he _pub._ his _Fables_ (1727), which added
to his reputation, and soon after, in 1728, achieved the great success of
his life in _The Beggar's Opera_, a Newgate pastoral, suggested by Swift,
in which the graces and fantasticalities of the Italian Opera were
satirised. A sequel, _Polly_, was suppressed by the Lord Chamberlain as
reflecting upon the Court, but was _pub._ and had an enormous sale. The
last few years of his life were passed in the household of the Duke of
Queensberry, who had always been his friend and patron. He _d._ after
three days' illness, aged 47. G. was an amiable, easy-going man, who
appears to have had the power of attracting the strong attachments of his
friends, among whom were Pope and Swift. He seems to have been one of the
very few for whom the latter had a sincere affection. He is buried in
Westminster Abbey. Of all he has written he is best remembered by one or
two songs, of which the finest is _Black-eyed Susan_.

GEDDES, ALEXANDER (1737-1802).--Theologian and scholar, of Roman Catholic
parentage, was _b._ at Ruthven, Banffshire, and _ed._ for the priesthood
at the local seminary of Scalan, and at Paris, and became a priest in his
native county. His translation of the _Satires_ of Horace made him known
as a scholar, but his liberality of view led to his suspension. He then
went to London, where he became known to Lord Petre, who enabled him to
proceed with a new translation of the Bible for English Roman Catholics,
which he carried on as far as Ruth, with some of the Psalms, and which
was _pub._ in 3 vols. (1792-6). This was followed by _Critical Remarks on
the Hebrew Scriptures_, in which he largely anticipated the German school
of criticism. The result of this publication was his suspension from all
ecclesiastical functions. G. was also a poet, and wrote _Linton: a
Tweedside Pastoral_, _Carmen Seculare pro Gallica Gente_ (1790), in
praise of the French Revolution. He _d._ without recanting, but received
absolution at the hands of a French priest, though public mass for his
soul was forbidden by the ecclesiastical powers.

GEOFFREY of MONMOUTH (1100?-1154).--Chronicler, was probably a
Benedictine monk, and became Bishop of St. Asaph. He wrote a Latin
_History of British Kings_. _Merlin's Prophecies_, long attributed to
him, is now held to be not genuine. The history is rather a historical
romance than a sober history, and gave scandal to some of the more
prosaic chroniclers who follow