George Grote, an English historian, born at Clay Hill, Beckenham, Kent, Nov. 17, 1704, died in London, June 18, 1871. He was educated at Charterhouse school, and in 1809 became a clerk in his father's bank. His leisure hours were given to literature and political studies. He was a liberal in politics, inclining to radicalism, and his first literary production was a reply to an article by Sir James Mackintosh in the " Edinburgh Review " on parliamentary reform. It was published anonymously in pamphlet form in 1821, and he wrote also a small work on "The Essentials of Parliamentary Reform." He studied political economy in the school of Mr. James Mill, and was influenced in philosophy by the theories of Comte. He began to collect materials for his history of Greece in 1823, but was drawn away from this project by the reform movement, and was elected to parliament in 1832 from the city of London. The principal feature of his political career was an attempt to introduce the ballot into English elections. His motion was defeated in 1833 by a vote of 211 to 106. He renewed the motion unsuccessfully the next session, and continued to advocate the measure until the close of his parliamentary service in 1841, when he resigned in order to give his whole attention to his history.

While in retirement he contributed to the "Westminster Review" an article on Mitford's "History of Greeee," and one to the "London and Westminster Review" on Niebuhr's "Heroic Legends of Greece." The first two volumes of his work were printed in 1840, and were received with general applause from all parties. The 12th volume was published in 1850, bringing down the subject to the end of the generation contemporary with Alexander the limit which the author had assigned for it. The work at once rose to a high position in literature, and several editions have been called for. It has been translated into German and Erench. Mr. Grote throws upon Greek history new light, and unfolds with clearness the progress of Hellenic thought. His geographical descriptions are also exact. He describes battles with minute accuracy, and is equally successful in painting Socrates disputing in the Agora, in defending the sophists, or in unfolding the bold and generous nature of Demosthenes. His philosophical speculations are sometimes abstruse and above the popular understanding; but his style is strong and bold. In 1865 he published "Plato and the other Companions of Socrates." This was to be followed by "Aristotle," which he never completed.

In 1868 he succeeded Lord Brougham as president of the council of the university of London. His minor works, " with critical remarks on his intellectual character, writings, and speeches," by Alexander Bain, were published in 1873; and in the same year a sketch of his personal life was published by his widow, the authoress of a "Memoir of Ary Scheffer" (1860), and of " Collected Papers in Prose and Verse" (1862).