G R O 
cle of Swabia, and principality of -Hohen Zollern: feycn 
miles eaft. of Hohen Zollern, \ 
GROSSE'TA, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Tuf- 
cany, the .fee of a bitliop, fuftragan. of Sienna : fourteen 
miles eaft>foutH.eaft of Piombmo. 
GROSS'ETESTE, or Greathead (Robert), an 
eminent Englifh prelate, born at Stradbrook in Suffolk, 
in 1175. He was feiit to the univerlity of Oxford, where 
he diftinguifhed himfelf by his proficiency in the dift’e- 
rent branches of literature, and' particularly in the Greek 
language, at that time but little known in this country. 
The abilities and learning which he difplayed, recom¬ 
mended hint to the notice of Hugh de Welles, hilltop of 
Lincoln, who prefented him to a prebend in his cathe¬ 
dral church. In i2io,- lie was nominated to the arch¬ 
deaconry of Chefter; which dignity he exchanged in 
1220, for the archdeaconry of Wilts; and in 1235, he 
was confecrated bifftop of Lincoln during the following 
year. Over his diocefe he preftdtd with the mod vigi¬ 
lant attention, taking the greateft care to have the pa¬ 
rochial churches well (applied, and letting before his 
clergy a commendable example of the manner in which 
the paftoral duties ought fo be difeharged. He died at 
Buckden, in 1253, .after acquiring a high character for 
clearness of judgment, an undaunted firmnefs of mind, 
incorruptible integrity, and unimpeachable famStity of 
manner's. He left behind him numerous treatifes on 
theological, philofophical, and mifcellaneous, fubjefts, 
feveral of which have been printed, and the reft are ftiil 
extant in manufeript. Among the former are, 1. Opuf- 
cul'a Varia, pub'liflied at Venice, in 1514. 2. Compendium 
Sphara: Mundi, publifhed at the fame place, in 1508. 3. 
Commentarius in Lib. pojler. Arijfotelis, publifhed alfo at Ve¬ 
nice, in 1504, &c. 4. Dilcourfes, in which he freely 
expofed the vices and diforders of the clergy^; and nu¬ 
merous Letters, to be met with in the fecond volume of 
Brown’s Fasciculus Rerum expetendarum &fugiendarum, See. 
GROSSEU'VRE, a town of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Eure, and chief place of a canton, in the 
cli It ri 61 of Evreux : two leagues fouth of Evreux. 
GROSS'LY, adv. Bulkily ; in bulky parts ; coarfely: 
as, this matter is grofsly pulverized. Without fubtilly; 
without art 5 .without delicacy; without refinement; 
coarfely; palpably.—While it is fo difficult to learn the 
lprings and motives of fome fadts,. it is no wonder they 
ftiould be fo gra/s/yimfreprefented^to the public. Swift. 
Treafon and murder ever kept together, 
As two yoke devils fworn to other’s purpofe, 
Working fo grofsly in a natural caiife. 
That admiration did not whoop at t'hem. Skakefpeare. 
GROSS'NESS, f. Coarfenefs; not fubtilty; thick- 
nefs; fpiifitude ; denfity ; greatnefs of parts.—Thecaufe 
of the epilepfy from the ftomach is tire groffnfs of the 
vapours which rife and enter into the cells of the brain. 
Bacon. 
The purpofe is perfpicuous even as fubftance, 
Whole groffnefs little characters*fum up. Skakefpeare. 
Then all this earthy groffnefs quit; 
Attir’d with ftars we fhall for ever fit, 
Triumphing over deat.h. Milton. 
For envy’d wit, like Sol eclips’d, makes known 
s-Th’ oppofing body’s groffnefs, not ^,ts own. Pope. 
Inelegant fatnefs; unwieldy corpulence.—Wife men, 
that be over-fat and flefhy, go to fojourn abroad at the 
temperate diet of fome fober man; and fo, by little and 
little, eat away the groffnefs that is in them. Afcham. — 
Want of refinement; want of delicacy ; intellectual 
coarfenefs.—What a groffnefs is there in the mind of that 
man, who thinks to reach a lady’s heart by wounding 
her ears. Clariffa. 
GROSSULA'RIA, /. in botany. See Ceanothus, 
Melastoma, Rices, and Cactus. 
GROSSWIG, a town of Germany, in the circle of 
Voc. IX. No. 564. 
G R O St 
Upper Saxony, and electorate of Saxony. Amber i? 
found near it: four .miles fouth-weft of Schmiedelburg-_ 
GROSS'ZIG, a totvn of Germany, in the circle ot 
Upper Saxony, and principality of Anhalt Deflau : nine¬ 
teen miles fouth-weft of Deflau, and nine fouth-fouth- 
eaft of Bernburg. 
GRO'SVjINOR, \gros veneur, Fr. a great hunter.] A 
furname. 
GROT, /. [ grotte, Fr. ^rotfa.-Ital.] A cave ; a cavern, 
foi^coolnefs and pleafure : 
In the remoteft wood and lonely grot, 
Certain to meet that worft of evils, thought. Prior. 
GROTES'QUE, adj. [Fr. gtotefco, Ital.] Diftorted of 
figure; unnatural ; wildly formed.—Thicket overgrown, 
grotefque and wild. Milton. 
An hideous figure of their foes they drew, 
Nor lines, nor looks, nor fhades, nor colours true, 
And this grotefque defign expos’d to public view. Dryden. 
GRO'TIUS (Hugo), one of the molt llluftrious names 
in modern literature, born at Delft, April 10, 1383. His 
father John de Grool (the proper family name) was a re- 
fpeGable citizen of Delft, of which lie was fucceffiveiy 
fheriffand burgomafter, and likeu ife curator of the Uni- 
verfity of Leyden. His mother was of one of the firft fa¬ 
milies in the country. Hugo from his childhood gave . 
proofs of wonderful quicknefs of parts; and it is affirmed 
that at eight years of age he compofed Latin elegiac 
verfes. llis memory was prodigious, his judgment.fo- 
lid, and liis application indefatigable. In his twelfth, 
year he was feat fo Leyden, where he was under the 
care of Francis Junius. The celebrated Jofeph Scaiiger, 
then almoft at the head of literature, was fo much ftruck 
with the abilities of young Grotius, : *.that he generoufly 
undertook to direG him in hisjtudies. _ At the age of 
fourteen he maintained public thefes in mathematics, 
law, and philofophy. In fuch a theatre, his reputation 
could not fail of being widely extended. Several oi the 
mod eminent fcholars of the age, Pontanus, Meurfuis, 
Barlaeus, Doufa, Heinfius, mentioned him as a prodigy, 
and foretold his future diftinGion in the republic of let¬ 
ters. A proof of the depth and compafs ct his reauing 
at this early period, was given by his eclition of a diffi¬ 
cult and obfeure author, Martianus Capella, which he 
undertook at the age of fourteen. His ftudies were agree¬ 
ably and ufefully interrupted in 1598) by a journey to 
France in the company of the ambafl’ador-extraordintry 
of the States, who was the excellent Barneveldt. He 
was introduced to Henry IV. who gave him a gracious 
reception. He took the degree of do.Gor.of laws in 
France, and during a refidence there of a year, received 
many attentions from men of rank and learning. 
In 1599, Grotius, who was deftined to the bar, pleaded 
his firft caufe at Delft. Soon after, he publifhed his 
Capella , which was finifhed before he went to fiance, 
and which was received with great .admiration by the 
learned. This was followed by a Latin tranflation oi a 
treatife by Stevinus, containing diredhons for finding a 
fhip’s place, at fea; a talk which proved his acquaint¬ 
ance with the principles of mechanics and navigation. 
An edition of the Phenomena of Aratus, which he pub¬ 
lifhed in if>oo, with emendations of the Greek text, and 
a number of learned remarks, obtained the higheft prai fes 
for its deep erudition from Scaiiger, De Thou, and Lip- 
fius. in the mean time,he relaxed from feverer ftudies 
by the cultivation of Latin poetry, in which lie gained 
the reputation of a mafter. He did not confine himfelf 
to fhort and occafional pieces, but compofed tragedies 
on facred fubjeGs. In 1608, he married Mary Reigerf- 
bem u lady defeended from one of the befl families 111 
Zealand, and whofe father had been burgomafter of 
Veer. In the following year he publifhed an elaborate 
work, entitled Mare Liberum , afferting the right of the 
Dutch to trade to the Eaft Indies, in oppofttion to the 
X, claim* 
