Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/119

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GRACE. 97 GRACIOSO. falls on Sunday or a great holiday or a bank holi- day, the paper falls due on the second day of grace. The number of days to which a particular bill or note is entitled depends on the law of the place where it is payable, not of that where it is drawn, made, or indorsed. Consult the authori- ties referred to under Negotiable Ixsthumext. GRACE, William Russel ( lS.32-1904). An American merchant and politician, born in tjuccn's County, Ireland. He ran away from home when fourteen years old, and worked his way on a sailing ship to New York City. In 1850 he went to Callao, Peru, where he became a clerk in the firm of Bryce & Co., shippers and commission merchants. Two years later he was admitted to partnership and finally became the leading member of the firm, the name of which was changed to Grace Bros. & Co. He returned to New York in 1805 and organized the firm of W. R. Grace & Co., to trade with South and Cen- tral America, and in 1891 established the New York and Pacific Steamship Company. He was elected Jlayor of New York on the Democratic ticket in 1880 and again in 1884. GRACE ABOUNDING TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. A work by -Jolin Bunyan. writ- ten in prison, and published in 1060. It is auto- biographical, and one of the three great works on which this author's reputation rests. GRACE-NOTES. Mere emliellishments, not essential to either the melody or harmony of a composition. Thej' are called for by special signs, or are written in notes of smaller type. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the introduction of grace-notes was left chiefly to the intelligence and taste of the perfonners. But this led to the abuse of overloading a com- position by means of useless and often tasteless ornaments, so that .1. S. Bach did not leave them to the performers, but took great pains in writ- ing out in det.ail whatever embellishments he wished. Since Beethoven all grace-notes are written by the composer. Although tlie original function of these embellishments was merely to render a composition more 'elegant,' and can be left out without detriment to the music, Chopin completely revolutionized the employment of grace-notes by using them in a novel and entirely original manner, so that in his works they be- come a means of deep emotional and artistic expression. In Chopin's compositions the grace- notes form an essential part, and cannot be al- tered or omitted without seriously affecting the character of his music. In the works of older composers an endless number of signs indicating various manners of ornament are found. Only the following signs are xmiversally employed to- day: GRACES (Lat. Gratia;, Gk. Xupirff, C7tari(es). In Greek mytliolugj-, originally goddesses of heavenly light, who bring fertility to the fields, and joy to men. Like all such divinities, they are at first anonymous and of varying num- ber, and this is reflected in tlio local variations in their cult and names througliout Greece. At Orchomenus, in Bo-otia, they had a very vener- able shrine, where they were worshiped under llie form of three stones, said to have fallen from heaven. In Hesiod we find them called Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, and these names attached themselves to the Orchomenian cult, and later spread through Greece. At Sparta they were two in number, Kleta and Phaenna, and the same number seems original at Athens, where the names were Auxo and Hegemone ; later Thallo, originally one of the Hora; (q.v. ), was joined with tliem, and this triad apjicars in the oath taken by the Athenian ephebi. Their early connection with the bloom of nature was soon obscured by the conception of goddesses of the joy of life and beauty, present at the dances and feasts of the gods, and closely joined with Hera, as marriage goddess, and above all with Aphro- dite. The legend represented them as daughters of Zeus and Eun-nome. In art the triad pre- vails, and until the end of the fourth century they always api>ear fully draped. In the third century the growing connection with Aphrodite leads to a change; they now appear slightly draped, or wholly nude, and usually embracing one another, or clasping hands. Bibliography. Usener, Gofternamen (Bonn, 1890) : Furtwangler in Roscher, Lexikon der gricchischen iind roinischen Mythologie (Leipzig, 1884-80) ; Preller-Robert, Griechische ihjtho- logie (Berlin, 1894) : Escher, in Pauly-Wissowa. Healenciiklopiirlie (Stuttgart. 1889), verj' full references. For the view that there were three charites at Athens, consult Robert, "De Gratiis Atticis," in Coniincntalioiics in Eonorcm ilomm- seni ( Berlin, 1877) . GRACIAN, gra'the-an', Baltas.4.b (c.1584- 1658). A Spanish author, born at Calatayud, Aragon. He was a .Jesuit preacher, and he be- came rector of the College of Tarragona. His works were often published under the name, of his brother Lorenzo. La agtideza, y arte de iiigenio (1049) was a book which had a great vogue in its day, and influenced an entire school of fol- lowers called Gracianists. Gracian belonged to the cult of Euphuists t his style was obscure and aflfected. but he was a keen observer and at times a powerful writer. Schopenhauer, who translated Gracian's Oracvlo Manual ("Maxims of Con- duct") into German, calls his El Criticon (1650-04) "one of the best books in the world." The first of these signs is the trill, the second the mordent, the others the ttirn. The sixth is an example of the appoggiatura, which is still found in the works of Haydn and Mozart. This grace-note borrows half the value of the note before which it stands. It is not written in mod- em music. Originally it was employed by con- scientious composers in order to avoid the old rule forbiddins the unprepared entrance of dis- sonances ( anticipation ) . His other works are: El hfroe (1637) ; El dis- crete (1646) ; and El politico Don Fernando cl Ciiti'iUco '(1641). Consult Borinski, lialtaxnr Gracian vnd die Uoflitteratur in Deutachland (Halle, 1894). GRACIOSO, gra'the-r/sft. A stock comedy character in sixteenth and seventeenth century Spanish drama, similar to the euphuistic and 'fantastical' knight of the Elizabethan stage. The type originated with Lope de Vega.