us "one of the immortal poems of the language." There are numerous editions of his works. The best are those by Mathias, 1814, by Mitford, with a copious life, 1816 (2nd edit.), and that by Pickering, 5 vols. 8vo, 1836.—J. F. W.
GRAZIANI, Antonmaria, Bishop of Amelia, born at Borgo San Sepolcro, Tuscany, of an illustrious family, 23rd October, 1537; died in his diocese, 16th March, 1611. He was one of the most accomplished Latin writers of the sixteenth century. Going to Rome, he placed himself under the patronage of Gianfrancesco Commendone, afterwards cardinal, with whom he lived on terms of the most cordial intimacy till the cardinal's death in 1584. Graziani then became secretary to Pope Sixtus V., and after the death of the latter, to Cardinal Alessandro Montalto. In this position he was mainly instrumental in promoting the election of Pope Clement VIII., who made him bishop, and nuncio in Venice and elsewhere. He quitted this office in 1598, and retired to his diocese, where he remained, eminent for christian virtues, till his death. His chief works are "De Bello Cyprio;" the life of his friend Commendone; "De Casibus Virorum Illustrium;" "De Scriptis, invitâ Minervâ, lib. xx."—a work containing, amid much interesting historical matter, an account of his own and his brother's lives and travels.—W. M. R.
GRAZIANI, Girolamo, Count, born at La Pergola, duchy of Urbino, in 1604; died there of apoplexy in 1675. He held, among other offices at the court of Modena, that of secretary of state. He wrote a poem named "Il Conquisto di Granata," which ranks foremost among the Italian epics of the decadent seventeenth century. Another of his works is a tragedy named "Il Cromvele" (Cromwell). Graziani bore the character of a discreet courtier, sincerer than most.—W. M. R.
GRAZZINI, Antonfrancesco, surnamed il Lasca (the Roach), born of an ancient family in Florence on 22nd March, 1503; died in February, 1583; an author of less moral propriety in his writings than in his life, and especially known for his canti carnascialeschi, or carnival songs. This species of poetry owes its origin to Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent); it is of a playful and bizarre character, and was used as an accompaniment to sumptuous masques. Grazzini published in 1559 a complete collection of these "Triumphs, Masques, and Carnival Songs, from the time of Lorenzo." He wrote several other works, both in verse and prose, including six comedies, and a collection of "Novelle" or tales, also published in 1559. Some of these are of a tragic cast; and, on the whole, Grazzini bears the reputation of an excellent narrator, inferior to Boccaccio in natural humour and charm, but scarcely so in the purity and elegance of his style. He was one of the founders of the Accademia degli Umidi, and afterwards the originator of the more famous Accademia della Crusca, as a member of which he adopted the surname of Il Lasca.—W. M. R.
GREATRAKES, Valentine, born in the county Waterford, on Valentine's day, 1628. Educated at the free school of Lismore, and subsequently perfected by his uncle in humanity and divinity, Greatrakes at length felt an impulse which, as he assures us, "frequently suggested to me that there was bestowed on me the gift of curing the king's evil, which, for the extraordinariness thereof, I thought fit to conceal for some time." He at last communicated this singular impression to his wife, who at first laughed at it, and then jokingly told him that he had an opportunity of testing his power on a man in the neighbourhood who was grievously afflicted with the evil. Greatrakes laid his hands on the parts affected, and prayed to God, for Christ's sake, to heal him. Within a short time he was whole. Greatrakes' reputation spread so rapidly that crowds flocked from all quarters of the country to his residence; and we are told that his barns and out-offices were crammed with innumerable specimens of suffering humanity. Numbers of poor people were cured; and he was invited to England, soon after, for the purpose of healing Lady Conway. A vast concourse of people attended him on this mission; and many of them are said to have derived almost instantaneous relief through his aid, though in Lady Conway's case he certainly failed. Greatrakes, it must be added, was a man of unimpeachable integrity, a highly respectable member of society, and incapable of perpetrating an imposture. At the Restoration he was made clerk of the peace for the county of Waterford; and as a magistrate he bore a deservedly high reputation in his district. The pretensions of Greatrakes, two hundred years ago, were the daily theme for discussion among philosophers and physicians, and they still present some difficulty. The character of Valentine Greatrakes is carried through Mr. Carleton's novel of the Evil Eye. In England his practice fell into disrepute, in 1666, upon his examination before the Royal Society; after which we hear no more of him. He died about the year 1690.—(Birch's Memoirs of the Royal Society.)—W. J. F.
GREAVES, Sir Edward, a learned physician of the seventeenth century. He belonged to a learned family, being the son of the Rev. John Greaves, rector of Colmore, and the most eminent schoolmaster in Hampshire. Edward, the youngest of four brothers, all distinguished for learning, was born at Croydon, and was admitted probationer-fellow of All Souls college in Oxford in 1634. He took the degree of M.D. in 1641, and from that time practised with success in Oxford. In 1643 he was elected lecturer of physic on the Linacre foundation, and was appointed, together with Dr. Walter Charleton, to be travelling physician to Charles I. The king's misfortunes having obliged Greaves to leave Oxford, he practised in London, and sometimes in Bath. On October 1, 1657, he was elected a fellow of the College of Physicians. After the Restoration he was appointed physician-in-ordinary to King Charles II. , who made him a baronet. He died in London, November 11, 1680. He was the author of "Morbus epidemicus ann. 1633," 4to, Oxford, 1643, and of a Harveian oration.—R. H.
GREAVES, John (known also by the Latinized name of Gravius), an English astronomer and traveller, was born at Colmore, near Alresford, in Hampshire in 1602, and died in London on the 8th of October, 1652. His father (also named John Greaves) was rector of the parish, and kept a school for the sons of the neighbouring gentry, at which the subject of this article commenced his education. In 1617 he went to the university of Oxford, where in 1621 he took the degree of bachelor of arts. In 1624 he was elected to a vacant fellowship in Merton college, and after a course of study of extraordinary severity, he took the degree of master of arts in 1628. From that time he devoted himself to the study of astronomy and of the oriental languages, and especially of the works of the ancient eastern astronomers. In 1630 he was appointed professor of geometry at the Gresham college in London. Having resolved, in pursuit of his favourite branch of learning, to travel in the East, he applied to the corporation of London for a contribution towards the cost of astronomical instruments to be used during his travels, which they refused. As he was, notwithstanding, well supplied with such instruments, his biographer, Smith, suggests that he may have been assisted by Laud, archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor of the university of Oxford, with whom he was on a footing of intimate friendship. In 1637 he set out from the Thames for Leghorn, with a view to perfect himself in the Italian language, which was commonly spoken in the ports of the Levant. Having visited Rome, Florence, Padua, and Venice, and passed many months in measuring architectural monuments and collecting medals, he sailed in April, 1638, from Leghorn to Constantinople, whence he travelled successively to Rhodes, Alexandria, and Cairo, making astronomical observations wherever he went, and diligently searching for old manuscripts, especially those relating to astronomy; and for gems, medals, and other remains of antiquity. In 1639 he revisited Leghorn, Florence, and Rome, and returned to England in the summer of 1640. In 1643 he was appointed to the Savilian professorship of astronomy, vacant by the death of Bainbridge. In 1648 the parliamentary commissioners expelled Greaves from his chair and fellowship as a royalist. He then went to live in London, and passed his time in preparing and publishing his writings, which consist chiefly of editions and translations of, and commentaries on, the remains of the works of ancient eastern astronomers, together with some mathematical and mechanical papers. He married in 1652, the year of his death, and bequeathed his small patrimony to his wife during her life, with remainder to his brother Nicholas, and his instruments to the Savilian museum. His body is buried in the parish church of St. Rennet Sherehog. A detailed account of his life—written with spirit and good faith, though somewhat disfigured by the author's excessive hatred of commonwealth's-men and puritans—is contained in a book entitled "Vitæ quorundam eruditissimorum et illustrium virorum, scriptore Thomâ Smitho, Lond., 1707."—Nicholas Greaves, brother of John Greaves, was a fellow of All-souls college, Oxford, about 1640, and afterwards became dean of Dromore in Ireland.—W. J. M. R.
GREAVES, Thomas, a celebrated English orientalist, brother
