Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/880

 GEN

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GEN

GENERAL, fo-me thing that comprehends all, or extends to a whole Genus. See Genus ; fee alfo Universal.

Thus we fay, a General Rule, q. d. an univerfal Rule, A -general Lou££& 'Tis difputed, whether NoaFs Flood was general^ or no. See Deluge.

All the Sciences have fome general Principles, or Maxims. See Maxim. A general Court : General Councils are par- ticularly called Oecumenical. See Oecumenical.

General JJfue^ in Law 5 fee Issue.

General is particularly applied to divers Officers ahd Dig- nitaries.

States General, "| .''States.

General Council, <> ^ J Oecumenical.

General JJJembly, \ 1 Assembly.

Vicar General, ££c. J SJVicar.

General Officers, in an Army, are thofe who do not only command over a fingle Company, or Regiment ; but whofe Office and Authority extends over a Body of feveral Regiments of Horfe, and Foot.

Such are Lieutenant Generals, Afajor Generals, Generals of the Horfe, of the Foot ; Tdymajl'er General, Commi/Jary General^ Cbirurgeon General, Sic.

The Word is alfo now ufed in a more extenfive Senfe ; and comprehends fuch as may command, by virtue of rheir Rank, over feveral Bodies of Forces, tho' all of the fame Kind; in which Senfe Brigadiers are General Officers $ notwithstanding that they are attach'd to one kind of Forces, either Infantry, or Cavalry, See Brigadier.

The Pay of a Lieutenant General, when in Service, is 4. /; per Day : Of a Major General, 2 /. Of a Srigadier General, 1 I. ro 5. Of a Captain General, 10/. See Lieu- tenant General, Major General, Sec.

We have alfo Officers in the Law, in the Revenues, £fc. difUnguifh'd by the Appellation of General : As, Attorney General, Solicitor General, Sec. See Attorney, and So- licitor.

Receiver: General, Controller General, Sec. See Receiver, and Controller.

General is alfo ufed in a Monaflic Senfe, for the Chief of an Order -. or of all the Houfes, or Congregations eftablifh'd under the fame Rule. Thus we fay, the General of the Cifiercians, the Francifcans, Sec. See Order.

Fa. T'homaJJin derives the Origin of Generals of Orders, from the Privileges granted by the antient Patriarchs to the Monafteries fituate in their capital Cities. By fuch means they were exempted from the JurifdicTion ot the Bifhop, and immediately fubjected to that of the Patriarch alone.

General is alfo ufed in the Military Art fora particular March, or Beat of Drum.

To beat the General, is to give Notice to the Infantry to march. See Drum.

General Terms, ot Words, are fuch as exprefs, or de- note general Ideas. See Word.

Ideas become general, by fcparating from them, theCir- cumftances of Time, Place, or any other Ideas that may de- termine them to this or that particular Exiftence. See Idea.

By this way of Abftraction they become capable of re- prefenting more Individuals, than one ; each of which hav- ing a Conformity to that abftract Idea, is of that Sort. See Abstraction, Individual, &c.

All Things, Mr. Lock obferves, that exift, being Particu- lars, it might be expected, that Words fhould be fo too in their Signification : But we find it quite contrary ; for moft of the Words, that make all Languages, are general Terms.

This is the Effect of Reafon and Neceffity : For, i° It is impoffible that every particular Thing fhould have a di- ftinct, peculiar Name ; becaufe it is impoffible to have dt- ftinct Ideas of every particular Thing, to retain its Name with its peculiar Appropriation to that Idea. 1 v It would be ufelefs, unlefs all could be fuppofed to have thefe fame Ideas in their Minds: For Names, applied to particular Things, whereof one alone has the Ideas in his Mind, could not be fignificant or intelligible to another, who is not ac- quainted with ail thofe particular Things which had fallen under his Notice. 5 It would be of no great ufe for the Improvement of Knowledge; which, tho' founded in par- ticular Things, enlarges itlelf by general Views, to which Things, reduced into Sorts under general Names, are pro- perly fubfervient.

In Things, where we have occafion to confider and dif- courfe of Individuals, and Particulars, we ufe properNames: As in Perfons, Countries, Cities, Rivers, Mountains, S*fa Thus wee lee that Jockeys have particular Names for their Horfes, becaufe they have often occafion to mention this or that Horfe particularly, when he is out of fight.

The firft Ideas Children get, are only particular, as of the Nurfe, or Mother; and the Names they give them, are confined to thefe Individuals: Afterwards, obferving, that there are a great many other Things in the World that re- femblc them in Shape, and other Qualities, they frame an Idea, which they find thofe many Particulars do partake in ; to that they give, with others, the Name, Man, for Ex-

ample. In this tHey make nothing, hew, but only leave out of she complex Idea they had of i Peter, James, Mary,?£c' B that which is peculiar to each, and retain only what is com- mon to all. And thus they come to have a general NatriejE and a general Idea,

By the fame Method they advance to more general Names and Notions : For, obferving feveral Things that differ from their Idea of Man, and which cannot, therefore;, be comprehended under that Name, to agree with Man it?, fome certain Qualities; by retaining only thofe Qualities,, and uniting them into one Idea, they have another, mote general Idea ; to which, giving a Name^ they make a Termi of a more comprehenfive Extehfion.

Thus, by leaving out the Shape, and fome ether Proper- ties fignified by the Name, Man ; ahd retaining only Body, with Life, Senfe, and fpontaneous Motion ; we form the Idea fignified by the Name Animal. After the fame man- ner, the Mind proceeds to Body, Subftance, and at laft to' Being, Thing, and fuch univerfal Terms, which itand for any Ideas whatfoever, See Ens, Esse, Sec,

Hence we fee the whole Myttery of Genus and Species," is nothing but abftract Ideas, more or lefs comprehenfive^ with Names annexed to them : This fhews us the Reafon, 1 why in defining Words, we make ufe of the Genus ; name- ly, to fave the Labour of enumerating the feveral fimple; Ideas, which the next genera] Term flands for. .-

From what has been faid, it is plain, that General and Univerfal belong not to the real Exiltence of Things; but are the Inventions of the Understanding, made by it for its own Ufe, and concerns only Signs, either Words, or. Ideas, See Universal.

General Words do hot barely fignify one particular Thing s for then they would not be general Terms ; but proper Names : Neither do they fignify a Plurality; for then Mart and Men would fignify the fame thing; but whatthey fig- nify, is a fort of Things: And this they do, by being made a Sign of an abftract Idea in the Mind, to which Ici^a, £.s Things exifting arc found to agree, fo they come to be' ranked under that Name, or to be of that fort,.

The Effences then of the Sorts, or Species of Things, sr* nothing but thefe abftract Ideas. See Abstract.

It is not denied here, that Nature makes Things alike j and fo lays the Foundation of this forting and claffing : But the Sorts or Species themfelves are the Workmanfnip of human Underftanding ; fo that every diflinct abftract Idea; is a diitinct Effence ; and the Names that Hand for luck difiinct Ideas, are the Names of Things effontially different; Thus Oval, Circle, Rain and Snow are effentially different. See this further illustrated under Essence, Substance,^.

GENERALISSIMO, call'd alfo Capain GiNttUj anc* fimply, the General; is an Officer, who commands all the military Powers of the Nation; who gives Orders to ail the other General Officers ; and receives no Orders hitrifelt but from the King.

Monf. 2?alz-ac obferves, that the Cardinal de Richelieu firft made this Word, of his own abfolute Authority, upon his going to command the French Army in Italy.

GENERATED, or Genited, is ufed in Matherrratkks,' for whatever is produced, either in Arithm'ctick, by the Multiplication, Divifion,or Extraction of RoDts ; or in Geo- metry, by the Invention of the Contents, Areas, and Sides 5 or of extreme and mean Proportionals, without arithmetical Addition, and Subftractioi'h™

GENERATING Line, or Figure, in Geometry, is that which by its Motion or Revolution produces any other Fi- gure, Plane, or Solid. See Genesis.

GENERATION, in Phyficks, the Aft of procreating, or producing a thing, which before was not : Of, as the School- men define it, the total Change, or Convention of a Body, into a new one, which retains no fenfible Part or Mark of its former State. See Body.

Thus, Fire is faid to be generated, when we perceive it to be, where before was only Wood, or other Fuel ; or, when the Wood is fo changed, as to retain no fenfible Character of Wood: Thus alfo, A Chick is faid to ho generated, when we perceive the Chick, where before was only an Egg ; or the Egg is changed into the Form of the Chick.

In Generation, there is not properly any Production of new Parts, but only a new Modification or manner of Ex- igence of the old ones ; by which Generation is dlftinguifti'd; from Creation. See Creation.

It is diftinguifh'd from Alteration, in that the Subject, in this latter, remains apparently the fame; and only the Ac- cidents, or Affections are changed : As when the fame Body is to day well, and to morrow fick ; or Brafs, which before was round, is now fquare. See Alteration.

Laftly, Generation ftands oppofed to Corruption, which is the utter Extinction ofa former Thing : As; when that which before was Wood, or an Egg, is no longer the one or the ether i Whence it appears, that the Generation of one Thing is ths Corruption of another. See Corruption.

The Peripateticks explain Generation by a Change ct
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