Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/167

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Graham
147
Grant

at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and he engaged at the same time in literary and tutorial work; but the best part of his time for some years was given to the preparation of the most important of his books, 'The Creed of Science,' which appeared in 1881. This is a work of great freshness and power, discussing how far the new scientific doctrines of the conservation of energy, evolution, and natural selection necessitated a revision of the accepted theories in philosophy, theology, and ethics. It was well received, running to a second edition in 1884, and it evoked the admiration of Darwin, Gladstone, and Archbishop Trench. In bigoted circles Graham's argument was foolishly credited with atheistic tendencies. This wholly unfounded suspicion caused the Irish chief secretary, Sir Michael Hicks Beach, to withdraw an offer which he made to Graham of an assistant commissionorship of intermediate education in Oct. 1886. In London Graham was soon a welcome figure in the best intellectual society. His many friends there included men of the eminence of Carlyle, Lecky, and Froude. Carlyle wrote of finding in him 'a force of insight and a loyalty to what is true, which greatly distinguish him from common, even from highly educated and what are called ingenious and clever men.' One of his strong points was his conversational gift. Professor Mahaffy wrote of him at the time of his death, 'His highest genius was undoubtedly for intellectual recreation. In this he had few equals' (Athenæum, 25 Nov. 1911).

Meanwhile his increasing reputation had led to his election in 1882 to the chair of jurisprudence and political economy in Queen's College, Belfast. This post he held till 1909, when ill-health compelled his retirement. At Belfast he enjoyed the enthusiastic regard of a long succession of pupils. He was professor of law for ten years before he joined the legal profession. In 1892 he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple without any intention of practising. His duties at Belfast allowed him still to reside most of the year in London, and in his leisure he produced a succession of works on political or economic subjects. 'Social Problems' came out in 1886, 'Socialism New and Old' in 1890, 'English Political Philosophy from Hobbes to Maine' in 1899, and 'Free Trade and the Empire' in 1904. He also read a paper on trusts to the British Association at Belfast in 1902, and was a frequent contributor to the 'Nineteenth Century,' 'Contemporary Review,' and 'Economic Journal.' He was for many years examiner in political economy and also in philosophy for the Indian civil service and the Royal University of Ireland, and in English for the Irish intermediate education department.

He received the honorary degree of Litt.D. from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1905. His health began to fail in 1907, and he died unmarried in a nursing home in Dublin on 19 Nov. 1911, being buried in Mount Jerome cemetery there.

[Graham's Autobiographical MS. notes; Irish Times, 20 Nov. 1911; personal knowledge.]

J. R.


GRANT, GEORGE MONRO (1835–1902), principal of Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, born on 22 Dec. 1835 at Albion Mines, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, was third child of James Grant, who, springing from a long line of Scottish farmers, emigrated from Banffshire in 1826, and married five years later Mary Monro of Inverness. Owing to the accident of losing his right hand at the age of seven, the boy was brought up to be a scholar. At Pictou Academy he gained in 1853 a bursary tenable at either Glasgow or Edinburgh University. He chose Glasgow, and seven years later, on the completion of a distinguished course, he received his testamur in theology, and was ordained (Dec. 1860) by the presbytery of Glasgow as a missionary for Nova Scotia. He declined an invitation from Norman Macleod [q. v.] to remain in Glasgow as his assistant.

After occupying various mission-fields in his native province and in Prince Edward Island, he accepted a call in 1863 to the pulpit of St. Matthew's Church, the leading Church of Scotland church in Halifax. Grant, who saw the need of a native trained ministry for the established presbyterian church in Nova Scotia, struggled without success to establish a theological hall at Halifax, by way of supplement to Dalhousie College, which largely through his efforts was reorganised as a non-sectarian institution in 1863. Meanwhile he directed his efforts to the union of the presbyterian church throughout Canada. The federation of the provinces in 1867, which Grant eagerly supported, gave an impulse to the spirit of union, and 15 June 1875 saw the first General Assembly of the united church.

In 1877 Grant, who had for some years identified himself with educational reform,