GAETH
imprisonment) he founded The Liberator
at Boston. In the following year he
established the New England Anti-Slavery
Society. Tn the terrific struggle which he
sustained the clergy everywhere, even the
Unitarian (in very large part), were his
bitterest opponents, and the Bible was
freely used against him. The clergy
refused at times even to baptize children
in his name. Like his best workers,
Garrison was a nationalist, and he helped
others to Rationalism. In the biography
written by his children (W. L. Garrison,
4 vols., 1885-89) it is shown that he was
a Theist, but had " quite freed himself
from the trammels of orthodoxy" (iv, 336).
He never went to church, and he rejected
all Christian doctrines. He eulogized
Paine and freely criticized the Churches
in his Liberator (iii, 145-47, 267, etc.). D.
May 24, 1879.
GARTH, Sir Samuel, M.A., M.D., physician. B. 1661. Ed. Ingleton, Cam bridge (Peterhouse), and Leyden. Settling in practice in London, he entered the College of Physicians in 1693, and was Gulstonian Lecturer in 1694 and Harveian Orator in 1697. He was one of the most eminent physicians of the time, a caustic and learned critic, and a notorious Ration alist (Chalmers s Biog. Diet.). Pope ob served that he was " a good Christian without knowing it." Reimmann (Historia Universalis Atheismi, p. 463) says that he had no religious beliefs. D. Jan. 18, 1719.
GAUTIER, Theophile, French novelist. B. Aug. 31, 1811. Ed. College Charle magne, Paris. He abandoned painting, which he had studied, for letters, and was at first enthusiastic for V. Hugo and Romanticism. His Premieres Poesies appeared in 1830, and it was followed five years later, after a few stories and volumes of verse, by Mademoiselle de Maupin, which closed the Academy against him. His art is at its best in his Emaux et Camees (1852), while his Capitaine Fracasse (2 vols., 1863) is considered " a classic of Romanticism." 281
His later work, however, departs from that
school, but all his writings from first to
last are disdainful of religion. D. Oct. 23,
1872.
GAY-LUSSAC, Joseph Louis, French chemist. B. Dec. 6, 1778. Ed. Ecole Polytechnique, Paris. Berthollet chose him as his assistant in 1797, and he calmly pursued his science throughout the political changes. In 1809 he was appointed pro fessor of chemistry at the Polytechnic, in 1829 Chief Assayer to the Mint, and in 1832 professor of chemistry at the Jardin des Plantes. He entered the Chambre in 1831, sitting on the Left, and was created Peer in 1839. Gay-Lussac was one of the greatest chemists of the time, and he shared the views of his close friends Arago and A. von Humboldt in regard to religion. D. May 9, 1850.
GEIJER, Erik Gustaf, Swedish his torian. B. Jan. 12, 1783. Ed. Upsala University. He won the Grand Prize of the Swedish Academy in 1803, and became teacher of history at Upsala University in 1810, and professor in 1817. In 1822 he was appointed official historiographer of Sweden, and in 1824 he was admitted to the Academy. As Member of Parliament for the University (1828-30 and 1840-41), no less than as teacher and writer, he fearlessly advocated Rationalism and pro gress. He had been prosecuted in 1820 for his introduction to the works of Thorild [SEE] , but the jury had acquitted him, and persecution had been discouraged. His Rationalism is best seen in his Valda, smarre skriften (2 vols., 1841-42), and in his German work, Auch ein Wort iiber die religiose Frage dor Zeit (1847). He was a Theist, but not even Unitarian (latter work, p. 55). D. Apr. 23, 1847.
GENDRE, Barbe, Russian writer. B. Dec. 15, 1842. Ed. Kieff University. She migrated to Paris, where she contributed to scientific and advanced periodicals, having developed Rationalist views before 282
