Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/685

 GENNESARET 1793 retired for a while to Switzerland, and then to Altona. Amid all her troubles she neglected no opportunity of mingling in world- ly pleasures. During this period she published several works, among which were her Meres rivales, Les petits emigres, and Le petit La Bruyere. In 1800 she returned to France, and was well received by the first consul ; she was allowed handsome apartments at the arse- nal and a pension of 6,000 francs, to which the wife of Joseph on his accession to the throne of Naples added an an- nuity of 3,000. In re- turn for this she had to write twice a month to Napoleon, and com- municate to him her opinions and observa- tions on politics and cur- rent events. It is not known what service she rendered to Joseph Bo- naparte. This period of comparative repose and prosperity was also one of literary activity ; she gave to the pub- lic, among other works, Mile, de Clermont, the best of her performances, which ranks among standard novels in the French language, La ducJiesse de La Valliere, Mme. de Main- tenon, and Le siege de La Rochelle. Her His- toire de Henri le Grand displeased Napoleon, and she lost her pension and residence. At the return of the Bourbons the Orleans family contented themselves with paying a small pen- sion to their old "governor." Her temper meanwhile, which never had been very gentle, became sullen and unmanageable ; her misan- thropy increased with years. Her wrath was especially directed against the philosophers of the last century ; she published amended edi- tions, with critical notes, of several works of Rousseau and Voltaire, and even contemplated a similar " emendation " of the Encyclopedic, but, appalled at the magnitude of the under- taking, gave it up, and turned her pen against the most popular contemporary authors. Mme. de Stael, Byron, Sir Walter Scott, and Lamar- tine were among the objects of her attacks. She was 60 years old when she published her historical novel Jeanne de France, and over 80 when she completed her personal Memoires, in 10 large 8vo vols. GEMESARET, or Genesareth, Lake of, called also the sea of Ohinnereth (Heb. Yam Kinne- reth}, the sea of Galilee, the sea of Tiberias, and by the Arabs Bahr Tubariyeh, situated in Pal- estine, 65 m. N. of the Dead sea. The lake is pear-shaped ; the greatest width is 6f m. from Mejdel (Magdala) to Khersa (Gergesa) ; the ex- treme length is 15 m. The Jordan, flowing GENOA 673 through it from north to south, connects it with the Dead sea. The water of the lake is clear and sweet, except near the salt springs and where it is defiled by the drainage of Ti- berias. In the basin of the lake are a number of warm springs, which are said to have in- Lake of Gennesaret creased in volume and temperature after the earthquake of 1837, which laid Tiberias in ruins. The lake does not appear to be of vol- canic origin, but simply part of the great Jor- dan depression. The surrounding hills are of a uniform brown color, and are limestone, capped in places with basalt ; they are recessed from the shore, or rise very gradually from it, and not very high. Its level, which varies at different times of the year, is between 600 and 700 ft. below that of the Mediterranean. There is little variety or beauty in its natural features, and the interest connected with it springs from its associations, especially from the fact that much of the public life of Christ was spent on its shores. The lake abounded with the choicest kinds of fish, as it does now, and the southern portion especially was a noted fish- ing ground. Populous cities and villages then flourished around it, as Tiberias, Magdala, Ca- pernaum, Chorazin, the two Bethsaidas, Gama- la, and Hippos, almost all of which are now uninhabited ruins. GENOA (Ital. Genova ; Fr. Genes; anc. Ge- nua). I. A N. W. province of the kingdom of Italy, bordering on the provinces of Porto Maurizio, Coni, Alessandria, Pavia, Piacenza, Parma, and Massa Carrara, and the gulf of Genoa; area, 1,588 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 716,- 284. The province is divided into the districts of Albenga, Chiavari, Genoa, Levante, and Savona. It forms a narrow coast land, called Riviera di Levante and Riviera di Ponente, around the gulf of Genoa, and embraces the former duchy of Genoa. The rivers, mostly springing from the Apennines, have but a short