Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/620

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602
GIL—GIN

amongst them. If an industrious man suffered a loss, he delighted to make it good; if the harvest was bad, he was liberal in the remission of tithes. And all this he was enabled to do because his frugality was as great as his generosity; for his rectory was worth no more than £400 a year. The boldness which he could display at need is well illustrated by his action in regard to duelling. Finding one day a challenge-glove stuck up on the door of a church where he was to preach, he took it down with his own hand, and proceeded to the pulpit to inveigh against

the unchristian custom.


A life of Bernard Gilpin, written by George Carleton, bishop of t‘hichcster, who had been a pupil of Gilpin’s at Houghton, will be found in Bates's Vita: Sclcctorum aliquot Virormn, 820., London, 1631. A translation of this sketch by \Villiam F reake, minister, was published at London, 1629; and in 1852 it was reprinted in Glasgow, with an introductory essay by Edward Irving. It forms one of the lives in Christopher W'ordsworth’s Ecclesiastical Biography (vol. iii., 4th edit.), having been compared with (‘arlcton’s Latin text. Another biography of Gilpin, which, however, adds little to Bishop Carleton's, was written by William Gilpin, M.A., pre- bcndary of Ailsbury, London, 1753, and 1854.

GILPIN, William (1724–1804), author of several works on the scenery of Great Britain, was born at Carlisle in 1724. He was educated at Oxford university, and, after holding for some time a small curacy in the north of England, established a school for sons of gentlemen at Cheam in Surrey. Among his pupils were Viscount Sidmouth, Lord Bexley, and Mitford, the author of the History of Greece, the last of whom presented him, when he had resolved to retire from teaching, with the living of Boldre, near the New Forest, Hampshire. Gilpin died there, April 5, 1804. He is author of a Life of Bernard (v'ilpin, several miscellaneous religious publications, and lives of a number of the Iteformers, but is chiefly known for his works on the scenery of various parts of England and Scotland, illustrated by tasteful engravings in aquatint executed by himself.


The principal of these works are—Tho Iticcr lVyc and .S'nutltcrn Districts of IValcs, 1782; The Lake Country, 1789; Obscrrations on Picturesque Beauty made in. the year 1776 "in several parts of Great Britain, particularly the Highlands of Scotland, 1778 ; two corre- sponding volumes on the Lakcs of Cumberland and ll’cst'morcland; Forest Scenery, 1791; Three Essays on Picturesque L’cauty, with a Poem on Landscape Painting, 1782; Essays on Prints and Early Engrarings; IVcstcrn Parts of England and Isle of flight, 1798; and The Coasts of Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent, published post- humously.

GIL VICENTE. See Vicinte, Gil.

GIN, the name commonly given to an aromatized spirit for drinking, varieties of which are also known as Geneva, Hollands, and Sehiedam. Gin is an abbreviation of Geneva, both being primarily derived from the French gencore (juniper), from the fact that the characteristic flavourng ingredient of the spirit is juniper berries. Gin was origin- ally and is still largely a Dutch compounded liquor, but it has long been a favourite stimulant beverage with the lower orders in London and other large English towns; and it is manufactured on a great scale by English rectifiers. As each separate distiller varies to some extent the materials and proportions of ingredients used in the preparation of gin, the varieties of the beverage are numerous; but gene- rally a clear distinction exists between Hollands or Dutch gin and English gin. In the manufacture of Hollands a mash is prepared consisting of say 112 lb of malted here or bigg and 228 lb of rye meal, with 460 gallons of water, at 162° Fahr. After infusion a proportion of cold water is added; and when the heat is reduced to about 80°, the whole, about 500 gallons, is run into the fermenting vat, to which about half a gallon of yeast is added. Fermentation speedily ensues, and in about two days the attenuation is complete, although at this stage nearly one-third of the saccharine matter in the liquor is undecomposed. The special features of the fermentation are the small proportion of yeast employed and the imperfect attenuation of the worts. The wash so obtained is distilled, and the resulting low wine is redistilled, with the addition of juniper berries and a little salt, Sometimes with the addition of hops. Dutch gins vary much one from another, but generally they are much purer and mellower liquors than the more highly flavoured and frequently adulteratcd British gins. Good qualities of the latter have as their basis plain grain spirit from the ordinary whisky distillcries, the following being an example of a mixture for distillation:—


300 gallons of low wines. 47 lb crushed almond cake. 650 ,, rectified spirit ‘2 ,, angelica root. 95 lb juniper berries. 6 ,, powdered liquorice. 95 ,, coriander-s.


There is, however, much variation in the ingredients employed, and several other flavouring substances—notabl y cardamoms and cassia or cinnamon—are freely employed. A kind of gin is also prepared by mixing proportions of essential oils by agitation with plain spirits without any redistillation, and much inferior liquor is said to be made with oil of turpentine and aromatic substances without the use of juniper berries at all. To prevent the cloudiness or turbidity that Would arise in these inferior beverages when mixed with water, they are fined with alum, potassium car- bonate, acetate of lead, or sulphate of zinc. To give facti- tious pungency and mellowness to such drinks, grains of paradise and Cayenne pepper are freely used, and the absence of spirit is also covered by the use of sugar. What is known as cordial gin is usually more highly aromatizcd than the other varieties, and sweetened so that it really ought to be classed as a coarse liqueur. In thirty-eight Specimens of gin examined by Dr Ilassall, the alcoholic strength of which ranged from 2235 to 48'80 degrees, and the sugar present varied between 243 and 0'38 per cent, seven were found to contain Cayenne pepper, two had cinnamon or cassia oil, and nearly all contained sulphates. From the fact that the essential oil of juniper is the most powerful of all diuretics, gin is frequently prescribed in diseases of the urinary organs. Its beneficial effects in such cases is most marked ; but, on the other hand, the grossly sophisticated liquors which are largely consumed under the name of gin are most detrimental in their effects. In the early part of the 18th century gin-shops multiplied with great rapidity in London, and the use of the beverage increased to an extent so demoralizing that retailers actually exhibited placards in their windows intimating that there people might get drunk for 1d., and that clean straw in comfortable cellars would be provided for customers. The legislature was obliged to interfere in order to try to curb the tide of debauchery, and what is known as the Gin Act was passed in 1736, under the provisions of which, dealers were prohibited from selling gin and other spirits in quanti- ties less than 2 gallons without a licence of £50, and an excise duty of 20s. was charged on each gallon. The opera-- tion of the Act, however, gave rise to much confusion, to illicit trade, and to gin riots, and after a lapse of seven years the statute was repealed.

GINCKELL, Godart van (1640–1703), first earl of

Athlone, general, Was born in Gnelderland about 1630 or 1640. He was the head of an ancient. and noble family, and bore the title of Baron van Itecde. In his youth he. entered the Dutch army, and in 1688 he followed William prince of Orange in his expedition to England. In the, following year he distinguished himself by a memorable exploit—the pursuit, defeat, and capture of the Scottish regiment which had mutinicd at Ipswich, and was marching across the fcns to their native land. It was the alarm excited by this mutiny that facilitated the passing of the first

Mutiny Act. In 1690 Ginckcll accompanied William III.