Chapter Greg to Guthrie of G by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Grosseteste, Robert (died 1253).—Theologian and scholar, was born of poor parents at Stradbrook, Suffolk, and studied at Oxford and possibly Paris. His abilities and learning procured him many preferments; but after an illness he refused to be longer a pluralist, and resigned all but a prebend at Lincoln. Later he was a strenuous and courageous reformer, as is shown by his refusing in 1253 to induct a nephew of the Pope to a canonry at Lincoln, of which he had been Bishop since 1235. He was equally bold in resisting the demand of Henry III. for a tenth of the Church revenues. Amid his absorbing labours as a Churchman, he found time to be a copious writer on a great variety of subjects, including husbandry, physical and moral philosophy, as also sermons, commentaries, and an allegory, the Chateau d’ Amour. Roger Bacon was a pupil of his, and testifies to his amazing variety of knowledge.

Grote, George (1794-1871).—Historian, son of a wealthy banker in London, was born at Beckenham, and educated at Charterhouse School. In 1810 he entered the bank, of which he became head in 1830. In 1832 he was elected one of the members of Parliament for the City of London. In 1841 he retired from Parliament, and in 1843 from the bank, thenceforth devoting his whole time to literature, which, along with politics, had been his chief interest from his youth. He early came under the influence of Bentham and the two Mills, and was one of the leaders of the group of theorists known as “philosophical Radicals.” In 1820 he married Miss Harriet Lewin who, from her intellectual powers, was fitted to be his helper in his literary and political interests. In 1826 he contributed to the Westminster Review a severe criticism of Mitford’s History of Greece, and in 1845 published the first 2 vols. of his own, the remaining 6 vols. appearing at intervals up to 1856. Grote belongs to the school of philosophical historians, and his History, which begins with the legends, ends with the fall of the country under the successors of Alexander the Great. It is one of the standard works on the subject, which his learning enabled him to treat in a full and thorough manner; the style is clear and strong. It has been repeatedly re-issued, and has been translated into French and German. Grote also published , in 1865, Plato and other Companions of Socrates, and left unfinished a work on Aristotle. In political life Grote was, as might be expected, a consistent and somewhat rigid Radical, and he was a strong advocate of the ballot. He was one of the founders of the first London University, a Trustee of the British Museum, D.C.L. of Oxford, LL.D. of Cambridge, and a Foreign Associate of the Académie des Sciences. He was offered, but declined, a peerage in 1869, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Grub, George (1812-1892).—Historian, was born in Old Aberdeen, and educated at King’s College there. He studied law, and was admitted in 1836 to the Society of Advocates, Aberdeen, of which he was librarian from 1841 until his death. He was appointed Lecturer on Scots Law in Marischal Coll., and was Professor of Law in the University (1881-91). He has a place in literature as the author of an Ecclesiastical History of Scotland (1861), written from the standpoint of a Scottish Episcopalian, which, though dry, is concise, clear, fair-minded, and trustworthy. Grub also edited (along with Joseph Robertson) Gordon’s Scots Affairs for the Spalding Club, of which he was one of the founders.

Guest, Lady Charlotte (Bertie) (1812-1895).—daughter of the 9th Earl of Lindsey, married in 1833 Sir Josiah J. Guest, a wealthy ironmaster, after whose death in 1852 she managed the works. She was an enthusiastic student of Welsh literature, and aided by native scholars translated with consummate skill the Mabinogion, the manuscript of which in Jesus Coll., Oxford, is known as the Red Book of Hergest, and which is now a recognised classic of mediæval romance. She also prepared a `Boys’ Mabinogion containing the earliest Welsh tales of Arthur. She was also noted as a collector of china, fans, and playing cards, on which subjects she wrote several volumes. She entered into a second marriage in 1855 with Dr. C. Schreiber, but in literature she is always referred to under her first married name.

Guthrie, Thomas (1803-1873).—Divine and philanthropist, born at Brechin, studied for the Church, and became a minister in Edinburgh Possessed of a commanding presence and voice, and a remarkably effective and picturesque style of oratory, he became perhaps the most popular preacher of his day in Scotland, and was associated with many forms of philanthropy, especially temperance and ragged schools, of the latter of which he was the founder. He was one of the leaders of the Free Church, and raised over £100,000 for manses for its ministers. Among his writings are The Gospel in Ezekiel, Plea for Ragged Schools, and The City, its Sins and Sorrows.