GENETHLIACI, in astrology, from yɛvɛ0λŋ, origin, generation, or nativity, persons who erect horoscopes, and pretend to foretell what shall befall a man by means of the stars which presided at his nativity. The ancients called them chaldæi, and mathematici. Hence the several civil and canon laws, made against mathematicians, only respect the genethliaci, or astrologers. They were ordered to be expelled Rome by a formal decree of the senate; and yet found so much protection from the credulity of the people, that they remained therein unmolested. Hence an ancient author speaks of them as hominum genus, quod in civitate nostra semper et vetabitur et retinebitur.

GENESIUS (Josephus), one of the Byzantine historians of the tenth century. He flourished about the year 940, and wrote, by order of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, a history of Constantinople, in four books: it extends from Leo the Armenian, to Basilius the Macedonian. It was imperfectly printed in 1733 at Venice, by Pasquali, in his edition of the Byzantine historians. GENEVA, n. s. A corruption of French genevre; It. ginepro; Lat. juniperus, a juniperberry; a spirit distilled from the juniper-berry.

The best geneva we now have, is made from an ordinary spirit, distilled a second time with an addition of some juniper-berries; but the original liquor of this kind was prepared in a very different manner. Dr. A. Rees.

GENEVA, a city, and the capital of a canton of Switzerland, is situated on the western shore of the lake of that name, on the confines of France and Savoy. The Rhone has here its efflux from the lake and divides Geneva into three parts, the city, the town or quarter of St. Gervais, and the island.

Its situation and surrounding scenery (among which Mont Blanc rises pre-eminent), with its political history, and literary fame, render Geneva one of the most interesting cities in Europe. The lofty houses towering above the walls, and enclosed by the verdure of the glacis, give to the distant prospect the appearance of an assemblage of country seats, encompassed with gardens and lawns. On entering the city, however, the streets are found not regular, and the principal one is encumbered with a row of shops on each side, between the road and a sheltered footpath. But the upper town contains many elegant houses. The public buildings of note are the college, the cathedral, the hotel de ville, the public library, the theatre, the hospital, and the arsenal. The library was founded at the Reformation, and contains about 50,000 volumes. The hospital, which is very extensive, was formerly a monastery. The town-house is chiefly remarkable for the manner of ascending to its upper floors, which is by an inclined plane, instead of a staircase. The city is supplied with water from the Rhone, by a machine which raises it to the height of 100 feet.

The Genevese, partaking early of the benefits of the Reformation, exhibit, very similarly to our Scottish neighbours, the advantages of universal education and industry. The morals of the lowest orders are in general exemplary, and the traveller is not here shocked by those objects of distress which infest almost every other continental city. Wages are on the whole high; and when a family is really unable to support itself by its own labor, it receives relief from various well directed funds. On the other hand, the excess of luxury is discouraged by sumptuary laws, and it is only since 1764 that the city has contained a theatre. Watch-making is the staple manufacture, and it is said to employ 7000 persons; manufactures of silk, woollen, muslin, chintz, and porcelain are also carried on; as well as the making of mathematical, surgical, and other instruments, jewellery, toys, &c. The richer citizens are merchants of extensive agency, and conduct money operations in all the public funds of Europe.

Literary societies abound among the citizens, and a. decided taste for reading is prevalent in both sexes. Several private individuals possess good collections of natural history. The principal are those of De Luc, Boissier, and Saussure, the son of the traveller of that name: they are shown to strangers with great readiness. Be sides the public library, there is a botanical garden, a museum of paintings, a public school, and a university. The school is conducted by eleven masters, and the university by twenty-two

professors; the number of students at the latter amounting generally to 1000.

The Physical and Natural History Society of Geneva was founded in 1790, by a number of those distinguished individuals who devoted themselves to the pursuits of science. The principal papers read at their meetings found a place in the Philosophical Transactions, in the Memoirs of the Institute, or in those of the Academies of Berlin and Turin; while those which were of a iess elaborate nature were transmitted to the popular scientific journals of the day. In consequence, however, of the deliverance of Geneva from a foreign yoke, all the public institutions received a vigorous impulse; and the Physical Society, strengthened with an accession of members, as well as of zeal, has of late found itself in a situation to print its own Memoirs.

Calvin and Casaubon distinguished Geneva by their residence; it also ranks among its illustrious men Rousseau, Tronchin, Bonnet, Saussure, Mallet de Pan, Necker, Berenger, Picot, Pictet, Boissier, and Sismondi. In the delightful environs of this city are Ferney, once the residence of Voltaire; and Copet, the retreat of M. Necker, and of his accomplished daughter the baroness de Staël.

In the time of Charlemagne the city and territory of Geneva made part of his empire; and, under his successors, they became subject to the German emperors. By reason of the imbecility of these princes, however, the bishops of Geneva acquired such authority over the inhabitants, that the emperor had no other means of counterbalancing it than by augmenting the privileges of the people. In those barbarous ages also the bishops and counts had constant disputes, of which the people took the advantage; and by combining sometimes with one, and sometimes with the other, they obtained an extension of their privileges from both. The house of Savoy at length purchased the territory, and succeeded the counts with additional power. The bishops and people, therefore, united to resist their encroachments: and, during this period, the government was strangely complicated, by the various pretensions of the three parties. The counts of Savoy, however, had at last the address to dissolve the union between the bishops and citizens, by procuring the episcopal see for their brothers, and illegitimate children; by which means their power became gradually so extensive, that towards the commencement of the sixteenth century, Charles III. of Savoy, though the government was accounted republican, obtained an almost absolute authority over the people, and exercised it in a most unjust and arbitrary man

ner.

Thus violent commotions took place; and the citizens became divided into two parties, one of which, viz. the patriots, were styled Eidgenossen, or confederates; the partisans of Savoy being disgraced by the appellation of Mammelucs, or slaves. The true period of Genevan liberty may therefore be considered as commencing with the treaty concluded with Berne and Fribourg in 1526; in consequence of which the duke was soon deprived of his authority, the bishop driven from the city, and the reformed religion and a republican form of government

introduced. A long war commenced with Savoy on this account; but the Genevans proved superior to their enemies, partly by their own bravery and partly by the assistance of the inhabitants of Berne.

In 1584 the republic concluded a treaty with Zurich and Berne, by which it became allied to the Swiss cantons. The house of Savoy made their last attempt against Geneva in 1602, when the city was treacherously attacked in the night time during a profound peace; 200 soldiers had scaled the walls, and got into the town before any alarm was given; but they were repulsed by the desperate valor of a few citizens, who perished in the encounter. A petard had been fastened to one of the gates by the Savoyards; but the gunner was killed before it could be discharged. The war occasioned by this treachery was next year concluded by a solemn treaty, which has ever since been observed on both sides; though the independence of Geneva was never formally acknowledged by the king of Sardinia till 1754. The restoration of tranquillity from without, in consequence of the above treaty, was, however, soon followed by the flames of internal discord, so common in popular governments; so that, during the whole of the seventeenth century, the history of Geneva affords little more than an account of the struggles betwixt the aristocratical and popular parties. About the beginning of the eighteenth century the power of the grand council was become almost absolute; but, to restrain its authority, an edict was procured in 1707 by the popular party, enacting that every five years a general council of the citizens and burghers should be summoned to deliberate upon the affairs of the republic. In consequence of this law, a general assembly was convened in 1712; and the very first act of that assembly was to abolish the edict by which they had been convened. A proceeding so extraordinary can scarcely be accounted for on the principles of popular fickleness and inconstancy. Rousseau, in his Miscellaneous Works, ascribes it to the artifices of the magistrates, and the equivocal terms marked on the billets then in use. For the question being put, Whether the opinion of the council for abolishing the periodical assemblies should pass into a law?' the words approbation or rejection, put upon the billets by which the votes were given, might be interpreted either way. Thus, if the billet was chosen on which the word approbation was written, the opinion of the councils which rejected the assemblies was approved; and by the word rejection, the periodical assembly was rejected of course. Hence several of the citizens complained that they had been deceived, and that they never meant to reject the general assembly; but only the opinion of the councils.

In consequence of the abolition of the general assemblies, the power of the aristocratical party was greatly augmented, till at length the inhabitants, exerting themselves with uncommon spirit and perseverance, found means to limit the power of the magistrates, and enlarge their own rights. In 1776, as Mr. Coxe informs us, the government might be considered as a mean betwixt that of the aristocratical and popular cantons of Switzerland. The members of the senate, or little

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