GRESHAM'S LAW. 271 GRETNA GREEN. GBESHAM'S LAW. A principle of political economy formulalcd by Sir Thomas Gresham (q.v. ) to the effect that in a monetary circula- tion bad money drives out good. It was origi- nally applied to the elTect upon the circulation of mutilated, worn, or depreciated coinage. If into such a coinage new, full-weight coins be in- jected, it will not be long before the latter are exported or find their way to the melting-pot, while the worn-out coins still continue to fulfill their function as money. The reason for this lies in the higher bullion value of the new coin. For exportation or industrial uses the value of the coin is determined by the weight. It is therefore the best coins which are sought for this purpose, and it is a familiar experience that the export of coin works towards the deteriora- tion of the coinage. In latter days Grcsham's law has been applied to concurrent circulation of diflerent types of money — gold, silver, and paper. Under the joint circulation of gold and silver, that which in tlie currency of the country is the cheapest as compared with the valuations of other countries, and the world's market, will tend to displace the other metal. In like manner the infusion into the circulation of irredeemable paper money promotes exportation of metallic money. Gresham's law, in the familiar form that bad money drives out good, of course applies abso- lutely only where there is a redundancy of cur- rency. In such a case there is a natural move- ment toward the exportation of money, and that metal will be chosen for exportation which is of least value at home. Unless svich redundancy exists, gold and silver may and do circulate side by side despite the fact that legal ratios do not conform to the general market, or, in other words, that in the sense of the maxim one is good ami the other bad. Consult: Gide, Political Economy (Paris. 1.S84) ; Walker. Political Economy (Ne'.v York. 188G) ; also Daniel, "The Confirmation of Gresham's Law," in Annals of the American Academv of Political and Social Science, vol. vi. (Philadelphia, 1895). GRESSET, gres'sa', Jean Baptiste Louis (1709-77). A French poet and playwright, born at Amiens. At sixteen he became a Jesuit, and later taught in .lesuit colleges. Tert-Tert, the de- lightful tale of an indiscreet parrot, appeared at Rouen in 1734, and soon went the rounds of Europe. His Chartteuse, Careme impromptu, Lvtrin rivant soon afterwards dismayed the Jes- uits. Gressct was sent oflF to La Fl&che and shut out of the Company. In 1740 he was in Paris, and there he had played his Edonard III., a tragedy, a comedy called Sijdnc)/ (174.5). and Le Mcchant (1747). which was then a success. Fa- mous in Paris, where he became an Academician in 1748, Gresset went to Amiens, and founded an academy in 1750. In 1759 we find him for- swearing the theatre, even indulging in a little severity to placate his brethren whom he had scandalized by his satire on selfish Court prelates. Cresset's works appeared in three volumes in 1811, and again in 1859. Vert-Vert and other pieces were Englished by 'an officer of the army' (Kew York, 1801) in the Select Translations and Imitations from the French of Marmonfcl and Gressct. Consult, also: Deromc, Porsics chnisies, with bibliography and biography (Paris, 188.3) ; Daire. Tie de (rresset (ib.. 1779) ; Robespierre, Eloge de Gresset (London, 1785) ; Bailly, Eloge de Gresset (Geneva, 1785) ; Cayrol, Essai histo- rique sur la lie ct les ouvrages de Gresset (Amiens, 1S4.')|: Saint-Albin Bcrville, Gresset, kft vie ct scs II lie res (ib., lS(i3). GRETA (gre'ta) HALL. The residence of the poet Southey from 1803 to his death. It is situated in the Vale of Keswick, Cumberland, and consists of two houses under a single roof. One of these Coleridge had occupied from three 3-ears previous to Southey's coming. Southey bought the whole in 1809, but Coleridge's wife and children were permitted to continue to re- side in their wing. GRETCH, grech, Nikolai Ivanovitcii (1787- 1867 ) . A Russian author, born in Saint Peters- burg, of a Boliemian family. He studied law, but later devoted himself to literature. From 1809 to 1813 he was professor of Russian litera- ture in the German school at Saint Petersburg, and for three years more in a Russian gvmnasium. He traveled in Germany and France, and in 1829 became connected with the ^Ministry of the In- terior, Transferred to the Department of Fi- nance, he traveled in England, France, and Ger- many, studying the subject there. His rapid political advancement was due to his conserva- tive politics as set forth in the St/n Otcchestra (1812-38), and in the Scrcrnaja' Pccla (182.5- 60), which he edited with Bulgarin in such a way as greatly to aff'eet Russian politics and literature, especially between 1830 and 1840. But his books are better known than his political or journalistic work. He wrote a handbook of Russian literature (1819-22), a work on Russian grammar (2d ed. 1830), two novels, two books of travel, and postlnmious memoirs (1886). His complete works were published at Saint Peters- burg in 1855, in three volumes. Gretch's sketch of Russian literature, translated into German, is contained in Otto. Lchrbuch dcr russisehen Lit- tcratur (Leipzig and Berlin, 1837). GRETCH'EN. Tlie heroine of Goethe's Famt, a simple, confiding girl of the people, who gives her love to the title character, but is corrupted by him. She kills her child, and is condemned to death for her act, but while in prison dies insane. Gretehen is one of the most striking female characters in dramatic literature, an ideal picture of innocence and devotion. GRETHEL, gra'tel. Gammer. The fictitious personage by whom the famous fairy tales of the brothers Grimm are supposed to be told. GRET'NA. A parish-seat of Jefferson Par- ish. La., on the Mississippi River, opposite New Orleans, with which it is connected by ferry, and on the Southern Pacific and other railroads (Jlap: Louisiana.. E 4). It is engaged extensive- ly in the manufacture of cottonseed oil. Gretna was founded in 1835, and on several occasions, particularly in 1880 and 1891, suffered from breaks in the levee. Population, in 1890, 3332; in 1900. not given in census. GRETNA GREEN. A village of Dumfries- shire. Scotl.ind (near the Solway, and just over the border from England), which gained great notorietv during the last century' as the favorite place for nuiaway couples from England to celebrate marriages and so easily evade the Eng- lish ^Marriage Act. which required the consent of parents and guardians, publication of banns.
