Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/826

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810 GILES GILLIES were 7,672 horses, 3,458 mules and asses, 6,536 milch cows, 9,886 other cattle, 18,658 sheep, and 47,700 swine; 2 manufactories of cotton goods, 7 of saddlery and harness, 1 of tin, cop- per, and sheet-ironware, 2 flour mills, 11 saw mills, 6 tanneries, and 5 currying establish- ments. Capital, Pulaski. GILES, Henry, an American clergyman and lecturer, horn in county Wexford, Ireland, Nov. 1, 1809. He was educated in the Roman Catholic church, but after various changes of opinion joined the Unitarians, and officiated as pastor in Greenock for two years, and in Liverpool for three years. In 1840 he came to America, where he has been extensively en- gaged in lecturing, with occasional services in different parishes as a preacher. He has pub- listed " Lectures and Essays " (2 vols., Boston, 1845), " Christian Thoughts on Life " (1850), and "Illustrations of Genius in some of its applications to Society and Culture" (1854). He has also written much for periodicals, has addressed literary societies and library asso- ciations, and given a course of lectures before the Lowell institute in Boston on the "Ge- nius and Writings of Shakespeare." He now (1874) resides in Quincy, Mass. GILES, William Branch,, an American states- man, born in Amelia co., Va., Aug. 12, 1762, died at "The Wigwam," in the same county, Dec. 4, 1830. He entered Princeton college, N. J., but left it before completing the usual course. He studied law with Chancellor Wythe, was admitted to the bar, and practised for five or six years. In 1790 he was elected by the fed- eral party in the Petersburg district to fill a vacancy in congress, and was several times reflected. His opposition to the bill creating a bank of the United States led to his estrange- ment from the federal party, and to his affilia- tion with the democrats. On Jan. 23, 1793, he made in the house an attack upon Alexan- der Hamilton, then secretary of the treasury, charging him with corruption and peculation. Hamilton vindicated himself triumphantly in a report, and Giles replied by proposing resolu- tions censuring the secretary for undue assump- tion of power, and for want of respect for the house. These resolutions were laid on the table by very large majorities. In 1796 Giles strongly opposed the creation of a navy and the ratification of Jay's treaty with Great Britain, and in 1798 the proposed war with France for her outrages on American com- merce. In the latter year he became a mem- ber of the legislature of Virginia, where he cooperated with Madison in procuring the pas- sage of the celebrated resolutions of '98. In 1801 he was again elected to congress. In 1804 he was chosen United States senator, and took at once the position of democratic leader in the senate, and held it till 1811, when he openly manifested his opposition to the administration of President Madison. He abandoned public life in 1815, and remained in retirement till 1826, when he was induced to become a member of the legislature of Vir- ginia, principally from his strong opposition to the project of calling a convention to revise the constitution of the state. In the same year he was elected governor, and held the office for three years. The bill for calling a conven- tion was revived and passed at the session of 1827-'8, and Mr. Giles while governor was chosen a member of it. The convention sat in 1829-'30, and he took a distinguished part in its deliberations. He published in 1813 " Political Letters to the People of Virginia," and subsequently various letters. G1LFILLAN, George, a Scottish author, born at Comrie, Perthshire, in 1813. The son of a minister of the Secession church, he was edu- cated for the same profession, and has officiated since 1836 as minister of the School wynd congregation in Dundee. His first literary sketches appeared about 1842 in the "Dum- fries Herald," and were collected in 1845 un- der the title of "A Gallery of Literary Por- traits;" a second series appeared in 1849, and a third series in 1855. He has also published "Bards of the Bible" (1850); "The Book of British Poesy, Ancient and Modern" (1851); " The Martyrs, Heroes, and Bards of the Scot- tish Covenant " (1852) ; " The Grand Dis- covery" (1854); "History of a Man " (1856); " Christianity and our Era " (1857) ; " Alpha and Omega," a collection of sermons (1860) ; and "Night," a poem (1867). He has con- tributed much to periodicals, and has edited a collection of "British Poets," in 48 vols., with biographical sketches and critical notes. GILLESPIE, a S. W. central county of Texas, watered by affluents of the Colorado; area, 925 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 3,566, of whom 77 were colored. It has a hilly surface, about one tenth of which is suitable for farming, while the remainder furnishes good pasturage. Iron ore, limestone, and coal are the most im- portant minerals. The chief productions in 1870 were 15,588 bushels, of wheat, 82,135 of Indian corn, and 916 tons of hay.- There were 880 horses, 20,024 cattle, 2,178 sheep, and 3,346 swine. Capital, Fredericksburg. GILLESPIE, William Mitchell, an American au- thor, born in New York in 1816, died there, Jan. 1, 1868. He graduated at Columbia col- lege in 1834, and spent nearly ten years in Europe in travel and study. On his return to New York in 1845, he was appointed professor of civil engineering in Union college, a post which he held until his death. His published works are : " Rome as seen by a New Yorker, 1843-'44" (1845); "Roads and Railroads; a Manual for Road-making" (1845; 10th ed., 1871) ; " Philosophy of Mathematics," from the French of Auguste Comte (1851) ; " The Prin- ciples and Practice of Land Surveying (1855); and " Treatise on Levelling, Topography, and Higher Surveying," edited by 0. Staley (1870). GILLIES, John, a Scottish historian, born in Brechin, Forfarshire, Jan. 18, 1747, died in Clapham, near London, Feb. 15, 1836. He