Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/118

* GRACCHUS. 96 GRACE. to the charge of unconstitutionality. The co- mitia trihuta, however, voted to depose Ciecina, and the obstacle was removed. The bill was thus passed, and a committee of three (irium- viri) was appointed to carry out its provisions, consisting of Tiberius himself, his brother Gains, and Appius Claudius. Not content with the aid given to small farmers by his new law, Tiberius now devised further means of aiding them to begin life with live stock and implements. He suggested that the wealth bequeathed to the Koman people by Attains, King of Pergamus, should be devoted to this purpose. When the term of his tribuneship came to an end, he presented himself again for the office, as a measure of self-defense, though this was most unusual. The election took place in June, when the mass of his supporters were busy in the country, and when everything was favorable to the intrigues of his opponents. Partisan feeling ran very high, threats and calumnies were rife, and the election was marked by terrible riots, in cne of which Tiberius himself was killed. Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, younger brother of the preceding (B.C. 159-121). When Tiberius was murdered, Gaius was serving with the army in Spain. He returned to Rome a year or two after, but took no part in public affairs other than to deliver speeches in court, where his elo- quence met with telling eflfect. Upon attaining the quaestorship (B.C. 126), he went with the armies to Sardinia. He had a strong feeling that he should return to Rome to avenge his brother's death and take up his work, and it is said that in his dreams Tiberius's shade appeared and urged him on. Accordingly, before his term as qmestor had expired, he left Sardinia unex- pectedly and went to Rome, to the discomfiture of his enemies and political opponents, who feared him, and did not hesitate to resort to persecution and groundless accusations. Gaius stood for the tribuneship, and was elected in B.C. 123. He now renewed the enforcement of his brother's laws, which had gradually been allowed to lapse, and carried out wise and important legislation — but all in the interest of the people as opposed to the Senate and the nobles. To develop the resources of Haly, and at the same time to employ the poor, he made new roads throughout all parts of the country, repaired old ones, and erected milestones. He was reelected tribune in B.C. 122, with his friend and supporter, the ex-consul Fulvius Flaccus, among his col- leagues. He now proposed a measure for the extension of the Roman franchise to all the Latins, offering at the same time 'Latin fran- chise' to all Ihe Italian allies of Rome. The aristocratic party, finding it impossible to check his reforms by open opposition, had recourse to the trick of offering, in bad faith, still greater advantages through the demagogue ]M. Livius Drusus. thus luulermining Gaius's influence with the people. Events drifted into civil war. But Gaius and Fulvius Flaccus were now deserted by most of their supporters ; hard pressed by the consul Opimius, they were compelled to take refuge on the Aventine Hill. Negotiations proved of no avail. Flaccus and his eldest son were murdered, and Gaius, trying in vain to escape across to the .Tanicuhim, but seeing all hope gone, ordered his faithful slave to kill him, who then also killed himself (b.c. 121). GRACE (from Lat. pra/m, favor). An expres- sion frequently used in the Scripture and theolog- ical discussion. Its distinctive meaning is the idea of free and unmerited favor. It is a benetit springing out of the liberality and free-hearted- ness of the giver, and bestowed without any hope or expectation of reward. Applied to God in the New Testament and in theology, it denotes the free outpouring of His love to man; and when man, on tlie other hand, is said to be in a state of grace, it implies that he is in the enjoyment of this divine love and favor. Saint Paul differ- entiates grace and works, and emphasizes the necessity of the former to salvation. Theologi- ans have distinguished grace into common or (jeneral and special or particuhir. Comnmu grace is emplo.ved to denote the love which God has to all His creatures, and the light of nature and of conscience which they all enjoy. Special grace is the outflow of the love of God for lost sinners, by which He brings them to repentance, and saves them. This special or saving grace is sometimes also divided in various ways, and spoken of as selecting, justifying, sanctifying grace; also, in respect of man, as im- puted or inherent grace — the grace, that is, of Christ's righteousness imputed or reckoned to the account of those who believe on Him, and the grace of holy and pious dispositions wrought in the heart by the spirit of God. Grace is also spoken of as e/ficacioiis and irresistible, and the relation in which the elect or believing people stand to God is represented as a covenant of grace, in contrast with the primitive relation which Adam bore to his Maker before tJie fall, which is called a covenant of works. These the- ological distinctions are not to be foimd, at least in their more technical sense, in the New Testa- ment. The charis of Saint Paul is not a logical distinctiou, but a spiritual fact. It is the loving as]5ect of God toward the sinner, toward all sin- ners, whereby all who confess their sins have free access into His favor, and receive the 'adop- tion of sons.' GRACE, Days of. A period allowed for the payment of a negotiable instrument, as a bill of exchange or promissory note, in addition to tlie time named in the paper itself. As the title indicates, this additional period was formerly a matter of 'indulgence or favor on the part of the holder. It has long been recosmized by the courts as a matter of right. Chief Justice Marshall de- clared, nearly a century ago, that "the allowance of days of grace is a usage which pervades the whole commercial world. It is now universally understood lo enter into every bill or note of a mercantile character, and to form so completely a part of the contract that the bill does not be- come due. in fact or in law. on the day men- tioned on its face, but on the last day of grace." Paper payable on demand has alwaj-s formed an exception <o this rule; and days of grace have been abolished in several European countries and in a number of our States. The number of days varies in different countries from three to thirty. In Great Britain, and generally in this coimtry. the number is three. Accordingly if a bill or note is dated February 1st. and is pay- able three months after date, it matures IWay 4th : that, and not May 1st, is the proper day on which to demand payment, and on which it is dishon- ored by non-payment. If the last day of grace