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GROTIU8 



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iiientarv lit'- in l^ll. He Hat for the City of Lon- 

 don in three successive parliaments, but on each 

 occasion l>y a diminished majority ; and when he 

 relinquished his seat the party of Philosophical 

 Kadicals with whicli ho wan associated had loht 



Hindi of its influence. 



(Jrote retired from tin- hanking house in 1843, and 



no\v devoted himsclt exclusively to literature, the 



./ // //' ii'i-,-i'i-i' becoming the main object of his 



life. The first two voln s of the work appeared 



in IS 16, and met with the general favour of all 

 parties. The twelfth volume was issued in 1856, 

 bringing down the subject to the end of the genera- 

 tion contemporary with Alexander, the period orig- 

 inally designed by the author. The history was 

 translated into German ami French, and was con- 

 fessedly deserving of the high position to which it 

 attained in literature. While it throws new light 

 upon Greek history, and lucidly traces the progress 

 of Hellenic thought, its martial passages are not- 

 able for their vigour, and its geographical details 

 for their accuracy. Grote was appointed a trustee 

 of the British .Museum, and in 1864 foreign associate 

 of the French Academy. He was elected president 

 of University College, and vice-chancellor of Lon- 

 don University, which -offices he held until his 

 death. In the latter capacity he rendered signal 

 services to the university. In 1865 he concluded 

 an elaliorate work on Plato and the other Com- 

 )><niions of Socrates, which, with his Aristotle, 

 was supplementary to the History of Greece. The 

 latter work, notwithstanding its lack of imagina- 

 tion, still remains unsuperseded for its graver 

 qualities and for its completeness as an historical 



Eicture. In dealing with Plato he was less success- 

 il, failing to grasp the lofty idealism of the Greek 

 philosopher ; and his study of Aristotle, which gave 

 promise of a closer appreciation, unfortunately 

 remains unfinished. A sketch of Swiss history 

 ihiiing the war of the Sonderbund possesses special 

 interest from its comparisons between the small 

 republics of Switzerland and the city states of 

 ancient Hellas. Grote, who declined a peerage 

 offered him by Mr Gladstone, died June 18, 1871, and 

 was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a bust by 

 Bacon commemorates him. His minor works were 

 published by Professor Bain in 1873, with critical 

 remarks on his intellectual character, writings, and 

 speeches ; and Fragments on Ethical Subjects, being 

 a selection from his posthumous papers, in 1876. 

 Mrs Grote (1792-1878) was the authoress of a 

 Memoir of Ary Scheffer (1860), Collected Papers in 

 Prose and Verse (1862), and The Personal Life of 

 George Grote ( 1873 ). See, too, Mrs Grote : a Sketch, 

 by Lady Eastlake (1880). 



Grotefend, GEORG FRIEDRICH, the first who 

 found a key to the decipherment of the cuneiform 

 inscriptions, was born at Miinden in Hanover, June 

 9, 177."), and had his education at the university of 

 ( lottingen. He filled scholastic appointments at 

 < lot tinmen. Frankfort-on-the-Main, and Hanover, 

 and died l.'ith December 1853. He wrote learned 

 liooks and papers on Latin, Umbrian, and Oscan 

 philology, coins of Bactria, &c., but made for him- 

 self an enduring fame by deciphering the cunei- 

 form a Iphaiiet an intuition of genius first given 

 forth in 1802. Later works on this subject were 

 Neue Beitruge zur Erlaiiternng tier Pttyepolitan- 

 ischen Keilschrift (1837), and Neue Beitrage zur 

 Erlavtentng tier Babylonischen Kcilsrhrift (1840). 

 See CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS. His son, KARL 

 LIIAVK; OBOTBTMND, an eminent antiquary and 

 hi-torian, was Inirn at Frankfort-on-the-Main, 22d 

 December 1809, studied at Gottingen I'niversity. 

 and filled from 1853 a post in the Royal Archives 

 at Hanover. He died 27th OctoW 1874. His 

 works are of the greatest value for numismatics 

 and Koman epigraphy, the chief being I He 



der Griechix'li' //, I'm-llii-n-hen, und Indoskythitchen 

 A'i. ///// /,// /;///.///.// (]K39), Imperium JHMMMMN 

 In /in tun /Jiwrijitiiin (1863), and Chronolooinflte 

 A iionliiiiiHj der Athcnixchen Silbermunzen (1872). 

 His historical papers are mostly contained in the 

 Zeitschrift des hixtorischen Vereinsfiir Nitdcrsach~ 

 sen (1850-74). ! 1:1 KDKICH AUGUST GROTEFKND, 

 nephew of the great Grotefend, was Uirn at Ilfeld, 

 12th December 1798, studied at Gottingen Univer- 

 sity, and afterwards l>ecaiue a professor there. He 

 died 'jsili February 1836. His writings are mostly 

 solid contributions to Latin philology. 



Grotesque, a style of classical ornament, no- 

 called, in t he 13th century, from its having In < -n 

 discovered amongst the painted decorations found 

 in the excavations made in the baths of Titus and 

 other ancient Roman buildings, the Italian word 

 grotto applying to any subterranean charnlier. 

 This light, fantastic style was much in favour 

 during the Renaissance. 



Grotll* KLAUS, a modern writer of Low Ger- 

 man, was born at Heide in Holstein, 24th April 

 1819. After teaching for Home time in his native 

 village, he spent six years (1847-53) of literary 

 activity in the island of Femern. It was at this 

 time that he composed his masterpiece, QuicLlmni 

 (1852, 15th ed. 1885), a collection of poems written 

 in the Dit marsh dialect, and dealing with life and 

 nature in Ditmarsh, poems as fresh and simple as 

 the subjects that inspired them. A continuation 

 was published in 1871. Both in Qnickborn and in 

 the prose village tales Vertelln (1855-59) Groth 

 used Low German with great skill and ease, and 

 with a fine feeling for its artistic capabilities. His 

 other works in the same dialect are Rothgeter, 

 Meister Lnmn un sin Dochder ( 1862), an idyll ; Voer 

 de Goern (1858), children's rhymes ; Ut win Jungs- 

 parodies (1876), three stories; and Drci Platt- 

 deutsche Erzdhlungen (1881 ). He has also written 

 poems in High German, Hundert Blatter (1854), 

 which are not adjudged so successful as his Low 

 German efforts. A warm lover of his native tongue, 

 he claims for it a co-ordinate place with High 

 German in the polity of languages, and has urged 

 his views in Briefe iiber Hochdeutsch imd Plt(- 

 deutsch (1858) and in Muiularten initl Mutidartige 

 Dirlitung (1873). After five years' wandering in 

 Germany and Switzerland, Groth began to teach 

 German language and literature at Kiel in 1858, 

 and in 18(56 was nominated professor of the same 

 subjects at the university there. See Eggers, 

 Klaus Groth und die plattdeutsche Dichtung ( 1885). 



Grotius, HUGO, or HUIG VAN GROOT, Dutch 

 jurist, was born at Delft, 10th April 1583. An 

 extraordinarily precocious boy, Grotnie entered the 

 university of Ley den in his eleventh year, and 

 there he enjoyed the advantage of studying under 

 Joseph Scaliger. When only fifteen years old he 

 entered public life, accompanying Olden Barne 

 veldt, the grand-pensionarv, on an embassy to 

 France, where, notwithstanding his extreme youth, 

 his talents and conduct gained him tin- favour of 

 Henry IV. On his return next year he began to 

 practise as a lawyer in the Hague : in 1607 he was 

 appointed a provincial fiscal -general, and in 1613 

 pensionary of Rotterdam. But the religious dis- 

 putes Injtween the Remonstrants and their oppo- 

 nents were now at their height in Holland ; (mien 

 Barneveldt was the protector of the former, and 

 Grotius supported them by his writings and influ- 

 ence. These theological strifes had, however, a 

 political significance also. In 1618 Barneveldt 

 and Grotius were arrested, tried, and condemned 

 by the dominant party under Prince Maurice (see 

 B'ARNEVKLDT), Barneveldt to death, and Grotius 

 to imprisonment for life in the castle of Lovenstcin. 

 He escaped, however, by the contrivance of his 



