[1] Many of them are described and illustrated in the _Monographie
des loxiens_ of Prince C. L. Bonaparte and Professor Schlegel (1850),
though it excludes many birds which an English writer would call
"grosbeaks."
GROSE, FRANCIS (c. 1730-1791), English antiquary, was born at Greenford
in Middlesex, about the year 1730. His father was a wealthy Swiss
jeweller, settled at Richmond, Surrey. Grose early showed an interest in
heraldry and antiquities, and his father procured him a position in the
Heralds' College. In 1763, being then Richmond Herald, he sold his
tabard, and shortly afterwards became adjutant and paymaster of the
Hampshire militia, where, as he himself humorously observed, the only
account-books he kept were his right and left pockets, into the one of
which he received, and from the other of which he paid. This
carelessness exposed him to serious financial difficulties; and after a
vain attempt to repair them by accepting a captaincy in the Surrey
militia, the fortune left him by his father being squandered, he began
to turn to account his excellent education and his powers as a
draughtsman. In 1757 he had been elected fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries. In 1773 he began to publish his _Antiquities of England and
Wales_, a work which brought him money as well as fame. This, with its
supplementary parts relating to the Channel Islands, was not completed
till 1787. In 1789 he set out on an antiquarian tour through Scotland,
and in the course of this journey met Burns, who composed in his honour
the famous song beginning "Ken ye aught o' Captain Grose," and in that
other poem, still more famous, "Hear, land o' cakes, and brither Scots,"
warned all Scotsmen of this "chield amang them taking notes." In 1790 he
began to publish the results of what Burns called "his peregrinations
through Scotland;" but he had not finished the work when he bethought
himself of going over to Ireland and doing for that country what he had
already done for Great Britain. About a month after his arrival, while
in Dublin, he died in an apoplectic fit at the dinner-table of a friend,
on the 12th of June 1791.
Grose was a sort of antiquarian Falstaff--at least he possessed in a
striking degree the knight's physical peculiarities; but he was a man of
true honour and charity, a valuable friend, "overlooking little faults
and seeking out greater virtues," and an inimitable boon companion. His
humour, his varied knowledge and his good nature were all eminently
calculated to make him a favourite in society. As Burns says of him--
"But wad ye see him in his glee,
For meikle glee and fun has he,
Then set him down, and twa or three
Gude fellows wi' him;
And _port, O port!_ shine thou a wee,
And THEN ye'll see him!"
Grose's works include _The Antiquities of England and Wales_ (6 vols.,
1773-1787); _Advice to the Officers of the British Army_ (1782), a
satire in the manner of Swift's _Directions to Servants; A Guide to
Health, Beauty, Riches and Honour_ (1783), a collection of
advertisements of the period, with characteristic satiric preface; _A
Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_ (1785); _A Treatise on
Ancient Armour and Weapons_ (1785-1789); Darrell's _History of Dover_
(1786); _Military Antiquities_ (2 vols., 1786-1788); _A Provincial
Glossary_ (1787); _Rules for Drawing Caricatures_ (1788); _The
Antiquities of Scotland_ (2 vols., 1789-1791); _Antiquities of
Ireland_ (2 vols., 1791), edited and partly written by Ledwich. _The
Grumbler_, sixteen humerous essays, appeared in 1791 after his death;
and in 1793 _The Olio_, a collection of essays, jests and small pieces
of poetry, highly characteristic of Grose, though certainly not all by
him, was put together from his papers by his publisher, who was also
his executor.
A capital full-length portrait of Grose by N. Dance is in the first
volume of the _Antiquities of England and Wales_, and another is among
Kay's _Portraits_. A versified sketch of him appeared in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, lxi. 660. See _Gentleman's Magazine_, lxi.
498, 582; Noble's _Hist. of the College of Arms_, p. 434; _Notes and
Queries_, 1st ser., ix. 350; 3rd ser., i. 64, x. 280-281; 5th ser.,
xii. 148; 6th ser., ii. 47, 257, 291; Hone, _Every-day Book_, i. 655.
GROSS, properly thick, bulky, the meaning of the Late Lat. _grossus_.
The Latin word has usually been taken as cognate with _crassus_, thick,
but this is now doubted. It also appears not to be connected with the
Ger. _gross_, a Teutonic word represented in English by "great." Apart
from its direct meaning, and such figurative senses as coarse, vulgar
or flagrant, the chief uses are whole, entire, without deduction, as
opposed to "net," or as applied to that which is sold in bulk as opposed
to "retail" (cf. "grocer" and "engrossing"). As a unit of tale, "gross"
equals 12 dozen, 144, sometimes known as "small gross," in contrast with
"great gross," i.e. 12 gross, 144 dozen. As a technical expression in
English common law, "in gross" is applied to an incorporeal hereditament
attached to the person of an owner, in contradistinction to one which is
appendant or appurtenant, that is, attached to the ownership of land
(see COMMONS).
GROSSE, JULIUS WALDEMAR (1828-1902), German poet, the son of a military
chaplain, was born at Erfurt on the 25th of April 1828. He received his
early education at the gymnasium in Magdeburg, and on leaving school and
showing disinclination for the ministry, entered an architect's office.
But his mind was bent upon literature, and in 1849 he entered the
university of Halle, where, although inscribed as a student of law, he
devoted himself almost exclusively to letters. His first poetical essay
was with the tragedy _Cola di Rienzi_ (1851), followed in the same year
by a comedy, _Eine Nachtpartie Shakespeares_, which was at once produced
on the stage. The success of these first two pieces encouraged him to
follow literature as a profession, and proceeding in 1852 to Munich, he
joined the circle of young poets of whom Paul Heyse (q.v.) and Hermann
Lingg (1820-1905) were the chief. For six years (1855-1861) he was
dramatic critic of the _Neue Munchener Zeitung_, and was then for a
while on the staff of the _Leipziger Illustrierte Zeitung_, but in 1862
he returned to Munich as editor of the _Bayrische Zeitung_, a post he
retained until the paper ceased to exist in 1867. In 1869 Grosse was
appointed secretary of the _Schiller-Stiftung_, and lived for the next
few years alternately in Weimar, Dresden and Munich, until, in 1890, he
took up his permanent residence in Weimar. He was made grand-ducal
_Hofrat_ and had the title of "professor." He died at Torbole on the
Lago di Garda on the 9th of May 1902.
Grosse was a most prolific writer of novels, dramas and poems. As a
lyric poet, especially in _Gedichte_ (1857) and _Aus bewegten Tagen_, a
volume of poems (1869), he showed himself more to advantage than in his
novels, of which latter, however, _Untreu aus Mitleid_ (2 vols., 1868);
_Vox populi, vox dei_ (1869); _Maria Mancini_ (1871); _Neue Erzahlungen_
(1875); _Sophie Monnier_ (1876), and _Ein Frauenlos_ (1888) are
remarkable for a certain elegance of style. His tragedies, _Die
Ynglinger_ (1858); _Tiberius_ (1876); _Johann von Schwaben_; and the
comedy _Die steinerne Braut_, had considerable success on the stage.
Grosse's _Gesammelte dramatische Werke_ appeared in 7 vols. in Leipzig
(1870), while his _Erzahlende Dichtungen_ were published at Berlin (6
vols., 1871-1873). An edition of his selected works by A. Bartels is
in preparation. See also his autobiography, _Literarische Ursachen und
Wirkungen_ (1896); R. Prutz, _Die Literatur der Gegenwart_ (1859); J.
Ethe, _J. Grosse als epischer Dichter_ (1872).
GROSSENHAIN, a town In the kingdom of Saxony, 20 m. N. from Dresden, on
the main line of railway (via Elsterwerda) to Berlin and at the junction
of lines to Priestewitz and Frankfort-on-Oder. Pop. (1905) 12,015. It
has an Evangelical church, a modern and a commercial school, a library
and an extensive public park. The industries are very important, and
embrace manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs, buckskin, leather,
glass and machinery. Grossenhain was originally a Sorb settlement. It
was for a time occupied by the Bohemians, by whom it was strongly
fortified. It afterwards came into the possession of the margraves of
Meissen, from whom it was taken in 1312 by the margraves of Brandenburg.
It suffered considerably in all the great German wars, and in 1744 was
nearly destroyed by fire. On the 16th of May 1813, a battle took place
here between the French and the Russians.
See G. W. Schuberth, _Chronik der Stadt Grossenhain_ (Grossenhain,
1887-1892).
GROSSETESTE, ROBERT (c. 1175-1253), English statesman, theologian and
bishop of Lincoln, was born of humble parents at Stradbrook in Suffolk.
He received his education at Oxford where he became proficient in law,
medicine and the natural sciences. Giraldus Cambrensis, whose
acquaintance he had made, introduced him, before 1199, to William de
Vere, bishop of Hereford. Grosseteste aspired to a post in the bishop's
household, but being deprived by death of this patron betook himself to
the study of theology. It is possible that he visited Paris for this
purpose, but he finally settled in Oxford as a teacher. His first
preferment of importance was the chancellorship of the university. He
gained considerable distinction as a lecturer, and was the first rector
of the school which the Franciscans established in Oxford about 1224.
Grosseteste's learning is highly praised by Roger Bacon, who was a
severe critic. According to Bacon, Grosseteste knew little Greek or
Hebrew and paid slight attention to the works of Aristotle, but was
pre-eminent among his contemporaries for his knowledge of the natural
sciences. Between 1214 and 1231 Grosseteste held in succession the
archdeaconries of Chester, Northampton and Leicester. In 1232, after a
severe illness, he resigned all his benefices and preferments except one
prebend which he held at Lincoln. His intention was to spend the rest of
his life in contemplative piety. But he retained the office of
chancellor, and in 1235 accepted the bishopric of Lincoln. He undertook
without delay the reformation of morals and clerical discipline
throughout his vast diocese. This scheme brought him into conflict with
more than one privileged corporation, but in particular with his own
chapter, who vigorously disputed his claim to exercise the right of
visitation over their community. The dispute raged hotly from 1239 to
1245. It was conducted on both sides with unseemly violence, and those
who most approved of Grosseteste's main purpose thought it needful to
warn him against the mistake of over-zeal. But in 1245, by a personal
visit to the papal court at Lyons, he secured a favourable verdict. In
ecclesiastical politics the bishop belonged to the school of Becket. His
zeal for reform led him to advance, on behalf of the courts-Christian,
pretensions which it was impossible that the secular power should admit.
He twice incurred a well-merited rebuke from Henry III. upon this
subject; although it was left for Edward I. to settle the question of
principle in favour of the state. The devotion of Grosseteste to the
hierarchical theories of his age is attested by his correspondence with
his chapter and the king. Against the former he upheld the prerogative
of the bishops; against the latter he asserted that it was impossible
for a bishop to disregard the commands of the Holy See. Where the
liberties of the national church came into conflict with the pretensions
of Rome he stood by his own countrymen. Thus in 1238 he demanded that
the king should release certain Oxford scholars who had assaulted the
legate Otho. But at least up to the year 1247 he submitted patiently to
papal encroachments, contenting himself with the protection (by a
special papal privilege) of his own diocese from alien clerks. Of royal
exactions he was more impatient; and after the retirement of Archbishop
Saint Edmund (q.v.) constituted himself the spokesman of the clerical
estate in the Great Council. In 1244 he sat on a committee which was
empanelled to consider a demand for a subsidy. The committee rejected
the demand, and Grosseteste foiled an attempt on the king's part to
separate the clergy from the baronage. "It is written," the bishop said,
"that united we stand and divided we fall."
It was, however, soon made clear that the king and pope were in alliance
to crush the independence of the English clergy; and from 1250 onwards
Grosseteste openly criticized the new financial expedients to which
Innocent IV. had been driven by his desperate conflict with the Empire.
In the course of a visit which he made to Innocent in this year, the
bishop laid before the pope and cardinals a written memorial in which he
ascribed all the evils of the Church to the malignant influence of the
Curia. It produced no effect, although the cardinals felt that
Grosseteste was too influential to be punished for his audacity. Much
discouraged by his failure the bishop thought of resigning. In the end,
however, he decided to continue the unequal struggle. In 1251 he
protested against a papal mandate enjoining the English clergy to pay
Henry III. one-tenth of their revenues for a crusade; and called
attention to the fact that, under the system of provisions, a sum of
70,000 marks was annually drawn from England by the alien nominees of
Rome. In 1253, upon being commanded to provide in his own diocese for a
papal nephew, he wrote a letter of expostulation and refusal, not to the
pope himself but to the commissioner, Master Innocent, through whom he
received the mandate. The text of the remonstrance, as given in the
_Burton Annals_ and in Matthew Paris, has possibly been altered by a
forger who had less respect than Grosseteste for the papacy. The
language is more violent than that which the bishop elsewhere employs.
But the general argument, that the papacy may command obedience only so
far as its commands are consonant with the teaching of Christ and the
apostles, is only what should be expected from an ecclesiastical
reformer of Grosseteste's time. There is much more reason for suspecting
the letter addressed "to the nobles of England, the citizens of London,
and the community of the whole realm," in which Grosseteste is
represented as denouncing in unmeasured terms papal finance in all its
branches. But even in this case allowance must be made for the
difference between modern and medieval standards of decorum.
Grosseteste numbered among his most intimate friends the Franciscan
teacher, Adam Marsh (q.v.). Through Adam he came into close relations
with Simon de Montfort. From the Franciscan's letters it appears that
the earl had studied a political tract by Grosseteste on the difference
between a monarchy and a tyranny; and that he embraced with enthusiasm
the bishop's projects of ecclesiastical reform. Their alliance began as
early as 1239, when Grosseteste exerted himself to bring about a
reconciliation between the king and the earl. But there is no reason to
suppose that the political ideas of Montfort had matured before the
death of Grosseteste; nor did Grosseteste busy himself overmuch with
secular politics, except in so far as they touched the interest of the
Church. Grosseteste realized that the misrule of Henry III. and his
unprincipled compact with the papacy largely accounted for the
degeneracy of the English hierarchy and the laxity of ecclesiastical
discipline. But he can hardly be termed a constitutionalist.
Grosseteste died on the 9th of October 1253. He must then have been
between seventy and eighty years of age. He was already an elderly man,
with a firmly established reputation, when he became a bishop. As an
ecclesiastical statesman he showed the same fiery zeal and versatility
of which he had given proof in his academical career; but the general
tendency of modern writers has been to exaggerate his political and
ecclesiastical services, and to neglect his performances as a scientist
and scholar. The opinion of his own age, as expressed by Matthew Paris
and Roger Bacon, was very different. His contemporaries, while admitting
the excellence of his intentions as a statesman, lay stress upon his
defects of temper and discretion. But they see in him the pioneer of a
literary and scientific movement; not merely a great ecclesiastic who
patronized learning in his leisure hours, but the first mathematician
and physicist of his age. It is certainly true that he anticipated, in
these fields of thought, some of the most striking ideas to which Roger
Bacon subsequently gave a wider currency.
See the _Epistolae Roberti Grosseteste_ (Rolls Series, 1861) edited
with a valuable introduction by H. R. Luard. Grosseteste's famous
memorial to the pope is printed in the appendix to E. Brown's
_Fasciculus rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum_ (1690). A tract _De
phisicis, lineis, angulis et figuris_ was printed at Nuremberg in
1503, A French poem, _Le Chastel d'amour_, sometimes attributed to
him, has been printed by the Caxton Society. Two curious tracts, the
"De moribus pueri ad mensam" (printed by Wynkyn de Worde) and the
"Statuta familiae Roberti Grosseteste" (printed by J. S. Brewer in
_Monumenta Franciscana_, i. 582), may be from his pen; but the editor
of the latter work ascribes it to Adam de Marsh. There is less doubt
respecting the _Reules Seynt Robert_, a tract giving advice for the
management of the household of the countess of Lincoln. For
Grosseteste's life and work see Roger Bacon's _Opus majus_ (ed. J. H.
Bridges, 1897, 2 vols.) and _Opera quaedam inedita_ (ed. J. S. Brewer,
Rolls Series, 1859); M. Paris's _Chronica majora_ (ed. H. R. Luard,
Rolls Series, 1872-1883, 5 vols.); and the _Lives_ by S. Pegge (1793)
and F. S. Stevenson (1899). (H. W. C. D.)
GROSSETO, a town and episcopal see of Tuscany, capital of the province
of Grosseto, 90 m. S.S.E. of Pisa by rail. Pop. (1901) 5856 (town), 8843
(commune). It is 38 ft. above sea-level, and is almost circular in
shape; it is surrounded by fortifications, constructed by Francis I.
(1574-1587) and Ferdinand I. (1587-1609), which form a hexagonal
enceinte with projecting bastions, with two gates only. The small
cathedral, begun in 1294, is built of red and white marble alternating,
in the Italian Gothic style; it was restored in 1855. The citadel was
built in 1311 by the Sienese. Grosseto is on the main line from Pisa to
Rome, and is also the starting-point (Montepescali, 8 m. to the N., is
the exact point of divergence) of a branch line to Asciano and Siena.
The town dates from the middle ages. In 1138 the episcopal see was
transferred thither from Rusellae. In 1230 it, with the rest of the
Maremma, of which it is the capital, came under the dominion of Siena.
By the peace of 1559, however, it passed to Cosimo I. of Tuscany. In
1745 the malaria had grown to such an extent, owing to the neglect of
the drainage works, that Grosseto had only 648 inhabitants, though in
1224 it had 3000 men who bore arms. Leopold I. renewed drainage
operations, and by 1836 the population had risen to 2392. The malaria is
not yet entirely conquered, however, and the official headquarters of
the province are in summer transferred to Scansano (1837 ft.), 20 m. to
the S.E. by road.
GROSSI, GIOVANNI FRANCESCO (?-1699), one of the greatest Italian singers
of the age of _bel canto_, better known as Siface, was born at Pescia in
Tuscany about the middle of the 17th century. He entered the papal
chapel in 1675, and later sang at Venice. He derived his nickname of
Siface from his impersonation of that character in an opera of Cavalli.
It has generally been said that he appeared as Siface in Alessandro
Scarlatti's _Mitridate_, but the confusion is due to his having sung the
part of Mitridate in Scarlatti's _Pompeo_ at Naples in 1683. In 1687 he
was sent to London by the duke of Modena, to become a member of the
chapel of James II. He probably did much for the introduction of Italian
music into England, but soon left the country on account of the climate.
Among Purcell's harpsichord music is an air entitled "Sefauchi's
Farewell." He was murdered in 1699 on the road between Bologna and
Ferrara, probably by the agents of a nobleman with whose wife he had a
_liaison_.
See Corrado Ricci's _Vita Barocca_ (Milan, 1904).
GROSSI, TOMMASO (1791-1853), Lombard poet and novelist, was born at
Bellano, on the Lake of Como, on the 20th of January 1791. He took his
degree in law at Pavia in 1810, and proceeded thence to Milan to
exercise his profession; but the Austrian government, suspecting his
loyalty, interfered with his prospects, and in consequence Grossi was a
simple notary all his life. That the suspicion was well grounded he soon
showed by writing in the Milanese dialect the battle poem _La Prineide_,
in which he described with vivid colours the tragical death of Prina,
chief treasurer during the empire, whom the people of Milan, instigated
by Austrian agitators, had torn to pieces and dragged through the
streets of the town (1814). The poem, being anonymous, was first
attributed to the celebrated Porta, but Grossi of his own accord
acknowledged himself the author. In 1816 he published other two poems,
written likewise in Milanese--_The Golden Rain_ (La Pioggia d'oro) and
_The Fugitive_ (La Fuggitiva). These compositions secured him the
friendship of Porta and Manzoni, and the three poets came to form a sort
of romantic literary triumvirate. Grossi took advantage of the
popularity of his Milanese poems to try Italian verse, into which he
sought to introduce the moving realism which had given such satisfaction
in his earliest compositions; and in this he was entirely successful
with his poem _Ildegonda_ (1814). He next wrote an epic poem, entitled
_The Lombards in the First Crusade_, a work of which Manzoni makes
honourable mention in _I Promessi Sposi_. This composition, which was
published by subscription (1826), attained a success unequalled by that
of any other Italian poem within the century. The example of Manzoni
induced Grossi to write an historical novel entitled _Marco Visconti_
(1834)--a work which contains passages of fine description and deep
pathos. A little later Grossi published a tale in verse, _Ulrico and
Lida_, but with this publication his poetical activity ceased. After
his marriage in 1838 he continued to employ himself as a notary in Milan
till his death on the 10th of December 1853.
His _Life_ by Cantu appeared at Milan in 1854.
GROSSMITH, GEORGE (1847- ), English comedian, was born on the 9th of
December 1847, the son of a law reporter and entertainer of the same
name. After some years of journalistic work he started about 1870 as a
public entertainer, with songs and recitations; but in 1877 he began a
long connexion with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas at the Savoy
Theatre, London, in _The Sorcerer_. For twelve years he had the leading
part, his capacity for "patter-songs," and his humorous acting, dancing
and singing marking his creations of the chief characters in the Gilbert
and Sullivan operas as the expression of a highly original
individuality. In 1889 he left the Savoy, and again set up as an
entertainer, visiting all the cities of Great Britain and the United
States, but retiring in 1901. Among other books he wrote _The
Reminiscences of a Society Clown_ (1888); and, with his brother Weedon,
_The Diary of a Nobody_ (1894). His humorous songs and sketches numbered
over six hundred. His younger brother, Weedon Grossmith, who was
educated as a painter and exhibited at the Academy, also took to the
stage, his first notable success being in the _Pantomime Rehearsal_; in
1894 he went into management on his own account, and had much success as
a comedian. George Grossmith's two sons, Laurence Grossmith and George
Grossmith, jun., were both actors, the latter becoming a well-known
figure in the musical comedies at the Gaiety Theatre, London.
GROS VENTRES (Fr. for "Great Bellies"), or Atsina, a tribe of North
American Indians of Algonquian stock. The name is said to have reference
to the greediness of the people, but more probably originated from their
prominent tattooing. They are settled at Fort Belknap agency, Montana.
The name has also been given to other tribes, e.g. the Hidatsa or
Minitari, now at Fort Berthold, North Dakota.
GROTE, GEORGE (1794-1871), English historian of Greece, was born on the
17th of November 1794, at Clay Hill near Beckenham in Kent. His
grandfather, Andreas, originally a Bremen merchant, was one of the
founders (1st of January 1766) of the banking-house of Grote, Prescott &
Company in Threadneedle Street, London (the name of Grote did not
disappear from the firm till 1879). His father, also George, married
(1793) Selina, daughter of Henry Peckwell (1747-1787), minister of the
countess of Huntingdon's chapel in Westminster (descended from a
Huguenot family, the de Blossets, who had left Touraine on the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes), and had one daughter and ten sons,
of whom the historian was the eldest. Educated at first by his mother,
George Grote was sent to the Sevenoaks grammar school (1800-1804) and
afterwards to Charterhouse (1804-1810), where he studied under Dr Raine
in company with Connop Thirlwall, George and Horace Waddington and Henry
Havelock. In spite of Grote's school successes, his father refused to
send him to the university and put him in the bank in 1810. He spent all
his spare time in the study of classics, history, metaphysics and
political economy, and in learning German, French and Italian. Driven by
his mother's Puritanism and his father's contempt for academic learning
to outside society, he became intimate with Charles Hay Cameron, who
strengthened him in his love of philosophy, and George W. Norman,
through whom he met his wife, Miss Harriet Lewin (see below). After
various difficulties the marriage took place on the 5th of March 1820,
and was in all respects a happy union.
In the meanwhile Grote had finally decided his philosophic and political
attitude. In 1817 he came under the influence of David Ricardo, and
through him of James Mill and Jeremy Bentham. He settled in 1820 in a
house attached to the bank in Threadneedle Street, where his only child
died a week after its birth. During Mrs Grote's slow convalescence at
Hampstead, he wrote his first published work, the _Statement of the
Question of Parliamentary Reform_ (1821), in reply to Sir James
Mackintosh's article in the _Edinburgh Review_, advocating popular
representation, vote by ballot and short parliaments. In 1822 he
published in the _Morning Chronicle_ (April) a letter against Canning's
attack on Lord John Russell, and edited, or rather re-wrote, some
discursive papers of Bentham, which he published under the title
_Analysis of the Influence of Natural Religion on the Temporal Happiness
of Mankind by Philip Beauchamp_ (1822). The book was published in the
name of Richard Carlile, then in gaol at Dorchester. Though not a member
of J. S. Mill's Utilitarian Society (1822-1823). he took a great
interest in a society for reading and discussion, which met (from 1823)
in a room at the bank before business hours twice a week. From the
_Posthumous Papers_ (pp. 22, 24) it is clear that Mrs Grote was wrong in
asserting that she first in 1823 (autumn) suggested the _History of
Greece_; the book was already in preparation in 1822, though what was
then written was subsequently reconstructed. In 1826 Grote published in
the _Westminster Review_ (April) a criticism of Mitford's _History of
Greece_, which shows that his ideas were already in order. From 1826 to
1830 he was hard at work with J. S. Mill and Henry Brougham in the
organization of the new "university" in Gower Street. He was a member of
the council which organized the faculties and the curriculum; but in
1830, owing to a difference with Mill as to an appointment to one of the
philosophical chairs, he resigned his position.
In 1830 he went abroad, and, attracted by the political crisis, spent
some months in Paris in the society of the Liberal leaders. Recalled by
his father's death (6th of July), he not only became manager of the
bank, but took a leading position among the city Radicals. In 1831 he
published his important _Essentials of Parliamentary Reform_ (an
elaboration of his previous _Statement_), and, after refusing to stand
as parliamentary candidate for the city in 1831, changed his mind and
was elected head of the poll, with three other Liberals, in December
1832. After serving in three parliaments, he resigned in 1841, by which
time his party ("the philosophic Radicals") had dwindled away. During
these years of active public life, his interest in Greek history and
philosophy had increased, and after a trip to Italy in 1842, he severed
his connexion with the bank and devoted himself to literature. In 1846
the first two volumes of the _History_ appeared, and the remaining ten
between 1847 and the spring of 1856. In 1845 with Molesworth and Raikes
Currie he gave monetary assistance to Auguste Comte (q.v.), then in
financial difficulties. The formation of the Sonderbund (20th of July
1847) led him to visit Switzerland and study for himself a condition of
things in some sense analogous to that of the ancient Greek states. This
visit resulted in the publication in the _Spectator_ of seven weekly
letters, collected in book form at the end of 1847 (see a letter to de
Tocqueville in Mrs Grote's reprint of the _Seven Letters_, 1876).
In 1856 Grote began to prepare his works on Plato and Aristotle. _Plato
and the Other Companions of Sokrates_ (3 vols.) appeared in 1865, but
the work on Aristotle he was not destined to complete. He had finished
the _Organon_ and was about to deal with the metaphysical and physical
treatises when he died on the 18th of June 1871, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. He was a man of strong character and self-control,
unfailing courtesy and unswerving devotion to what he considered the
best interests of the nation. To colleagues and subordinates alike, he
was considerate and tolerant; he was unassuming, trustworthy in the
smallest detail, accurate and comprehensive in thought, energetic and
conscientious in action. Yet, hidden under his calm exterior there was a
burning enthusiasm and a depth of passion of which only his intimate
friends were aware.
His work may best be considered under the following heads:
1. _Grote's Services to Education._--He took, as already stated, an
important part in the foundation and organization of the original
university of London, which began its public work in Gower Street on the
28th of October 1828, and in 1836, on the incorporation of the
university of London proper, became known as University College. In 1849
he was re-elected to the council, in 1860 he became treasurer, and on
the death of Brougham (1868) president. He took a keen interest in all
the work of the college, presented to it the _Marmor Homericum_, and
finally bequeathed the reversion of L6000 for the endowment of a chair
of philosophy of mind and logic. The emoluments of this sum were,
however, to be held over and added to the principal if at any time the
holder of the chair should be "a minister of the Church of England or of
any other religious persuasion." In 1850 the senate of the university
was reconstituted, and Grote was one of seven eminent men who were added
to it. Eventually he became the strongest advocate for open
examinations, for the claims not only of philosophy and classics but
also of natural science, and, as vice-chancellor in 1862, for the
admission of women to examinations. This latter reform was carried in
1868. He succeeded his friend Henry Hallam as a trustee of the British
Museum in 1859, and took part in the reorganization of the departments
of antiquities and natural science.
The honours which he received in recognition of these services were as
follows: D.C.L. of Oxford (1853); LL.D. Cambridge (1861); F.R.S. (1857);
honorary professor of ancient history in the Royal Academy (1859). By
the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences he was made
correspondent (1857) and foreign associate (the first Englishman since
Macaulay) (1864). In 1869 he refused Gladstone's offer of a peerage.
2. _Political Career._--In politics Grote belonged to the "philosophic
Radicals" of the school of J. S. Mill and Bentham, whose chief
principles were representative government, vote by ballot, the abolition
of a state church, frequent elections. He adhered to these principles
throughout, and refused to countenance any reforms which were
incompatible with them. By this uncompromising attitude, he gradually
lost all his supporters save a few men of like rigidity. As a speaker,
he was clear, logical and impressive, and on select committees his
common sense was most valuable. For his speeches see A. Bain in the
_Minor Works_; see also BALLOT.
3. _The History of Greece._--It is on this work that Grote's reputation
mainly rests. Though half a century has passed since its production, it
is still in some sense the text-book. It consists of two parts, the
"Legendary" and the "Historical" Greece. The former, owing to the
development of comparative mythology, is now of little authority, and
portions of part ii. are obsolete owing partly to the immense
accumulations of epigraphic and archaeological research, partly to the
subsequent discovery of the Aristotelian _Constitution of Athens_, and
partly also to the more careful weighing of evidence which Grote himself
misinterpreted. The interest of the work is twofold. In the first place
it contains a wonderful mass of information carefully collected from all
sources, arranged on a simple plan, and expressed in direct forcible
language. It is in this respect one of the few great comprehensive
histories in our possession, great in scope, conception and
accomplishment. But more than this it is interesting as among the first
works in which Greek history became a separate study, based on real
evidence and governed by the criteria of modern historical science.
Further Grote, a practical man, a rationalist and an enthusiast for
democracy, was the first to consider Greek political development with a
sympathetic interest (see GREECE: _History, Ancient_, section
"Authorities"), in opposition to the Tory attitude of John Gillies and
Mitford, who had written under the influence of horror at the French
Revolution. On the whole his work was done with impartiality, and more
recent study has only confirmed his general conclusions. Much has been
made of his defective accounts of the tyrants and the Macedonian empire,
and his opinion that Greek history ceased to be interesting or
instructive after Chaeronea. It is true that he confined his interest to
the fortunes of the city state and neglected the wider diffusion of the
Greek culture, but this is after all merely a criticism of the title of
the book. The value of the _History_ consists to-day primarily in its
examination of the Athenian democracy, its growth and decline, an
examination which is still the most inspiring, and in general the most
instructive, in any language. In the description of battles and military
operations generally Grote was handicapped by the lack of personal
knowledge of the country. In this respect he is inferior to men like
Ernst Curtius and G. B. Grundy.
4. _In Philosophy_ Grote was a follower of the Mills and Bentham. J. S.
Mill paid a tribute to him in the preface to the third edition of his
_Examination of Sir Wm. Hamilton's Philosophy_, and there is no doubt
that the empirical school owed a great deal to his sound, accurate
thinking, untrammelled by any reverence for authority, technique and
convention. In dealing with Plato he was handicapped by this very common
sense, which prevented him from appreciating the theory of ideas in its
widest relations. His _Plato_ is important in that it emphasizes the
generally neglected passages of Plato in which he seems to indulge in
mere Socratic dialectic rather than to seek knowledge; it is, therefore,
to be read as a corrective to the ordinary criticism of Plato. The more
congenial study of Aristotle, though incomplete, is more valuable in the
positive sense, and has not received the attention it deserves. Perhaps
Grote's most distinctive contribution to the study of Greek philosophy
is his chapter in the _History of Greece_ on the Sophists, of whom he
took a view somewhat more favourable than has been accepted before or
since.
His wife, HARRIET LEWIN (1792-1878), was the daughter of Thomas Lewin, a
retired Indian civilian, settled in Southampton. After her marriage with
Grote in 1820 she devoted herself to the subjects in which he was
interested and was a prominent figure in the literary, political and
philosophical circle in which he lived. She carefully read the proofs of
his work and relieved him of anxiety in connexion with his property.
Among her writings are: _Memoir of Ary Scheffer_ (1860); _Collected
Papers_ (1862); and her biography of her husband (1873). Another
publication, _The Philosophical Radicals of 1832_ (privately circulated
in 1866), is interesting for the light it throws on the Reform movement
of 1832 to 1842, especially on Molesworth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_The History of Greece_ passed through five editions
the fifth (10 vols., 1888) being final. An edition covering the period
from Solon to 403, with new notes and excursuses, was published by J.
M. Mitchell and M. O. B. Caspari in 1907. The _Plato_ was finally
edited by Alexander Bain in 4 vols. See Mrs Grote's _Personal Life of
George Grote_, and article in _Dict. Nat. Biog._ by G. Croom
Robertson. (J. M. M.)
GROTEFEND, GEORG FRIEDRICH (1775-1853), German epigraphist, was born at
Munden in Hanover on the 9th of June 1775. He was educated partly in his
native town, partly at Ilfeld, where he remained till 1795, when he
entered the university of Gottingen, and there became the friend of
Heyne, Tychsen and Heeren. Heyne's recommendation procured for him an
assistant mastership in the Gottingen gymnasium in 1797. While there he
published his work _De pasigraphia sive scriptura universali_ (1799),
which led to his appointment in 1803 as prorector of the gymnasium of
Frankfort-on-Main, and shortly afterwards as conrector. Grotefend was
best known during his lifetime as a Latin and Italian philologist,
though the attention he paid to his own language is shown by his
_Anfangsgrunde der deutschen Poesie_, published in 1815, and his
foundation of a society for investigating the German tongue in 1817. In
1821 he became director of the gymnasium at Hanover, a post which he
retained till his retirement in 1849. In 1823-1824 appeared his revised
edition of Wenck's Latin grammar, in two volumes, followed by a smaller
grammar for the use of schools in 1826; in 1835-1838 a systematic
attempt to explain the fragmentary remains of the Umbrian dialect,
entitled _Rudimenta linguae Umbricae ex inscriptionibus antiquis
enodata_ (in eight parts); and in 1839 a work of similar character upon
Oscan (_Rudimenta linguae Oscae_). In the same year he published an
important memoir on the coins of Bactria, under the name of _Die Munzen
der griechischen, parthischen, und indoskythischen Konige von Bactrien
und den Landern am Indus_. He soon, however, returned to his favourite
subject, and brought out a work in five parts, _Zur Geographie und
Geschichte von Altitalien_ (1840-1842). Previously, in 1836, he had
written a preface to Wagenfeld's translation of the spurious
_Sanchoniathon_ of Philo Byblius, which was alleged to have been
discovered in the preceding year in the Portuguese convent of Santa
Maria de Merinhao. But it was in the East rather than in the West that
Grotefend did his greatest work. The cuneiform inscriptions of Persia
had for some time been attracting attention in Europe; exact copies of
them had been published by the elder Niebuhr, who lost his eyesight over
the work; and Grotefend's friend, Tychsen of Rostock, believed that he
had ascertained the characters in the column, now known to be Persian,
to be alphabetic. At this point Grotefend took the matter up. His first
discovery was communicated to the Royal Society of Gottingen in 1800,
and reviewed by Tychsen two years afterwards. In 1815 he gave an account
of it in Heeren's great work on ancient history, and in 1837 published
his _Neue Beitrage zur Erlauterung der persepolitanischen Keilschrift_.
Three years later appeared his _Neue Beitrage zur Erlauterung der
babylonischen Keilschrift_. His discovery may be summed up as follows:
(1) that the Persian inscriptions contain three different forms of
cuneiform writing, so that the decipherment of the one would give the
key to the decipherment of the others; (2) that the characters of the
Persian column are alphabetic and not syllabic; (3) that they must be
read from left to right; (4) that the alphabet consists of forty
letters, including signs for long and short vowels; and (5) that the
Persepolitan inscriptions are written in Zend (which, however, is not
the case), and must be ascribed to the age of the Achaemenian princes.
The process whereby Grotefend arrived at these conclusions is a
prominent illustration of persevering genius (see CUNEIFORM). A solid
basis had thus been laid for the interpretation of the Persian
inscriptions, and all that remained was to work out the results of
Grotefend's brilliant discovery, a task ably performed by Burnouf,
Lassen and Rawlinson. Grotefend died on the 15th of December 1853.
GROTESQUE, strictly a form of decorative art, in painting or sculpture,
consisting of fantastic shapes of human beings, animals and the like,
joined together by wreaths of flowers, garlands or arabesques. The word
is also applied to any whimsical design or decorative style, if
characterized by unnatural distortion, and, generally, to anything
ludicrous or extravagantly fanciful. "Grotesque" comes through the
French from the Ital. _grottesco_, an adjective formed from _grotta_,
which has been corrupted in English to "grotto." The commonly accepted
explanation of the special use of the term "grotesque" is that this
particular form of decorative art was most frequently found in the
excavated ancient Roman and Greek dwellings found in Italy, to which was
applied the name _grotte_. The derivation of _grotta_ is through popular
Lat. _crupta_ or _grupta_ (cf. "crypt"), from Gr. [Greek: kypte], a
vault, [Greek: kryptein], to hide. Such a term would be applicable both
to the buried dwellings of ancient Italy, and to a cavern, artificial or
natural, the ordinary sense of the word. An interesting parallel with
this origin of the word is found in that of "antic," now meaning a
freak, a jest, absurd fancy, &c. This word is the same as "antique," and
was, like "grotesque," first applied to the fanciful decorations of
ancient art.
GROTH, KLAUS (1819-1899), Low German poet, was born at Heide in
Schleswig-Holstein, on the 24th of April 1819. After studying at the
seminary in Tondern (1838-1841), he became a teacher at the girls'
school in his native village, but in 1847 went to Kiel to qualify for a
higher educational post. Ill-health interrupted his studies and it was
not until 1853 that he was able to resume them at Kiel. In 1856 he took
the degree of doctor of philosophy at Bonn, and in 1858 settled as
_privatdocent_ in German literature and languages at Kiel, where, in
1866, he was made professor, and where he lived until his death on the
1st of June 1899. In his Low German (_Plattdeutsch_) lyric and epic
poems, which reflect the influence of Johann Peter Hebel (q.v.), Groth
gives poetic expression to the country life of his northern home; and
though his descriptions may not always reflect the peculiar
characteristics of the peasantry of Holstein as faithfully as those of
F. Reuter (q.v.), yet Groth is a lyric poet of genuine inspiration. His
chief works are _Quickborn, Volksleben in plattdeutschen Gedichten
Ditmarscher Mundart_ (1852; 25th ed. 1900; and in High German
translations, notably by M. J. Berchem, Krefeld, 1896); and two volumes
of stories, _Vertelln_ (1855-1859, 3rd ed. 1881); also _Voer de Goern_
(1858) and _Ut min Jungsparadies_ (1875).
Groth's _Gesammelte Werke_ appeared in 4 vols. (1893). His
_Lebenserinnerungen_ were edited by E. Wolff in 1891; see also K.
Eggers, _K. Groth und die plattdeutsche Dichtung_ (1885); and
biographies by A. Bartels (1899) and H. Siercks (1899.)
GROTH, PAUL HEINRICH VON (1843- ), German mineralogist, was born at
Magdeburg on the 23rd of June 1843. He was educated at Freiberg, Dresden
and Berlin, and took the degree of Ph.D. in 1868. After holding from
1872 the chair of mineralogy at Strasburg, he was in 1883 appointed
professor of mineralogy and curator of minerals in the state museum at
Munich. He carried on extensive researches on crystals and minerals, and
also on rocks; and published _Tabellarische Ubersicht der einfachen
Mineralien_ (1874-1898), and _Physikalische Krystallographie_
(1876-1895, ed. 4, 1905). He edited for some years the _Zeitschrift fur
Krystallographie und Mineralogie_.
GROTIUS, HUGO (1583-1645), in his native country Huig van Groot, but
known to the rest of Europe by the latinized form of the name, Dutch
publicist and statesman, was born at Delft on Easter day, the 10th of
April 1583. The Groots were a branch of a family of distinction, which
had been noble in France, but had removed to the Low Countries more than
a century before. Their French name was de Cornets, and this cadet
branch had taken the name of Groot on the marriage of Hugo's
great-grandfather with a Dutch heiress. The father of Hugo was a lawyer
in considerable practice, who had four times served the office of
burgomaster of Leiden, and was one of the three curators of the
university of that place.
In the annals of precocious genius there is no greater prodigy on record
than Hugo Grotius, who was able to make good Latin verses at nine, was
ripe for the university at twelve, and at fifteen edited the
encyclopaedic work of Martianus Capella. At Leiden he was much noticed
by J. J. Scaliger, whose habit it was to engage his young friends in the
editing of some classical text. At fifteen Grotius accompanied Count
Justin of Nassau, and the grand pensionary J. van Olden Barneveldt on
their special embassy to the court of France. After a year spent in
acquiring the language and making acquaintance with the leading men of
France, Grotius returned home. He took the degree of doctor of law at
Leiden, and entered on practice as an advocate.
Notwithstanding his successes in his profession, his inclination was to
literature. In 1600 he edited the remains of Aratus, with the versions
of Cicero, Germanicus and Avienus. Of the _Germanicus_ Scaliger says--"A
better text than that which Grotius has given, it is impossible to
give"; but it is probable that Scaliger had himself been the reviser.
Grotius vied with the Latinists of his day in the composition of Latin
verses. Some lines on the siege of Ostend spread his fame beyond the
circle of the learned. He wrote three dramas in Latin:--_Christus
patiens; Sophomphaneas_, on the story of Joseph and his brethren; and
_Adamus exul_, a production still remembered as having given hints to
Milton. The _Sophomphaneas_ was translated into Dutch by Vondel, and
into English by Francis Goldsmith (1652); the _Christus patiens_ into
English by George Sandys (1640).
In 1603 the United Provinces, desiring to transmit to posterity some
account of their struggle with Spain, determined to appoint a
historiographer. The choice of the states fell upon Grotius, though he
was but twenty years of age, and had not offered himself for the post.
There was some talk at this time in Paris of calling Grotius to be
librarian of the royal library. But it was a ruse of the Jesuit party,
who wished to persuade the public that the opposition to the appointment
of Isaac Casaubon did not proceed from theological motives, since they
were ready to appoint a Protestant in the person of Grotius.
His next preferment was that of advocate-general of the fisc for the
provinces of Holland and Zeeland. This was followed by his marriage, in
1608, to Marie Reigersberg, a lady of family in Zeeland, a woman of
great capacity and noble disposition.
Grotius had already passed from occupation with the classics to studies
more immediately connected with his profession. In the winter of 1604 he
composed (but did not publish) a treatise entitled _De jure praedae_.
The MS. remained unknown till 1868, when it was brought to light, and
printed at the Hague under the auspices of Professor Fruin. It shows
that the principles and the plan of the celebrated _De jure belli_,
which was not composed till 1625, more than twenty years after, had
already been conceived by a youth of twenty-one. It has always been a
question what it was that determined Grotius, when an exile in Paris in
1625, to that particular subject, and various explanations have been
offered; among others a casual suggestion of Peiresc in a letter of
early date. The discovery of the MS. of the _De jure praedae_ discloses
the whole history of Grotius's ideas, and shows that from youth upwards
he had steadily read and meditated in one direction, that, namely, of
which the famous _De jure belli_ was the mature product. In the _De jure
praedae_ of 1604 there is much more than the germ of the later treatise
_De jure belli_. Its main principles, and the whole system of thought
implied in the later, are anticipated in the earlier work. The
arrangement even is the same. The chief difference between the two
treatises is one which twenty years' experience in affairs could not but
bring--the substitution of more cautious and guarded language, less
dogmatic affirmation, more allowance for exceptions and deviations. The
_Jus pacis_ was an addition introduced first in the later work, an
insertion which is the cause of not a little of the confused arrangement
which has been found fault with in the _De jure belli_.
The _De jure praedae_ further demonstrates that Grotius was originally
determined to this subject, not by any speculative intellectual
interest, but by a special occasion presented by his professional
engagements. He was retained by the Dutch East India Company as their
advocate. One of their captains, Heemskirk, had captured a rich
Portuguese galleon in the Straits of Malacca. The right of a private
company to make prizes was hotly contested in Holland, and denied by the
stricter religionists, especially the Mennonites, who considered all war
unlawful. Grotius undertook to prove that Heemskirk's prize had been
lawfully captured. In doing this he was led to investigate the grounds
of the lawfulness of war in general. Such was the casual origin of a
book which long enjoyed such celebrity that it used to be said, with
some exaggeration indeed, that it had founded a new science.
A short treatise which was printed in 1609, Grotius says without his
permission, under the title of _Mare liberum_, is nothing more than a
chapter--the 12th--of the _De jure praedae_. It was necessary to
Grotius's defence of Heemskirk that he should show that the Portuguese
pretence that Eastern waters were their private property was untenable.
Grotius maintains that the ocean is free to all nations. The occasional
character of this piece explains the fact that at the time of its
appearance it made no sensation. It was not till many years afterwards
that the jealousies between England and Holland gave importance to the
novel doctrine broached in the tract by Grotius, a doctrine which Selden
set himself to refute in his _Mare clausum_ (1632).
Equally due to the circumstances of the time was his small contribution
to constitutional history entitled _De antiquitate reipublicae Batavae_
(1610). In this he vindicates, on grounds of right, prescriptive and
natural, the revolt of the United Provinces against the sovereignty of
Spain.
Grotius, when he was only thirty, was made pensionary of the city of
Rotterdam. In 1613 he formed one of a deputation to England, in an
attempt to adjust those differences which gave rise afterwards to a
naval struggle disastrous to Holland. He was received by James with
every mark of distinction. He also cultivated the acquaintance of the
Anglican ecclesiastics John Overall and L. Andrewes, and was much in the
society of the celebrated scholar Isaac Casaubon, with whom he had been
in correspondence by letter for many years. Though the mediating views
in the great religious conflict between Catholic and Protestant, by
which Grotius was afterwards known, had been arrived at by him by
independent reflection, yet it could not but be that he would be
confirmed in them by finding in England a developed school of thought of
the same character already in existence. How highly Casaubon esteemed
Grotius appears from a letter of his to Daniel Heinsius, dated London,
13th of April 1613. "I cannot say how happy I esteem myself in having
seen so much of one so truly great as Grotius. A wonderful man! This I
knew him to be before I had seen him; but the rare excellence of that
divine genius no one can sufficiently feel who does not see his face,
and hear him speak. Probity is stamped on his features; his conversation
savours of true piety and profound learning. It is not only upon me that
he has made this impression; all the pious and learned to whom he has
been here introduced have felt the same towards him; the king especially
so!"
After Grotius's return from England the exasperation of theological
parties in Holland rose to such a pitch that it became clear that an
appeal to force would be made. Grotius sought to find some mean term in
which the two hostile parties of Remonstrants and Anti-remonstrants, or
as they were subsequently called Arminians and Gomarists (see
Remonstrants), might agree. A form of edict drawn by Grotius was
published by the states, recommending mutual toleration, and forbidding
ministers in the pulpit from handling the disputed dogmas. To the
orthodox Calvinists the word toleration was insupportable. They had the
populace on their side. This fact determined the stadtholder, Maurice of
Nassau, to support the orthodox party--a party to which he inclined the
more readily that Olden Barneveldt, the grand pensionary, the man whose
uprightness and abilities he most dreaded, sided with the Remonstrants.
In 1618 Prince Maurice set out on a sort of pacific campaign, disbanding
the civic guards in the various cities of Guelders, Holland and Zeeland,
and occupying the places with troops on whom he could rely. The states
of Holland sent a commission, of which Grotius was chairman, to Utrecht,
with the view of strengthening the hands of their friends, the
Remonstrant party, in that city. Feeble plans were formed, but not
carried into effect, for shutting the gates upon the stadtholder, who
entered the city with troops on the night of the 26th of July 1618.
There were conferences in which Grotius met Prince Maurice, and taught
him that Olden Barneveldt was not the only man of capacity in the ranks
of the Remonstrants whom he had to fear. On the early morning of the
31st of July the prince's _coup d'etat_ against the liberties of Utrecht
and of Holland was carried out; the civic guard was disarmed--Grotius
and his colleagues saving themselves by a precipitate flight. But it was
only a reprieve. The grand pensionary, Olden Barneveldt, the leader of
the Remonstrant party, Grotius and Hoogerbeets were arrested, brought to
trial, and condemned--Olden Barneveldt to death, and Grotius to
imprisonment for life and confiscation of his property. In June 1619 he
was immured in the fortress of Louvestein near Gorcum. His confinement
was rigorous, but after a time his wife obtained permission to share his
captivity, on the condition that if she came out, she should not be
suffered to return.
Grotius had now before him, at thirty-six, no prospect but that of a
life-long captivity. He did not abandon himself to despair, but sought
refuge in returning to the classical pursuits of his youth. Several of
his translations (into Latin) from the Greek tragedians and other
writers, made at this time, have been printed. "The Muses," he writes to
Voss, "were now his consolation, and appeared more amiable than ever."
The ingenuity of Madame Grotius at length devised a mode of escape. It
had grown into a custom to send the books which he had done with in a
chest along with his linen to be washed at Gorcum. After a time the
warders began to let the chest pass without opening it. Madame Grotius,
perceiving this, prevailed on her husband to allow himself to be shut up
in it at the usual time. The two soldiers who carried the chest out
complained that it was so heavy "there must be an Arminian in it."
"There are indeed," said Madame Grotius, "Arminian books in it." The
chest was carried to the house of a friend, where Grotius was released.
He was then dressed like a mason with hod and trowel, and so conveyed
over the frontier. His first place of refuge was Antwerp, from which he
proceeded to Paris, where he arrived in April 1621. In October he was
joined by his wife. There he was presented to the king, Louis XIII., and
a pension of 3000 livres conferred upon him. French pensions were easily
granted, all the more so as they were never paid. Grotius was now
reduced to great straits. He looked about for any opening through which
he might earn a living. There was talk of something in Denmark; or he
would settle in Spires, and practise in the court there. Some little
relief he got through the intervention of Etienne d'Aligre, the
chancellor, who procured a royal mandate which enabled Grotius to draw,
not all, but a large part of his pension. In 1623 the president Henri de
Meme lent him his chateau of Balagni near Senlis (dep. Oise), and there
Grotius passed the spring and summer of that year. De Thou gave him
facilities to borrow books from the superb library formed by his father.
In these circumstances the _De jure belli et pacis_ was composed. That a
work of such immense reading, consisting in great part of quotation,
should have been written in little more than a year was a source of
astonishment to his biographers. The achievement would have been
impossible, but for the fact that Grotius had with him the first draft
of the work made in 1604. He had also got his brother William, when
reading his classics, to mark down all the passages which touched upon
law, public or private. In March 1625 the printing of the _De jure
belli_, which had taken four months, was completed, and the edition
despatched to the fair at Frankfort. His own honorarium as author
consisted of 200 copies, of which, however, he had to give away many to
friends, to the king, the principal courtiers, the papal nuncio, &c.
What remained he sold for his own profit at the price of a crown each,
but the sale did not recoup him his outlay. But though his book brought
him no profit it brought him reputation, so widely spread, and of such
long endurance, as no other legal treatise has ever enjoyed.
Grotius hoped that his fame would soften the hostility of his foes, and
that his country would recall him to her service. Theological rancour,
however, prevailed over all other sentiments, and, after fruitless
attempts to re-establish himself in Holland, Grotius accepted service
under Sweden, in the capacity of ambassador to France. He was not very
successful in negotiating the treaty on behalf of the Protestant
interest in Germany, Richelieu having a special dislike to him. He never
enjoyed the confidence of the court to which he was accredited, and
frittered away his influence in disputes about precedence. In 1645 he
demanded and obtained his recall. He was honourably received at
Stockholm, but neither the climate nor the tone of the court suited him,
and he asked permission to leave. He was driven by a storm on the coast
near Dantzig. He got as far as Rostock, where he found himself very ill.
Stockman, a Scottish physician who was sent for, thought it was only
weakness, and that rest would restore the patient. But Grotius sank
rapidly, and died on the 29th of August 1645.
Grotius combined a wide circle of general knowledge with a profound
study of one branch of law. History, theology, jurisprudence, politics,
classics, poetry,--all these fields he cultivated. His commentaries on
the Scriptures were the first application on an extensive scale of the
principle affirmed by Scaliger, that, namely, of interpretation by the
rules of grammar without dogmatic assumptions. Grotius's philological
skill, however, was not sufficient to enable him to work up to this
ideal.
As in many other points Grotius inevitably recalls Erasmus, so he does
in his attitude towards the great schism. Grotius was, however, animated
by an ardent desire for peace and concord. He thought that a basis for
reconciliation of Protestant and Catholic might be found in a common
piety, combined with reticence upon discrepancies of doctrinal
statement. His _De veritate religionis Christianae_ (1627), a
presentment of the evidences, is so written as to form a code of common
Christianity, irrespective of sect. The little treatise became widely
popular, gaining rather than losing popularity in the 18th century. It
became the classical manual of apologetics in Protestant colleges, and
was translated for missionary purposes into Arabic (by Pococke, 1660),
Persian, Chinese, &c. His _Via et votum ad pacem ecclesiasticam_ (1642)
was a detailed proposal of a scheme of accommodation. Like all men of
moderate and mediating views, he was charged by both sides with
vacillation. An Amsterdam minister, James Laurent, published his
_Grotius papizans_ (1642), and it was continually being announced from
Paris that Grotius had "gone over." Hallam, who has collected all the
passages from Grotius's letters in which the prejudices and narrow
tenets of the Reformed clergy are condemned, thought he had a "bias
towards popery" (_Lit. of Europe_, ii. 312). The true interpretation of
Grotius's mind appears to be an indifference to dogmatic propositions,
produced by a profound sentiment of piety. He approached parties as a
statesman approaches them, as facts which have to be dealt with, and
governed, not suppressed in the interests of some one of their number.
His editions and translations of the classics were either juvenile
exercises prescribed by Scaliger, or "lusus poetici," the amusement of
vacant hours. Grotius read the classics as a humanist, for the sake of
their contents, not as a professional scholar.
His _Annals of the Low Countries_ was begun as an official duty while he
held the appointment of historiographer, and was being continued and
retouched by him to the last. It was not published till 1657, by his
sons Peter and Cornelius.
Grotius was a great jurist, and his _De jure belli et pacis_ (Paris,
1625), though not the first attempt in modern times to ascertain the
principles of jurisprudence, went far more fundamentally into the
discussion than any one had done before him. The title of the work was
so far misleading that the _jus belli_ was a very small part of his
comprehensive scheme. In his treatment of this narrower question he had
the works of Alberico Gentili and Ayala before him, and has acknowledged
his obligations to them. But it is in the larger questions to which he
opened the way that the merit of Grotius consists. His was the first
attempt to obtain a principle of right, and a basis for society and
government, outside the church or the Bible. The distinction between
religion on the one hand and law and morality on the other is not indeed
clearly conceived by Grotius, but he wrestles with it in such a way as
to make it easy for those who followed him to seize it. The law of
nature is unalterable; God Himself cannot alter it any more than He can
alter a mathematical axiom. This law has its source in the nature of man
as a social being; it would be valid even were there no God, or if God
did not interfere in the government of the world. These positions,
though Grotius's religious temper did not allow him to rely unreservedly
upon them, yet, even in the partial application they find in his book,
entitle him to the honour of being held the founder of the modern
science of the law of nature and nations. The _De jure_ exerted little
influence on the practice of belligerents, yet its publication was an
epoch in the science. De Quincey has said that the book is equally
divided between "empty truisms and time-serving Dutch falsehoods." For a
saner judgment and a brief abstract of the contents of the _De jure_,
consult J. K. Bluntschli, _Geschichte des allgemeinen Staatsrechts_
(Munich, 1864). A fuller analysis, and some notice of the predecessors
of Grotius, will be found in Hely, _Etude sur le droit de la guerre de
Grotius_ (Paris, 1875). The writer, however, had never heard of the _De
jure praedae_, published in 1868. Hallam, _Lit. of Europe_, ii. p. 543,
has an abstract done with his usual conscientious pains. Dugald Stewart
(_Collected Works_, i. 370) has dwelt upon the confusion and defects of
Grotius's theory. Sir James Mackintosh (_Miscell. Works_, p. 166) has
defended Grotius, affirming that his work "is perhaps the most complete
that the world has yet owed, at so early a stage in the progress of any
science, to the genius and learning of one man."
The chief writings of Grotius have been named. For a complete
bibliography of his works, see Lehmann, _Hugonis Grotii manes
vindicati_ (Delft, 1727), which also contains a full biography. Of
this Latin life De Burigny published a rechauffee in French (2 vols.,
8vo, Paris, 1752). Other lives are: Van Brandt, _Historie van het
Leven H. de Groot_ (2 vols., 8vo, Dordrecht, 1727); Von Luden, _Hugo
Grotius nach seinen Schicksalen und Schriften dargestellt_ (8vo,
Berlin, 1806); _Life of Hugo Grotius_, by Charles Butler of Lincoln's
Inn (8vo, London, 1826). The work of the Abbe Hely contains a life of
Grotius. See also _Hugo Grotius_, by L. Neumann (Berlin, 1884);
_Opinions of Grotius_, by D. P. de Bruyn (London, 1894).
Grotius's theological works were collected in 3 vols. fol. at
Amsterdam (1644-1646; reprinted London, 1660; Amsterdam, 1679; and
again Amsterdam, 1698). His letters were printed first in a selection,
_Epistolae ad Gallos_ (12mo, Leiden, 1648), abounding, though an
Elzevir, in errors of the press. They were collected in _H. Grotii
epistolae quotquot reperiri poluerunt_ (fol., Amsterdam, 1687). A few
may be found scattered in other collections of _Epistolae_.
Supplements to the large collection of 1687 were published at Haarlem,
1806; Leiden, 1809; and Haarlem, 1829. The _De jure belli_ was
translated into English by Whewell (3 vols., 8vo, Cambridge, 1853);
into French by Barbeyrac (2 vols. 4to, Amsterdam, 1724); into German
in Kirchmann's _Philosophische Bibliothek_ (3 vols. 12mo, Leipzig,
1879). (M. P.)
GROTTAFERRATA, a village of Italy, in the province of Rome, from which
it is 13 m. S.E. by electric tramway, and 2-1/2 m. S. of Frascati, 1080
ft. above sea-level, in the Alban Hills. Pop. (1901) 2645. It is
noticeable for the Greek monastery of Basilians founded by S. Nilus in
1002 under the Emperor Otho III., and which occupies the site of a large
Roman villa, possibly that of Cicero. It was fortified at the end of the
15th century by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (afterwards Pope Julius
II.), whose arms may be seen about it. The massive towers added by him
give it a picturesque appearance. The church belongs to the 12th
century, and the original portal, with a mosaic over it, is still
preserved; the interior was restored in 1574 and in 1754, but there are
some remains of frescoes of the 13th century. The chapel of S. Nilus
contains frescoes by Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino) of 1610,
illustrating the life of the saint, which are among his most important
works. The abbot's palace has a fine Renaissance portico, and contains
an interesting museum of local antiquities. The library contains
valuable MSS., among them one from the hand of S. Nilus (965); and a
palaeographical school, for the copying of MSS. in the ancient style, is
maintained. An _omophorion_ of the 11th or 12th century, with scenes
from the Gospel in needlework, and a chalice of the 15th century with
enamels, given by Cardinal Bessarion, the predecessor of Giuliano della
Rovere as commendatory of the abbey, are among its treasures. An
important exhibition of Italo-Byzantine art was held here in 1905-1906.
See A. Rocchi, _La Badia di Grottaferrata_ (Rome, 1884); A. Munoz,
_L'Art byzantin a l'exposition de Grottaferrata_ (Rome, 1905); T.
Ashby in _Papers of the British School at Rome_, iv. (1907).
(T. As.)
GROUCHY, EMMANUEL, MARQUIS DE (1766-1847), marshal of France, was born
in Paris on the 23rd of October 1766. He entered the French artillery in
1779, transferred to the cavalry in 1782, and to the _Gardes du corps_
in 1786. In spite of his aristocratic birth and his connexions with the
court, he was a convinced supporter of the principles of the Revolution,
and had in consequence to leave the Guards. About the time of the
outbreak of war in 1792 he became colonel of a cavalry regiment, and
soon afterwards, as a _marechal de camp_, he was sent to serve on the
south-eastern frontier. In 1793 he distinguished himself in La Vendee,
and was promoted general of division. Grouchy was shortly afterwards
deprived of his rank as being of noble birth, but in 1795 he was again
placed on the active list. He served on the staff of the Army of Ireland
(1796-1797), and took a conspicuous part in the Irish expedition. In
1798 he administered the civil and military government of Piedmont at
the time of the abdication of the king of Sardinia, and in 1799 he
distinguished himself greatly as a divisional commander in the campaign
against the Austrians and Russians. In covering the retreat of the
French after the defeat of Novi, Grouchy received fourteen wounds and
was taken prisoner. On his release he returned to France. In spite of
his having protested against the _coup d'etat_ of the 18th of Brumaire
he was at once re-employed by the First Consul, and distinguished
himself again at Hohenlinden. It was not long before he accepted the new
regime in France, and from 1801 onwards he was employed by Napoleon in
military and political positions of importance. He served in Austria in
1805, in Prussia in 1806, Poland in 1807, Spain in 1808, and commanded
the cavalry of the Army of Italy in 1809 in the Viceroy Eugene's advance
to Vienna. In 1812 he was made commander of one of the four cavalry
corps of the Grand Army, and during the retreat from Moscow Napoleon
appointed him to command the escort squadron, which was composed
entirely of picked officers. His almost continuous service with the
cavalry led Napoleon to decline in 1813 to place Grouchy at the head of
an army corps, and Grouchy thereupon retired to France. In 1814,
however, he hastened to take part in the defensive campaign in France,
and he was severely wounded at Craonne. At the Restoration he was
deprived of the post of colonel-general of _chasseurs a cheval_ and
retired. He joined Napoleon on his return from Elba, and was made
marshal and peer of France. In the campaign of Waterloo he commanded the
reserve cavalry of the army, and after Ligny he was appointed to command
the right wing to pursue the Prussians. The march on Wavre, its
influence on the result of the campaign, and the controversy to which
Grouchy's conduct on the day of Waterloo has given rise, are dealt with
briefly in the article WATERLOO CAMPAIGN, and at length in nearly every
work on the campaign of 1815. Here it is only necessary to say that on
the 17th Grouchy was unable to close with the Prussians, and on the
18th, though urged to march towards the sound of the guns of Waterloo,
he permitted himself, from whatever cause, to be held up by a Prussian
rearguard while the Prussians and English united to crush Napoleon. On
the 19th Grouchy won a smart victory over the Prussians at Wavre, but it
was then too late. So far as resistance was possible after the great
disaster, Grouchy made it. He gathered up the wrecks of Napoleon's army,
and retired, swiftly and unbroken, to Paris, where, after interposing
his reorganized forces between the enemy and the capital, he resigned
his command into the hands of Marshal Davout. The rest of his life was
spent in defending himself. An attempt to have him condemned to death by
a court-martial failed, but he was exiled and lived in America till
amnestied in 1821. On his return to France he was reinstated as general,
but not as marshal nor as peer of France. For many years thereafter he
was equally an object of aversion to the court party, as a member of
their own caste who had followed the Revolution and Napoleon, and to his
comrades of the Grand Army as the supposed betrayer of Napoleon. In 1830
Louis Philippe gave him back the marshal's baton and restored him to the
Chamber of Peers. He died at St-Etienne on the 29th of May 1847.
See Marquis de Grouchy, _Memoires du marechal Marquis de Grouchy_
(Paris, 1873-1874); General Marquis de Grouchy, _Le General Grouchy en
Irlande_ (Paris, 1866), and _Le Marechal Grouchy du 16 au 18 juin,
1815_ (Paris, 1864); _Appel a l'histoire sur les faites de l'aile
droite de l'armee francaise_ (Paris, n.d.); _Severe Justice sur les
faits ... du 28 juin au 3 juillet, 1815_ (Paris, 1866); and the
literature of the Waterloo campaign. Marshal Grouchy himself wrote the
following: _Observations sur la relation de la campagne de 1815 par le
general de Gourgaud_ (Philadelphia and Paris, 1818); _Refutation de
quelques articles des memoires de M. le Duc de Rovigo_ (Paris, 1829);
_Fragments historiques relatifs a la campagne et a la bataille de
Waterloo_ (Paris, 1829-1830, in reply to Barthelemy and Mery, and to
Marshal Gerard); _Reclamation du marechal de Grouchy_ (Paris, 1834);
_Plainte contre le general Baron Berthezene_ (Berthezene, formerly a
divisional commander under Gerard, stated in reply to this defence
that he had no intention of accusing Grouchy of ill faith).
GROUND-ICE,[1] ice formed at the bottom of streams while the temperature
of the water is above freezing-point. Everything points to radiation as
the prime cause of the formation of ground-ice. It is formed only under
a clear sky, never in cloudy weather; it is most readily formed on dark
rocks, and never under any covering such as a bridge, and rarely under
surface-ice. Professor Howard T. Barnes of McGill University concludes
that the radiation from a river bed in cold and clear nights goes
through the water in long rays that penetrate much more easily from
below upwards than the sun's heat rays from above downwards, which are
mostly absorbed by the first few feet of water. On a cold clear night,
therefore, the radiation from the bottom is excessive, and loosely-grown
spongy masses of anchor-ice form on the bottom, which on the following
bright sunny day receive just sufficient heat from the sun to detach the
mass of ice, which rises to the surface with considerable force. It is
probable that owing to surface tension a thin film of stationary water
rests upon the boulders and sand over which a stream flows, and that
this, becoming frozen owing to radiation, forms the foundation for the
anchor-ice and produces a surface upon which the descending frazil-ice
(see below) can lodge. The theory of radiation from the boulders is
supported by the fact that as the ice is formed upon them in response to
a sudden fall in the air temperature, it is only released under the
influence of a strong rise of temperature during the morning. It may not
rise for several days, but the advent of bright sunlight is followed by
the appearance on the surface of masses of ground-ice. This ice has a
spongy texture and frequently carries gravel with it when it rises. It
is said that the bottom of Lake Erie is strewn with gravel that has been
floated down in this way. This "anchor-ice," as it was called by
Canadian trappers, frequently forms dams across narrow portions of the
river where the floating masses are caught. Dr H. Landor pointed out
that the Mackenzie and Mississippi rivers, which rise in the same region
and flow in opposite directions, carry ground-ice from their head-waters
for a considerable distance down stream, and suggested that here and in
Siberia many forms of vegetable and animal life may be distributed from
a centre by this agency, since the material carried by the floating ice
would contain the seeds and eggs or larvae of many forms.
Besides ground-ice and anchor-ice this formation is called also
bottom-ice, ground-gru and lappered ice, the two last names being
Scottish. In France it is called _glace du fond_, in Germany _Grundeis_,
and in French Canada _moutonne_ from the appearance of sheep at rest,
since the ice formed at the bottom grows in woolly, spongy masses upon
boulders or other projections.
"Frazil-ice" is a Canadian term from the French for "forge-cinders." It
is surface ice formed in spicules and carried downwards in water
agitated by winds or rapids. The frazil-ice may render swiftly moving
water turbid with ice crystals, it may be swirled downwards and
accumulated upon the ground ice, or it may be swept under the sheet of
surface-ice, coating the under surface of the sheet to a thickness as
great as 80 ft. of loose spicular ice.
See W. G. Thompson, in _Nature_, i. 555 (1870); H. Landor, in
_Geological Magazine_, decade II., vol. iii., p. 459 (1876); H. T.
Barnes, _Ice Formation with special Reference to Anchor-ice and
Frazil_ (1906).