201 



GREY, HENRY GEORGE, EARL. 



GRIBOYEDOV, ALEXANDER SERGIEVICH. 



203 



successfully carrying out his plan of parliamentary reform and a 

 violent political convulsion. On the 4th of June the Lords passed 

 the bill by 106 to 22, and three days afterwards it received the royal 

 assent. 



The first Reformed Parliament met on the 29th of Jan. 1833, and 

 it< rst measures were the abolition of colonial slavery, the abolition 

 of the East India Company's monopoly, the reform of the Irish 

 Church, and the reform of the poor law. The cabinet was early shaken 

 by some personal changes. In March 1833, Lord Durham was com- 

 pelled to resign from illness. At the end of Hay 1831, Mr. Stanley (now 

 Earl of Derby), Sir James Graham, the Earl of Ripon, and the Duke of 

 Richmond, left the ministry on account of differences with their 

 colleagues. Earl Grey had considered a Coercion Act necessary for 

 Ireland, and a misunderstanding arose with Mr. O'Connell on the 

 subject, which in July led to his lordship's resignation and that of 

 Lord Althorp. Lord Althorp returned to office in about a week, 

 but the cabinet, which no longer possessed the confidence of William 

 IV., was dismissed in the following November, when Lord Althorp, 

 by the death of his father Earl Spencer, was removed to the House 

 of Lords. 



For one or two years after his retirement from office Earl Grey 

 occasionally attended the House of Lords, but the last ten years of 

 his life were passed in retirement surrounded by a numerous family 

 and honoured by the general respect of his countrymen. He died at 

 his seat, Howick House, in Northumberland, July 17, 1845, in his 

 eighty-second year. The personal appearance of Earl Grey w;ia 

 stately and commanding ; his action graceful and animated ; and hU 

 voice strong, flexible, and sonorous. Aa a speaker his style was pure 

 and hi* manner free from affectation. He was married on the 18th of 

 November 1784, to Mary Elizabeth, only daughter of the Right 

 Honourable William Brabazon Pousonby, and by her ho had ten sous 

 and six daughters. His widow, eight of his sons, and four of his 

 daughters, survived him. 



GREY, HENRY GEORGE, THIBD EARL, sixth child, but 

 eldest Kin of Charles, second earl, the subject of the preceding article, 

 was born December 23, 1802, received his education at Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, and entered parliament in 1829, as member for 

 the now disfranchised borough of Winchilsea. At this time he bore 

 the courtesy title of Viscount Howick. At the following election of 

 1830 he was chosen for Higbam Ferrers, and in 1831 for the county 

 of Northumberland. Upon the formation of his father's cabinet, he 

 was appointed Under Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1830, but 

 resigned that post in 1833 upon a difference arising between himself 

 and Lord Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby, on the question of slave 

 emancipation. He held however the Uuder-Secretaryship for the 

 Home Department for a few months in 1834, and on tbe return of 

 Lord Melbourne to power in May 1835, became Secretary-at-War. 

 This office he held until 1841, when he found himself excluded from 

 the representation of the northern division of Northumberland, for 

 which lie had sat since September 1832. He soon succeeded however 

 in gaining a seat for Sunderlaud, and rejoined his party in opposition 

 to the government of the late Sir Robert Peel, against whom he 

 proved a skilful and formidable debater. In July 1845 the death of 

 hi father gave him a seat in the House of Peers, and in the following 

 year he became Colonial Secretary in the administration of Lord John 

 Russell. The period was one of considerable interest and importance. 

 During his tenure of office the colonial dependencies were beginning 

 to ferl their strength and to claim a representative government. 

 It is not therefore to be wondered at that frequent misunderstandings 

 arose between the colonies and tbe colonial office, and conside- 

 rable unpopularity attached itself to Earl Grey for the uncom- 

 promising toue which he adopted. Retiring with his party in 1852, 

 he vindicated his administration by a treatise on the colonial policy 

 of his party, published in 1853 in 2 vols. 8vo, which showed that 

 however he might have been misunderstood abroad, his policy was 

 bated upon a fixed and consistent principle. He opposed the adminis- 

 tration of the Earl of Derby, and stood aloof from that formed in 

 January 1853 by the Earl of Aberdeen, on the dissolution or recon- 

 struction of which under Lord Palmerston, he declined to undertake 

 the post of Secretary for the War Department, though public opinion 

 pointed him out as peculiarly fitted for it, on the ground tbat he 

 dissented from the views generally entertained by the country as to 

 the necessity or justice of the war against Russia. Since that time 

 he has kept aloof from all ministerial ties, but has lent the ministry 

 of Lord Palmerston, on general questions, an independent support. 

 Earl Grey is Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county of 

 Northumberland, and an official Trustee of the British Museum. 



GREY, RIGHT HON. SIR GEORGE, BART., nephew of the 

 second, and cousin of the third Earl Gr,y, was born in 1799, and 

 graduated B.A. at Oriel College, Oxford, in 1821, taking first class 

 honours in classics. He was called to the Bar in 182ti, and after 

 practising for a short time entered parliament on the Whig interest, 

 lu December 1832, as M.P. for Devonport, which he represented till 

 1847, when h was elected for the northern division ot Northumber- 

 land; but losing his seat at the general election of 1852, he was 

 returned in the following year as member for Morpeth. He was 

 nccexsively Under-SecreUry for the Colonial Department from 1834 

 to 1839; Judge-Advocate General from 1839 to 1841; and Home 



Secretary under the administration of Lord John Russell from 1846 

 to 1852. He was re-appointed to the latter office on the accession of 

 Lord Palmerston to power in the early part of 1855. He is a Deputy 

 Lieutenant for Northumberland, and one of the civil knights Grand 

 Cross of the Order of the Bath. 



*GREY, SIR GEORGE, K.C.B., was born in Ireland, and after 

 receiving a careful education, entered the army, in which he ultimately 

 obtained the rank of captain. In 1836, in conjunction with Lieutenant 

 Luahiugton. he offered himself to Lord Glenelg, then colonial secre- 

 tary, to undertake a journey of discovery in Australia. The proposal 

 was accepted, and the expedition left Plymouth in July 1837. It was 

 occupied in exploring the country in the basiu of the Glenelg River, 

 from November in the same year to April 1838, when he returned to 

 the Mauritius, after the expedition had suffered much hardship, and 

 Mr. Grey had been wounded. In September of the same year he 

 formed a new expedition to explore the district in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Swan River, from which he returned in April 1810. On 

 reaching England, he began to prepare his materials for publication, 

 which was eventually accomplished in 1841, under the title of 

 'Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North- West and 

 Western Australia,' but before they appeared he had been appointed 

 Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia. In this situation he dis- 

 tinguished himself by his capacity, firmness, and courtesy. He cul- 

 tivated an acquaintance with the natives, and acquired the language 

 so far as to be able to compile a ' Vocabulary of the Dialect of South- 

 western Australia.' Early in 1846 he was removed as Governor to 

 New Zealand, where he exhibited the same judicious mixture of 

 firmness and conciliation, which secured him the esteem of the com- 

 munity over which he presided. It was even of more importance in 

 New Zealand than it had been in Australia to gain the confidence and 

 respect of the natives, whose interests had been affected, and whose 

 passions had been roused by some injudicious treatment of the 

 previous governor. Governor Grey paid great attention to this. He 

 says himself he found it impossible to conciliate a numerous and 

 turbulent people, to understand their complaints, or to redress their 

 grievances, without acquiring their language. This he did. The 

 immediate result was an effective and popular government ; the 

 collateral results were the publication of a collection of New Zealaud 

 poems, and of a most curious and highly suggestive work on the ' Poly- 

 nesian Mythology, and Ancient Traditional History of the New 

 Zealand Race.' This work was not published till 1855, after Sir 

 George had left New Zealand ; he having been appointed in July 1854 

 Governor and Commander-iu-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope. Sir 

 George was created a Knight-Commander of the Bath in 1848. 



GREY, LADY JANE, born in 1537, remarkable for her virtues, 

 accomplishments, and untimely death, was of the blood-royal of 

 England, being the great-grand-daughter of Henry VII., whose 

 daughter Mary married first Louis XII. of France, secondly Charles 

 Brandon, duke of Suffolk, by whom she had a daughter, Frances 

 Brandon, married to Henry Grey, marquis of Dorset. Of this marriage 

 Lady Jane Grey was the eldest daughter : there was no male issue. 

 She was distinguished from childhood by her talents; and her acquire- 

 ments were, for a lady, very unusual. Greek, Latin, Italian, and 

 French, she spoke and wrote with correctness and fluency ; and she 

 understood Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic. Great beauty, sweetness of 

 temper, piety, and skill in the usual female accomplishments, com- 

 bined to render her the delight of all, except her parents, whose 

 severity would in modern times be termed brutal, yet did not alienate 

 her willing obedience. (See Ascham's well-known and very beautiful 

 account of an interview with her in his ' Schoolmaster.') Filial obe- 

 dience proved her ruin. Her father, then created Duke of Suffolk, 

 presuming on his own power and favour, and the declining health of 

 Edward VI., undertook in concert with the powerful Duke of Northum- 

 berland to transfer the crown into their own line. With this view a 

 marriage was concluded between Lady Jane Grey and Northumber- 

 land's fourth sou, Lord Guiiford Dudley, in May 1553 ; and Edward VI. 

 was persuaded by his interested advisers to set aside the rights of his 

 sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, and his cousin Mary of Scotland ; and, 

 in consideration of her eminent virtues and royal descent, to settle 

 the crown upon Lady Jane Grey or Dudley. The king died on the 

 6th of July; and it was not until the 10th that this unfortunate lady 

 even knew of the plot in which she was involved. She was very 

 reluctant to accept the crown ; but was at last over-persuaded by the 

 importunities of her parents, and the entreaties of her husband, whom 

 she tenderly loved. The two dukes had no party among the people ; 

 and ten days placed Mary in undisputed possession of the throne. 

 Lady Jane and her husband were confined in the Tower, apparently 

 without intention of taking their lives in the first instance. But 

 Wyat's in-uriection determined their fate. Both were beheaded 

 February 12, 1554. Lady Jane Grey's last hours were marked by 

 the same wisdom, piety, and resignation which distinguished the 

 whole of her short and beautiful life. Her only error was being 

 persuaded to accept a crown, to which she had no good title, and 

 lor which she did not wish. (Aschani, Worki; Burnet, Mist. Kef.; 

 Biug. Erit.) 



GRIBOYEDOV, ALEXANDER SERGIEVICH, a Russian poet 

 and diplomatist, was born at Moscow about 1793, studied at the 

 university of that capital, and in 1810 took a preliminary degree in 



