GOLDING, ARTHUR (1535?-1605?).—Translator,s.of a gentleman of Essex, was perhaps at Camb., and was diligent in the translation of theological works by Calvin, Beza, and others, but is chiefly remembered for his versions of Cæsar'sCommentaries(1565), and specially of Ovid'sMetamorphoses(1565-67), the latter in ballad metre. He also translated Justin'sHistory, and part of Seneca.
GOLDSMITH, OLIVER (1728-1774).—Poet, dramatist, and essayist,s.of an Irish clergyman, wasb.at Pallasmore in Co. Longford. His early education was received at various schools at Elphin, Athlone, and Edgeworthstown. At the age of 8 he had a severe attack of smallpox which disfigured him for life. In 1744 he went to Trinity Coll., Dublin, whence, having come into collision with one of the coll. tutors, he ran away in 1746. He was, however, induced to return, andgrad.in 1749. The Church was chosen for him as a profession—against his will be it said in justice to him. He presented himself before the Bishop of Elphin for examination—perhapsas a type of deeper and more inward incongruencies—in scarlet breeches, and was rejected. He next figured as a tutor; but had no sooner accumulated £30 than he quitted his employment and forthwith dissipated his little savings. A long-suffering uncle named Contarine, who had already more than once interposed on his behalf, now provided means to send him to London to study law. He, however, got no farther than Dublin, where he was fleeced to his last guinea, and returned to the house of his mother, now a widow with a large family. After an interval spent in idleness, a medical career was perceived to be the likeliest opening, and in 1752 he steered for Edin., where he remained on the usual happy-go-lucky terms until 1754, when he proceeded to Leyden. After a year there he started on a walking tour, which led him through France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. How he lived it is hard to say, for he left Leyden penniless. It is said that he disputed at Univ., and played the flute, and thus kept himself in existence. All this time, however, he was gaining the experiences and knowledge of foreign countries which he was afterwards to turn to such excellent account. At one of the Univ. visited at this time, he is believed to have secured the medical degree, of which he subsequently made use. Louvain and Padua have both been named as the source of it. He reached London almost literally penniless in 1756, and appears to have been occupied successively as an apothecary's journeyman, a doctor of the poor, and an usher in a school at Peckham. In 1757 he was writing for theMonthly Review. The next year he applied unsuccessfully for a medical appointment in India; and the year following, 1759, saw his first important literary venture,An Enquiry into the State of Polite Learning in Europe. It waspub.anonymously, but attracted some attention, and brought him other work. At the same time he became known to Bishop Percy, the collector of theReliques of Ancient Poetry, and he had writtenThe Bee, a collection of essays, and was employed upon various periodicals. In 1761 began his friendship with Johnson, which led to that of the other great men of that circle. HisChinese Letters, afterwards republished asThe Citizen of the World, appeared inThe Public Ledgerin 1762.The Traveller, the first of his longer poems, came out in 1764, and was followed in 1766 byThe Vicar of Wakefield. In 1768 he essayed the drama, withThe Good-natured Man, which had considerable success. The next few years saw him busily occupied with work for the publishers, includingThe History of Rome(1769), Lives of Parnell the poet, and Lord Bolingbroke (1770), and in the same yearThe Deserted Villageappeared;The History of Englandwaspub.in 1771. In 1773 he produced with great success his other drama,She Stoops to Conquer. His last works wereThe Retaliation,The History of Greece, andAnimated Nature, allpub.in 1774. In that year, worn out with overwork and anxiety, he caught a fever, of which hed.April 4. With all his serious and very obvious faults—his reckless improvidence, his vanity, and, in his earlier years at any rate, his dissipated habits—G. is one of the most lovable characters in English literature, and one whose writings show most of himself—his humanity, his bright and spontaneous humour, and "the kindest heart in the world." His friends included some of the best and greatest men in England, among themJohnson, Burke, and Reynolds. They all, doubtless, laughed at and made a butt of him, but they all admired and loved him. At the news of his death Burke burst into tears, Reynolds laid down his brush and painted no more that day, and Johnson wrote an imperishable epitaph on him. The poor, the old, and the outcast crowded the stair leading to his lodgings, and wept for the benefactor who had never refused to share what he had (often little enough) with them. Much of his work—written at high pressure for the means of existence, or to satisfy the urgency of duns—his histories, hisAnimated Nature, and such like, have, apart from a certain charm of style which no work of his could be without, little permanent value; butThe TravellerandThe Deserted Village,She Stoops to Conquer, and, above all,The Vicar of Wakefield, will keep his memory dear to all future readers of English.
SUMMARY.—B.1728,ed.Trinity Coll., Dublin, went to Edin. 1752, and to Leyden 1754, travelled on foot over large part of Continent, reached London 1756, and wrote for magazines, etc., and after publishing various other works producedThe Citizen of the Worldin 1762,pub.Vicar of Wakefield1766,Deserted Village1770, andShe Stoops to Conquer1773,d.1774.
There are many ed. of G.'s works by Prior, 1837, Cunningham, 1854, Prof. Masson (Globe), 1869, Gibb (Bohn's Standard Library), 1885. Biographies by Prior, 1837, Foster, 1848-71, Washington Irving, and others.Seealso Boswell'sJohnson, and Thackeray'sEnglish Humorists.
GOODALL, WALTER (1706?-1766).—Historical writer,b.in Banffshire, anded.King's Coll., Aberdeen, became assistant librarian to the Advocates' Library in Edin. In 1754 hepub.anExamination of the Letters said to have been written by Mary Queen of Scots, in which he combats the genuineness of the "Casket Letters." He also ed., among other works, Fordun'sScotichronicon(1759).
GOODWIN, THOMAS (1600-1680).—Divine, wasb.in Norfolk, anded.at Camb., where he was Vicar of Trinity Church. Becoming an Independent, he ministered to a church in London, and thereafter at Arnheim in Holland. Returning to England he was made Chaplain to Cromwell's Council of State, and Pres. of Magdalen Coll., Oxf. At the Restoration he was deprived, but continued to preach in London. He was the author of various commentaries and controversial pamphlets, was a member of the Westminster Assembly, and assisted in drawing up the amended Confession, 1658. He attended Oliver Cromwell on his deathbed.
GOOGE, BARNABE (1540-1594).—Poet and translator,b.at Lincoln, studied at both Camb. and Oxf. He was a kinsman of Cecil, who gave him employment in Ireland. He translated from the Latin of ManzolliThe Zodiac of Life, a satire against the Papacy, andThe Popish Kingdomeby T. Kirchmayer, a similar work; alsoThe Foure Bookes of Husbandrieof Conrad Heresbach. In 1563 hepub.a vol. of original poems,Eglogs, Epytaphes, andSonnettes.
GORDON, ADAM LINDSAY (1833-1870).—Poet, wasb.in the Azores, thes.of an officer in the army. He went to Australia,where he had a varied career in connection with horses and riding, for which he had a passion. He betook himself to the Bush, got into financial trouble, andd.by his own hand. In the main he derives his inspiration (as in theRhyme of Joyous Garde, andBritomarte) from mediæval and English sources, not from his Australian surroundings. Among his books areSea-spray and Smoke-drift(1867),Bush Ballads(containingThe Sick Stock-rider) (1870),Ashtaroth(1867). In many of his poems,e.g. An Exile's Farewell, andWhispering in the Wattle Boughs, there is a strong vein of sadness and pathos.
GORE, MRS. CATHERINE GRACE FRANCES (MOODY) (1799-1861).—Novelist,dau.of a wine merchant at Retford, where she wasb.Shem.a Captain Gore, with whom she resided mainly on the Continent, supporting her family by her voluminous writings. Between 1824 and 1862 she produced about 70 works, the most successful of which were novels of fashionable English life. Among these may be mentionedManners of the Day(1830),Cecil, or the Adventures of a Coxcomb(1841), andThe Banker's Wife(1843). She also wrote for the stage, and composed music for songs.
GOSSON, STEPHEN (1554-1624).—Poet, actor, and satirist,b.in Kent, anded.at Oxf., he went to London, and wrote plays, which are now lost, and pastorals; but, moved by a sermon preached at Paul's Cross in 1577 during a plague, he deserted the theatre, and became one of its severest critics in his prose satire,The School of Abrose(1579), directed against "poets, pipers, players, jesters, and such-like Caterpillars of a Commonwealth." Dedicated to Sir P. Sidney, it was not well received by him, and is believed to have evoked hisApologie for Poetrie(1595). G. entered the Church, andd.Rector of St. Botolph's, London.
GOUGH, RICHARD (1735-1809).—Antiquary, wasb.in London, and studied at Camb. For many years he made journeys over England in pursuit of his antiquarian studies. Hepub.about 20 works, among which areBritish Topography(1768),Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain(1786-99), an ed. of Camden'sBritannia, a translation ofThe Arabian Nights(1798), and various other treatises on archæology, topography, and numismatics.
GOWER, JOHN (1325?-1408).—Poet. Although few details of his life have come down to us, he appears to have been a man of wealth and importance, connected with Kent, well known at Court, and in possession of more than one estate. He was the friend of Chaucer, who gives him the title of "the moral Gower," which has clung to him ever since. His first principal work wasSpeculum Meditantis(the Mirror of one meditating) written in French on the subject of married life. It was long believed to have been lost. It was followed byVox Clamantis(the Voice of one crying) written in Latin, giving an account of the peasants' revolt of 1381, and attacking the misgovernment and social evils which had led to it. His third, and only English poem, wasConfessio Amantis(Lover's Confession), a work of 30,000 lines, consisting of tales and meditations on love, written at the request of Richard II. It is theearliest large collection of tales in the English tongue. In his old age G. became blind. He had, when about 70, retired to the Priory of St. Mary Overies, the chapel of which is now the Church of St. Saviour, Southwark, where he spent his last years, and to which he was a liberal benefactor. G. represented the serious and cultivated man of his time, in which he was reckoned the equal of Chaucer, but as a poet he is heavy and prolix.
GRAFTON, RICHARD (d.1572).—Printer and chronicler, printed various ed. of the Bible and Prayer-book; also the Proclamation of the Accession of Lady Jane Grey, for which he was cast into prison, where he compiled anAbridgement of the Chronicles of England(1563). To this he added in 1568A Chronicle at Large. Neither holds a high place as authorities.
GRAHAME, JAMES (1765-1811).—Poet,s.of a lawyer, wasb.anded.in Glasgow. After spending some time in a law office in Edin., he was called to the Scottish Bar. His health being delicate, and his circumstances easy, he early retired from practice, and taking orders in the Church of England in 1809, was appointed curate successively of Shipton, Gloucestershire, and Sedgefield, Durham. He wrote several pleasing poems, of which the best isThe Sabbath(1804). Hed.on a visit to Glasgow in his 47th year. His poems are full of quiet observation of country sights expressed in graceful verse.
GRAHAME, SIMON or SIMION (1570-1614).—B.in Edin., led a dissolute life as a traveller, soldier, and courtier on the Continent. He appears to have been a good scholar, and wrote thePassionate Sparke of a Relenting Minde, andAnatomy of Humours, the latter of which is believed to have suggested to Burton hisAnatomy of Melancholie. He became an austere Franciscan.
GRAINGER, JAMES (1721-1766).—Poet, of a Cumberland family, studied medicine at Edin., was an army surgeon, and on the peace settled in practice in London, where he became the friend of Dr. Johnson, Shenstone, and other men of letters. His first poem,Solitude, appeared in 1755. He subsequently went to the West Indies (St. Kit's), where he made a rich marriage, andpub.his chief poem,The Sugar-Cane(1764).
GRANGER, JAMES (1723-1776).—Biographer, was at Oxf. and, entering the Church, became Vicar of Shiplake, Oxon. Hepub.aBiographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution(1769). He insisted on the importance of collecting engravings of portraits and himself gathered 14,000, and gave a great impulse to the practice of making such collections.
GRANT, MRS. ANNE (M'VICAR) (1755-1838).—Wasb.in Glasgow, and in 1779m.the Rev. James Grant, minister of Laggan, Inverness-shire. Shepub.in 1802 a vol. of poems. She also wroteLetters from the Mountains, andEssays on the Superstitions of the Highlands. After 1810 she lived in Edin., where she was the friend of Sir W. Scott and other eminent men, through whose influence a pension of £100 was bestowed upon her.
GRANT, JAMES (1822-1887).—Novelist, was thes.of an officer in the army, in which he himself served for a short time. He wrote upwards of 50 novels in a brisk, breezy style, of which the best known are perhapsThe Romance of War(1845),Adventures of an Aide-de-Camp,Frank Hilton,Bothwell,Harry Ogilvie, andThe Yellow Frigate. He also wrote biographies ofKirkcaldy of Grange,Montrose, and others which, however, are not always trustworthy from an historical point of view.
GRANT, JAMES AUGUSTUS (1827-1892).—Traveller, was an officer in the army, and was sent by the Royal Geographical Society along with Captain JOHN HANNING SPEKE (1827-1864), to search for the equatorial lakes of Africa. Grant wroteA Walk across Africa,The Botany of the Speke and Grant Expedition, andKhartoum as I saw it in1863. Speke wroteJournal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile(1863), andWhat led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile(1864).
GRATTAN, THOMAS COLLEY (1792-1864).—Miscellaneous writer,b.in Dublin, anded.for the law, but did not practise. He wrote a few novels, includingThe Heiress of Bruges(4 vols., 1830); but his best work wasHighways and Byways, a description of his Continental wanderings, of which hepub.three series. He also wrote a history of the Netherlands and books on America. He was for some time British Consul at Boston, U.S.
GRAY, DAVID (1838-1861).—Poet,s.of a hand-loom weaver at Kirkintilloch, Dumbartonshire. He gave early promise at school, was destined for the service of the Church, and was for 4 years at Glasgow Univ. while he maintained himself by teaching. His first poems appeared in theGlasgow Citizen. In 1860, however, he went with his friend Robert Buchanan to London, where he soon fell into consumption. He was befriended by Mr. Monckton Milnes, afterwards Lord Houghton, but after a sojourn in the South of England, returned home to die. His chief poem,The Luggie(the river of his birthplace) contains much beautiful description; but his genius reached its highest expression in a series of 30 sonnets written in full view of an early death and blighted hopes, and bearing the title,In the Shadow. They breathe a spirit of the deepest melancholy unrelieved by hope.
GRAY, THOMAS (1716-1771).—Poet, wasb.in London, thes.of a scrivener, who, though described as "a respectable citizen," was of so cruel and violent a temper that his wife had to separate from him. To his mother and her sister, who carried on a business, G. was indebted for his liberal education at Eton (where he became a friend of Horace Walpole), and Camb. After completing his Univ. course he accompanied Walpole to France and Italy, where he spent over two years, when a difference arising G. returned to England, and went back to Camb. to take his degree in law without, however, any intention of practising. He remained at Camb. for the rest of his life, passing his time in the study of the classics, natural science, and antiquities, and in visits to his friends, of whom Walpole was again one. It was in 1747 that his first poem, theOde on a DistantProspect of Eton College, appeared, and it was followed between 1750 and 1757 by hisPindaric Odes, includingThe Progress of Poesy, andThe Bard, which were, however, somewhat coldly received. Nevertheless he had, on the death of Colley Cibber, the offer of the laureateship, which he declined; but in 1768 he accepted the Professorship of Modern History in his Univ., worth £400 a year. Having been drawn to the study of Icelandic and Celtic poetry he producedThe Fatal Sisters, andThe Descent of Odin, in which are apparent the first streaks of the dawn of the Romantic Revival. G.'s poems occupy little space, but what he wrote he brought to the highest perfection of which he was capable, and although there is a tendency on the part of some modern critics to depreciate him, it is probable that his place will always remain high among all but the first order of poets. Probably no poem has had a wider acceptance among all classes of readers than hisElegy in a Country Churchyard. In addition to his fame as a poet, he enjoys that of one of the greatest of English letter-writers, and of a really great scholar. Hed.at Camb. after a short illness following upon a gradually declining state of health.
Lifeby Gosse (Men of Letters Series, 1882).
GREELEY, HORACE (1811-1872).—Journalist and miscellaneous writer, was thes.of a small farmer in New Hampshire. His early life was passed first as a printer, and thereafter in editorial work. He started in 1841, and conducted until his death, theNew York Tribune. He was long a leader in American politics, and in 1872 was an unsuccessful candidate for the Presidency. His writings, which are chiefly political and economical, includeEssays on Political Economy(1870), andRecollections of a Busy Life(1868).
GREEN, JOHN RICHARD (1837-1883).—Historian, was thes.of a tradesman in Oxf., where he wased., first at Magdalen Coll. School, and then at Jesus Coll. He entered the Church, and served various cures in London, under a constant strain caused by delicate health. Always an enthusiastic student of history, his scanty leisure was devoted to research. In 1869 he finally gave up clerical work, and received the appointment of librarian at Lambeth. He had been laying plans for various historical works, including a History of the English Church as exhibited in a series of Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, and, what he proposed as hismagnum opus, A History of England under the Angevin Kings. The discovery, however, that his lungs were affected, necessitated the abridgment of all his schemes, and he concentrated his energies on the preparation of hisShort History of the English People, which appeared in 1874, and at once gave him an assured place in the first rank of historical writers. In 1877 hem.Miss Alice Stopford, by whose talents and devotion he was greatly assisted in carrying out and completing such work as his broken health enabled him to undertake during his few remaining years. Abandoning his proposed history of the Angevins, he confined himself to expanding hisShort HistoryintoA History of the English Peoplein 4 vols. (1878-80), and writingThe Making of England, of which one vol. only, coming down to 828, had appeared when hed.at Mentone in March 1883. After his death appearedThe Conquest of England. TheShortHistorymay be said to have begun a new epoch in the writing of history, making the social, industrial, and moral progress of the people its main theme. To infinite care in the gathering and sifting of his material G. added a style of wonderful charm, and an historical imagination which has hardly been equalled.
GREEN, MATTHEW (1696-1737).—Poet, is known as the author ofThe Spleen, a lively and original poem in octosyllabic verse on the subject of low spirits and the best means of prevention and cure. It has life-like descriptions, sprightliness, and lightness of touch, and was admired by Pope and Gray. The poem owes its name to the use of the term in the author's day to denote depression. G., who held an appointment in the Customs, appears to have been a quiet, inoffensive person, an entertaining companion, and a Quaker.
GREEN, THOMAS HILL (1836-1882).—Philosopher, wasb.at Birken Rectory, Yorkshire, anded.at Rugby and Balliol Coll., Oxf., where he became Whyte Prof. of Moral Philosophy and, by his character, ability, and enthusiasm on social questions, exercised a powerful influence. His chief works are anIntroduction to Hume's Treatise on Human Nature(Clarendon Press ed.), in which he criticised H.'s philosophy severely from the idealist standpoint, andProlegomena to Ethics,pub.posthumously.
GREENE, ROBERT (1560?-1592).—Poet, dramatist, and pamphleteer, wasb.at Norwich, and studied at Camb., where hegrad.A.B. He was also incorporated at Oxf. in 1588. After travelling in Spain and Italy, he returned to Camb. and took A.M. Settling in London he was one of the wild and brilliant crew who passed their lives in fitful alternations of literary production and dissipation, and were the creators of the English drama. He has left an account of his career in which he calls himself "the mirror of mischief." During his short life about town, in the course of which he ran through his wife's fortune, and deserted her soon after the birth of her first child, he poured forth tales, plays, and poems, which had great popularity. In the tales, or pamphlets as they were then called, he turns to account his wide knowledge of city vices. His plays, includingThe Scottish History of James IV., andOrlando Furioso, which are now little read, contain some fine poetry among a good deal of bombast; but his fame rests, perhaps, chiefly on the poems scattered through his writings, which are full of grace and tenderness. G.d.from the effects of a surfeit of pickled herrings and Rheinish wine. His extant writings are much less gross than those of many of his contemporaries, and he seems to have given signs of repentance on his deathbed, as is evidenced by his last work,A Groat's worth of Wit bought with a Million of Repentance. In this curious work occurs his famous reference to Shakespeare as "an upstart crow beautified with our feathers." Among his other works may be mentionedEuphues' censure to Philautus,Pandosto, the Triumph of Time(1588), from which Shakespeare borrowed the plot ofThe Winter's Tale,A Notable Discovery of Coosnage,Arbasto, King of Denmark,Penelope's Web,Menaphon(1589), andConey Catching. His plays, allpub.posthumously, includeFriar Bacon and Friar Bungay,Alphonsus, King of Aragon, andGeorge-a-Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield. His tales are written under the influence of Lyly, whence he received from Gabriel Harvey the nickname of "Euphues' Ape."
Plays ed. by Dyce (2 vols., 1831, new ed., 1861). His works are included in Grosart's "Huth Library."
GREG, WILLIAM RATHBONE (1809-1881).—Essayist,b.in Manchester, anded.at Bristol and Edin., was for some years engaged in his father's business as a millowner at Bury. Becoming deeply interested in political and social questions he contributed to reviews and magazines many papers and essays on these subjects, which wererepub.in three collections, viz.,Essays on Political and Social Science(1854),Literary and Social Judgments(1869), andMiscellaneous Essays(1884). Other works of his areEnigmas of Life(1872),Rocks Ahead(1874), andMistaken Aims, etc.(1876). In his writings he frequently manifested a distrust of democracy and a pessimistic view of the future of his country. He held successively the appointments of Commissioner of Customs and Controller of H.M. Stationery Office.
GREVILLE, CHARLES CAVENDISH FULKE (1794-1865).—Political annalist,ed.at Eton and Oxf., was a page to George III., sec. to Earl Bathurst, and afterwards held the sinecure office of Sec. of Jamaica. In 1821 he became Clerk to the Privy Council, an office which brought him into close contact with the leaders of both political parties, and gave him unusual opportunities of becoming acquainted with all that was passing behind the scenes. The information as to men and events thus acquired he fully utilised in hisJournal of the Reigns of George IV., William IV., and Queen Victoria, which, ed. by Henry Reeve, of theEdinburgh Review, waspub.in three series between 1874 and 1887. TheJournalcovers the period, from 1820-60, and constitutes an invaluable contribution to the history of the time.
GRIFFIN, BARTHOLOMEW? (fl.1596).—Poet, of whom almost nothing is known,pub.in 1596 a collection of 62 sonnets under the title ofFidessa, of which some are excellent.
GRIFFIN, GERALD (1803-1840).—Dramatist, novelist, and poet,s.of a tradesman,b.anded.in Limerick, he went in 1823 to London, where most of his literary work was produced. In 1838 he returned to Ireland and, dividing his property among his brothers, devoted himself to a religious life by joining the Teaching Order of the Christian Brothers. Two years thereafter hed., worn out by self-inflicted austerities. His chief novel,The Collegians, was adapted by Boucicault asThe Colleen Bawn, and among his dramas isGisippus. His novels depict southern Irish life.
GRIMOALD, NICHOLAS (1519-1562).—Poet, was at Camb. and Oxf., and was chaplain to Bishop Ridley. He contributed to Tottel'sSongs and Sonnettes(1557), wrote two dramas in Latin,Archi-prophetaandChristus Redivivus, and made translations.
GROOME, FRANCIS HINDES (1851-1902).—Miscellaneous writer,s.of a clergyman, wrote for various encyclopædias, etc. Hewas a student of the gipsies and their language, andpub.In Gypsy Tents(1880),Gypsy Folk Tales(1899), and an ed. of Borrow'sLavengro(1900). Other works wereA Short Border History(1887),Kriegspiel(1896), a novel, andTwo Suffolk Friends(hisf.andEdward Fitzgerald,q.v.).
GROSART, ALEXANDER BALLOCH (1827-1899).—Was a minister of the English Presbyterian Church. He wrote Lives of various Puritan divines, ed. their works, and also issued ed., with Lives, of the poems ofMichael Bruce(q.v.) andRobert Fergusson(q.v.). But his chief service to literature was his reprints, with notes, of rare Elizabethan and Jacobean literature, includingFuller's Worthies Library, 39 vols. (1868-76),Occasional Issues of Unique and Very Rare Books, 38 vols. 1875-81,Huth Library, 33 vols. (1886), Spenser'sWorks, 10 vols.,Daniel's Works, etc.
GROSE, FRANCIS (1731-1791).—Antiquary and lexicographer, of Swiss extraction, was Richmond Herald 1755-63. Hepub.Antiquities of England and Wales(1773-87), which was well received, and thereafter, 1789, set out on an antiquarian tour through Scotland, the fruit of which wasAntiquity of Scotland(1789-91). He afterwards undertook a similar expedition to Ireland, butd.suddenly at Dublin. In addition to the works above mentioned he wroteA Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue(1785),A Provincial Glossary(1787), aTreatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, etc. He was an accomplished draughtsman, and illustrated his works.
GROSSETESTE, ROBERT (d.1253).—Theologian and scholar, wasb.of poor parents at Stradbrook, Suffolk, and studied at Oxf. and possibly Paris. His abilities and learning procured him many preferments; but after an illness he refused to be longer a pluralist, and resigned all but a prebend at Lincoln. Later he was a strenuous and courageous reformer, as is shown by his refusing in 1253 to induct a nephew of the Pope to a canonry at Lincoln, of which he had been Bishop since 1235. He was equally bold in resisting the demand of Henry III. for a tenth of the Church revenues. Amid his absorbing labours as a Churchman, he found time to be a copious writer on a great variety of subjects, including husbandry, physical and moral philosophy, as also sermons, commentaries, and an allegory, theChateau d'Amour. Roger Bacon was a pupil of his, and testifies to his amazing variety of knowledge.
GROTE, GEORGE (1794-1871).—Historian,s.of a wealthy banker in London, wasb.at Beckenham, anded.at Charterhouse School. In 1810 he entered the bank, of which he became head in 1830. In 1832 he was elected one of the members of Parliament for the City of London. In 1841 he retired from Parliament, and in 1843 from the bank, thenceforth devoting his whole time to literature, which, along with politics, had been his chief interest from his youth. He early came under the influence of Bentham and the two Mills, and was one of the leaders of the group of theorists known as "philosophical Radicals." In 1820 hem.Miss Harriet Lewin who, from her intellectual powers, was fitted to be his helperin his literary and political interests. In 1826 he contributed to theWestminster Reviewa severe criticism of Mitford'sHistory of Greece, and in 1845pub.the first 2 vols. of his own, the remaining 6 vols. appearing at intervals up to 1856. G. belongs to the school of philosophical historians, and hisHistory, which begins with the legends, ends with the fall of the country under the successors of Alexander the Great. It is one of the standard works on the subject, which his learning enabled him to treat in a full and thorough manner; the style is clear and strong. It has been repeatedly re-issued, and has been translated into French and German. G. alsopub., in 1865,Plato and other Companions of Socrates, and left unfinished a work onAristotle. In political life G. was, as might be expected, a consistent and somewhat rigid Radical, and he was a strong advocate of the ballot. He was one of the founders of the first London Univ., a Trustee of the British Museum, D.C.L. of Oxf., LL.D. of Camb., and a Foreign Associate of the Académie des Sciences. He was offered, but declined, a peerage in 1869, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
GRUB, GEORGE (1812-1892).—Historian, wasb.in Old Aberdeen, anded.at King's Coll. there. He studied law, and was admitted in 1836 to the Society of Advocates, Aberdeen, of which he was librarian from 1841 until his death. He was appointed Lecturer on Scots Law in Marischal Coll., and was Prof. of Law in the Univ. (1881-91). He has a place in literature as the author of anEcclesiastical History of Scotland(1861), written from the standpoint of a Scottish Episcopalian, which, though dry, is concise, clear, fair-minded, and trustworthy. G. also ed. (along with Joseph Robertson) Gordon'sScots Affairsfor the Spalding Club, of which he was one of the founders.
GUEST, LADY CHARLOTTE (BERTIE) (1812-1895).—Dau.of the 9th Earl of Lindsey,m.in 1833 Sir Josiah J. Guest, a wealthy ironmaster, after whose death in 1852 she managed the works. She was an enthusiastic student of Welsh literature, and aided by native scholars translated with consummate skill theMabinogion, the manuscript of which in Jesus Coll., Oxf., is known as theRed Book of Hergest, and which is now a recognised classic of mediæval romance. She also prepared a 'Boys'Mabinogioncontaining the earliest Welsh tales of Arthur. She was also noted as a collector of china, fans, and playing cards, on which subjects she wrote several volumes. She entered into a second marriage in 1855 with Dr. C. Schreiber, but in literature she is always referred to under her first married name.
GUTHRIE, THOMAS (1803-1873).—Divine and philanthropist,b.at Brechin, studied for the Church, and became a minister in Edin. Possessed of a commanding presence and voice, and a remarkably effective and picturesque style of oratory, he became perhaps the most popular preacher of his day in Scotland, and was associated with many forms of philanthropy, especially temperance and ragged schools, of the latter of which he was the founder. He was one of the leaders of the Free Church, and raised over £100,000 for manses for its ministers. Among his writings areThe Gospel in Ezekiel,Plea for Ragged Schools, andThe City, its Sins and Sorrows.
HABINGTON, WILLIAM (1605-1654).—Poet,s.of a Worcestershire Roman Catholic gentleman, wased.at St. Omer's, but refused to become a Jesuit. Hem.Lucia,dau.of Lord Powis, whom he celebrated in his poemCastara(1634), in which he sang the praises of chaste love. He also wrote a tragi-comedy,The Queen of Arragon(1640), and aHistorie of Edward IV.His verse is graceful and tender.
HAILES, DALRYMPLE DAVID, LORD (1726-1792).—Scottish judge and historical writer, wasb.at Edin. Belonging to a family famous as lawyers, he was called to the Bar in 1748, and raised to the Bench in 1766. An excellent judge, he was also untiring in the pursuit of his favourite studies, and produced several works of permanent value on Scottish history and antiquities, includingAnnals of Scotland(1776), andCanons of the Church of Scotland(1769). He was a friend and correspondent of Dr. Johnson.
HAKE, THOMAS GORDON (1809-1895).—Poet,b.at Leeds,ed.at Christ's Hospital, was a physician, and practised at various places. His books includeMadeline(1871),Parables and Tales(1873),The Serpent Play(1883),New Day Sonnets(1890), andMemoirs of Eighty Years(1893).
HAKLUYT, RICHARD (1553?-1616).—Collector of voyages, belonged to a good Herefordshire family of Dutch descent, wasb.either at Eyton in that county or in London, anded.at Westminster School and Oxf. The sight of a map of the world fired his imagination and implanted in his mind the interest in geography and the lives and adventures of our great navigators and discoverers, which became the ruling passion of his life; and in order to increase his knowledge of these matters he studied various foreign languages and the art of navigation. He took orders, and was chaplain of the English Embassy in Paris, Rector of Witheringsett, Suffolk, 1590, Archdeacon of Westminster, 1602, and Rector of Gedney, Lincolnshire, 1612. After a first collection of voyages to America and the West Indies he compiled, while at Paris, his great work,The Principal Navigations, Voyages ... and Discoveries of the English Nation made by Sea or over Land to the Remote and Farthest Distant Quarters of the Earth ... within the Compass of these 1500 Years. It appeared in its final form (three folio vols.) in 1599. Besides it hepub.A Discourse of Western Planting, and he left a vast mass of MS. afterwards used (in far inferior style) byS. Purchas(q.v.). In all his work H. was actuated not only by the love of knowledge, but by a noble patriotism: he wished to see England the great sea-power of the world, and he lived to see it so. His work, as has been said, is "our English epic." In addition to his original writings he translated various works, among them beingThe Discoveries of the World, from the Portuguese of Antonio Galvano.
HALE, SIR MATTHEW (1609-1676).—Jurist and miscellaneous writer, has left a great reputation as a lawyer and judge. Steering a neutral course during the political changes of his time, he served under the Protectorate and after the Restoration, and rose to be Chief Justice of the King's Bench. He is mentioned here as the author of several works on science, divinity, and law. Amongthem areThe Primitive Origination of Mankind, andContemplations, Moral and Divine. His legal works are still of great authority. Though somewhat dissipated in early youth, he has handed down a high reputation for wisdom and piety.
HALES, JOHN (1584-1656).—Theologian,b.at Bath, anded.there and at Oxf., became one of the best Greek scholars of his day, and lectured on that language at Oxf. In 1616 he accompanied the English ambassador to the Hague in the capacity of chaplain, and attended the Synod of Dort, where he was converted from Calvinism to Arminianism. A lover of quiet and learned leisure, he declined all high and responsible ecclesiastical preferment, and chose and obtained scholarly retirement in a Fellowship of Eton, of which his friends Sir Henry Savile and Sir Henry Wotton were successively Provost. A treatise onSchism and Schismatics(1636?) gave offence to Laud, but H. defended himself so well that Laud made him a Prebendary of Windsor. Refusing to acknowledge the Commonwealth, he was deprived, fell into poverty, and had to sell his library. After his death his writings werepub.in 1659 asThe Golden Remains of the Ever-Memorable Mr. John Hales of Eton College.
HALIBURTON, THOMAS CHANDLER (1796-1865).—B.at Windsor, Nova Scotia, was a lawyer, and rose to be Judge of the Supreme Court of the Colony. He was the author ofThe Clock-maker, or Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick of Slickville, and a continuation,The Attaché, or Sam Slick in England. In these he made a distinctly original contribution to English fiction, full of shrewdness and humour. He may be regarded as the pioneer of the American school of humorists. He wrote various other works, includingThe Old Judge,Nature and Human Nature,A Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia, etc. In 1856 he settled in England, and sat in the House of Commons for Launceston.