Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/120

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112 GORDON GORDON, a N. W. county of Georgia, wa- tered by the Oostenaula river and several other streams ; area, 830 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 9,268, ,,f whom 1,536 were colored. It has a hilly surface, underlying which are heds of blue limestone. The soil is fertile. The Western and Atlantic railroad traverses it. The chief productions in 1870 were 96,181 bushels of wheat, 233,785 of Indian corn, 15,827 of oats, 11,214 of sweet potatoes, 80,316 Ibs. of butter, and 354 bales of cotton. There were 936 horses, 3,416 cattle, 4,056 sheep, and 7,958 swine. Capital, Calhoun. GORDON, George, commonly called Lord George Gordon, an English political agitator, born in London in December, 1750, died in Newgate prison, Nov. 1, 1793. He was the third son of Cosmo George, third duke of Gordon, and at a very early age entered the navy, from which he retired in 1772. He was remarkable for his personal attractions, his winning address, and happy facility of adapt- ing himself to the tastes of all classes. In 1774 he entered parliament for the borough of Ludgershall. For a year or two he voted with the ministry, but in 1776 vehemently op- posed them in a speech in which he alleged that an attempt had been made to bribe him. The ministry subsequently endeavored to per- suade him to resign his seat in parliament and accept the place of vice admiral of Scotland ; an offer which he resolutely declined. From this time ho ceased to act with either whigs or tories, but spoke with so much effect upon the proceedings of either side, that it became a common remark that " there were three par- ties in parliament, the ministry, the opposition, and Lord George Gordon." In 1779 the prop- osition to procure from parliament an act for the relief of Scottish Roman Catholics, similar to Sir George Saville's act passed the previous year with reference to England and Ireland, caused an extraordinary excitement; and in November a society was organized in London under the name of the " Protestant Associa- tion," of which Gordon was elected president. Early in 1780 he presented a petition pray- ing for a repeal of Sir George Saville's act; but finding the government indifferent to the application, he convened a meeting of the as- sociation on the evening of May 29, and en- joined them to meet on the succeeding Friday (June 2) in St. George's fields and carry up their petition to parliament for the repeal of the act. On the day appointed a concourse of people, MtiniAtod at nearly 60,000, assembled in 8k George's fields, and accompanied him to the houses of parliament, which they completely arroanded. The house having several times refused to take the petition into immediate con- sideration, Gordon addressed the mob from the top of the gallery stairs, naming the mem- bers who had spoken against the measure, and protesting that "there would be no help for the Scottish people till all the popish chapels -ed." At a late hour in the even- GORE ing they proceeded to the chapels of the Sar- dinian and Bavarian legations, which they sacked. On Sunday, the 4th, they renewed their violence, and from the evening of that day until the morning of Thursday, the 8th, the city was almost entirely at their mercy. The prisons were broken open, the public buildings attacked, the houses of Lord Mans- field and of many Roman Catholics pillaged and burned, and at one time on the 7th 36 fires were raging within the limits of London. On the evening of that day troops began to pour into the city from all sides, and on the next afternoon the famous "Gordon" or "no po- pery" riots were finally quelled, after more than 450 people had been killed and wounded by the military, exclusive of a number killed by accident. On the 9th Gordon was arrested on a charge of treason, and committed to the tower. His trial came on in February, 1781, and the prisoner, owing to his eloquent and skilful defence by Erskine and Kenyon, was acquitted on the ground that his intentions in assembling the people were not malicious or traitorous. In 1788 he was sentenced to sev- eral years' imprisonment, and to pay heavy fines, for having libelled the administration of criminal justice in England, and the queen of France. About this time he had become a proselyte to Judaism. He continued to send forth from his prison handbills and letters of an eccentric character, and petitioned the na- tional assembly of France to procure his re- lease, but without effect. He died of a deliri- ous fever, having been in all probability insane during the last ten or twelve years of his life. GORDON, Sir John Watson, a Scottish painter, born in Edinburgh about 1790, died in 1864. He received his professional education in Edin- burgh, and devoted himself exclusively to por- trait painting. Among his portraits are those of Scott, De Quincey, and Wilson. In 1850 he became president of the royal Scottish academy, and was made painter limner to the queen; and in 1851, having been knighted, he was made a member of the London academy. GORDON, William, an English clergyman, born at Ilitchin about 1730, died in Ipswich in October, 1807. He removed to America in 1770, was ordained minister of the third church in Roxbury in 1772, and became chap- lain to the provincial congress of Massachu- setts. Returning to England in 1786, he pub- lished his " History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the Uni- ted States of America " (4 vols., London, 1788). GORE, Catharine Grace, an English novelist, born in Nottingham in 1799, died Jan. 29, 1861. Her maiden name was Francis. In 1822 she married Capt. Charles Gore, and in the follow- ing year published her first novel, "Theresa Marchmont." This was followed by sever.il other novels and tales, up to 1831. She passed the five succeeding years on the continent, writing little ; but in 1836 she fairly began her career as an author. She brought out nearly