for his adherence to the cause of Charles I.—His son, Sir George Gordon, an eminent lawyer and president of the court of session, was made lord high-chancellor of Scotland in 1682, and elevated to the peerage by the title of Earl of Aberdeen, Viscount Formartin, Lord Haddo, &c.
George Hamilton Gordon, fourth earl of Aberdeen, a distinguished statesman, who held several of the highest offices under the crown, was born 28th January, 1784, succeeded his grandfather, in the Scottish honours of the family in 1801, and was created Viscount Gordon in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1814. Lord Aberdeen was educated at Harrow and at St. John's college, Cambridge, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1804. After completing his education, he spent some time in travelling in Italy and Greece, and was one of the founders of the Athenian Society. Hence his lordship was termed by Lord Byron, in his English Bards and Scotch Reviewers—
" The travelled thane, Athenian Aberdeen."
Lord Aberdeen entered parliament in 1806 as one of the Scottish representative peers; and in 1813, when barely twenty-nine, he was sent on a special mission to Vienna, for the purpose of detaching the Austrian emperor from the alliance with his son-in-law. He performed this delicate and difficult task with great dexterity and complete success, and signed at Toplitz the preliminary treaty, in which Austria united with Great Britain and Russia against France. He was present at Lutzen, Bautzen, and other great battles in the campaigns of 1813-14; and subsequently took part in the negotiations connected with the return of Napoleon from Elba. His lordship continued a steady supporter of the tory government, and in January, 1828, he became secretary of state for foreign affairs under the duke of Wellington, an office which he held for nearly three years. On the overthrow of the duke's administration the earl retired from office, and with the exception of a few months in 1834-35, when he filled the post of colonial secretary in the short-lived ministry of Sir Robert Peel, he remained in opposition until 1841, when Peel became once more prime minister, and Lord Aberdeen was reinstalled in the foreign office. He cordially supported his chief against the fierce attacks of the old tory party in the abolition of the corn-laws, and in all his free-trade policy. His own administration of foreign affairs was cautious and pacific, yet firm and dignified; and in the dispute with the government of the United States on the Oregon question, he steadily upheld the honour of the country, while he contrived to avert the evils of war, which at one time seemed imminent. Lord Aberdeen took a deep interest in the affairs of the Scottish church, in which he was an office-bearer; and made an unsuccessful attempt to avert its disruption, by enacting certain restrictions on the right of patronage. He retired from office with Peel in 1846, when the protectionists, in revenge, broke up the government. On the death of that distinguished statesman. Lord Aberdeen became the virtual head of the Peel party; and during the ministerial crisis of 1851 was requested by the queen to undertake the government in conjunction with Sir James Graham, but was obliged to decline the responsibility. when the short-lived Derby ministry was overthrown in the following year, a coalition was formed between the whigs and the Peelites, and the earl was placed at the head of the administration. He had long before penetrated the designs of Russia upon Turkey, and had in his despatches denounced in strong terms the ambition and faithlessness of the Czar Nicholas; he had, however, an undisguised horror of war, and strove to maintain public peace after the voice of the nation had unequivocally declared for an armed resistance to the unprincipled designs of Russia. The country thus "drifted into war," for which no adequate preparation had been made. When the Crimean disasters followed as the result. Lord John Russell seceded from the administration, which was in consequence dissolved in January, 1855, but not until it had carried several important measures for the reform of the law, government of India, the opening of the university of Oxford, the improvement of the condition of the people, and the extension of the principles of free trade. From that period till his death, which took place December 14, 1860, Lord Aberdeen did not take any prominent part in public affairs, though his administrative ability and high personal character gave him great weight in the legislature. He was of a reserved temperament and studious habits, and was distinguished by his refined taste in all matters connected with the fine arts. He was the author of an "Introduction" to Wilkins' Translation of Vitruvius' Civil Architecture, 1822, which he published in an extended form as a distinct work in 1822, under the title of "An Inquiry into the Principles of Beauty in Grecian Architecture." Lord Aberdeen belonged to the solid, not the showy, class of statesmen. He had a clear head, a sound judgment, a liberal nature, vast experience, and unblemished integrity; and, in spite of his long connection with the tory party, was thoroughly liberal in his policy, both foreign and domestic. He was a skilful and enterprising agricultural improver; and lived to see whole forests of trees which he had planted rise into grandeur and maturity. He was chancellor of University and King's college, Aberdeen, president of the British institution, a governor of Harrow school and of the Charter-house, and lord-lieutenant of Aberdeen.—J. T.
GORDON, Alexander, a learned Scottish antiquary, was born about the close of the sixteenth century. He was an accomplished Greek scholar and draughtsman, and in early life travelled in Italy and other parts of the continent. In 1736 he was appointed secretary to the Society for the Encouragement of Learning, and also secretary to the Antiquarian Society. He subsequently held the office of secretary to the Egyptian club, of which Lord Sandwich, Drs. Shaw and Pococke, and other learned travellers, were members. In 1741 Gordon accompanied Governor Glen to Carolina in North America, where he obtained a grant of land, and held the situation of registrar of the province, besides other offices. He died in 1750, leaving a valuable estate to his family. His chief work is "Itinerarium Septentrionale, or a journey through most parts of the counties of Scotland," fol. 1726.—J. T.
GORDON, Andrew, distinguished as an electrician, and particularly as an improver of the electrical machine, was a scion of the ducal house of Gordon. He was born at a village in Forfarshire in 1712, was removed to Germany in his thirteenth year, and became in 1732 a monk of the benedictine order in the Scottish convent at Regensburg. He was afterwards appointed professor of philosophy at Erfurt, where he died in 1751. He published several works on experimental science, and was the first who employed a cylinder, having its geometrical axis horizontal, instead of the glass globe previously in use in electrical machines.—G. BL.
GORDON, Bernard, a celebrated French physician, was born in Rouvergne about the middle of the thirteenth century, and began to practise at Montpellier in 1285. He published several works on medicine, the most important of which, "Lilium Medicinæ," is a clear and methodical summary of the medical knowledge then existing. In this respect it is valuable; but it contains much that is puerile and absurd, and abounds in astrological and other superstitious nostrums. The fame of his works obtained for him the appointment of rector of the college of Montpellier, where he died about the year 1320.—G. BL.
GORDON, Lord George, whose memory has been preserved by his connection with the destructive riots of 1780, was the third son of Cosmo, duke of Gordon, and was born in 1750. At an early age he entered the navy, and arrived at the rank of lieutenant; but quitted the service in consequence of a refusal on the part of Lord Sandwich to give him promotion. In 1774 he entered the house of commons as member for the borough of Ludgershall in Wiltshire. He at first supported the government, but afterwards joined the opposition, through the influence, it is said, of his sister-in-law, the celebrated duchess of Gordon. He accused the ministry of an attempt to bribe him by the offer of a sinecure of £1000 a year, and afterwards of the office of vice-admiral of Scotland. But though his fortune was that of a younger son, he held fast his integrity. The eccentric nobleman, however, soon became estranged from the whigs as well as from the tories, and his animadversions on the proceedings of both sides of the house became so marked, that it was usual at that time to say that "there were three parties in parliament—the ministry, the opposition, and Lord George Gordon." In 1778 a bill was brought in by Sir George Saville, and passed into a law, for the relief of the Roman catholics from certain penalties and disabilities. In the following year a fierce agitation took place, and a powerful society, termed the "Protestant Association," was formed in London for the repeal of the bill. Lord George was chosen president of this association, and in May, 1780, presented a petition praying for the repeal of Sir George Saville's act. Finding that little weight was attached to his representations, he collected (2nd June) an immense concourse of people,
