house that supplied his wants, which, if we are to credit what he says of himself in his poem "The Spleen," were modest enough. Indeed, he is said to have been a worthy man, upright, urbane, and on the whole well-tempered. Yet he was subject to occasional fits of depression of spirits, and like a true philosopher, he learned the best antidote for such a state. Hence originated the work by which he is best known, "The Spleen." It cannot be said to rank high as a poetical composition; but it possesses no small merit, and abounds with shrewd observations, occasional sallies of pleasantry, and much good sense. The part of it which describes the contentment of a pastoral life is extremely sweet and simple, and justifies the observation of Gray, that "even the wood-notes of Green often break out into strains of real poetry and music." Pope, speaking of this poem, observed that "there was a great deal of originality in it," though Johnson refused to admit its claims to be considered poetry, but then it is to be remembered that he placed Hudibras in the same category. Green was considered very "good company," and passed as a wit, or at all events a sayer of good things, though we confess his recorded bon mots are not very striking. He wrote a few short poems, of which "The Grotto" is the best. They were not published till after his death, which occurred in 1737. His friend Glover is said to have had several unpublished compositions of Green, including some dramatic pieces. To compare Green with the author of Hudibras, as has sometimes been done, is idle. They have no characteristics in common. Green had no wit, he was scarcely humorous; he was shrewd, and sometimes sharp; but had no pretensions to the profound knowledge of human nature, the extensive learning, and the caustic satire of Butler.—J. F. W.
GREEN, Thomas, author of the "Diary of a Lover of Literature," and other works, was born near Ipswich in 1769, and studied for the bar; but the death of his father in 1794 having placed him in possession of an independent fortune, he relinquished his professional pursuits, and divided his time between society and the cultivation of letters. Extracts from his "Diary," commencing in September, 1796, and terminating in June, 1800, were published in successive numbers of the Gentleman's Magazine. Mr. Green died on the 6th January, 1825.—G. BL.
GREEN, Valentine, an eminent mezzotinto engraver, a native of Warwickshire, was born in 1739. After serving two years with an engraver at Worcester he removed to London, and devoted himself to mezzotint engraving, in which he attained great celebrity, forming one of a school who raised that branch of the art to an eminence it had not previously attained. Green's prints from the portraits of Reynolds, engraved under that great painter's own supervision, are admirable renderings of Sir Joshua's peculiar style. He also executed many plates from the historical paintings of West; several of a large size after Rubens, and many from other artists: his plates in all number nearly four hundred. He was elected an associate engraver of the Royal Academy in 1774; in 1782 he published a "Review of the Polite Arts in France compared with their Present State in England;" he was appointed first keeper of the British institution in 1805; and died in July, 1813.—J. T—e.
GREENE, Maurice, doctor of music, born about 1694; died 1st September, 1755; was the son of a clergyman of the Church of England. Trained to the profession of music by Brind, the organist in St. Paul's cathedral, Greene's talent and musical attainments procured for him the post of organist of St. Dunstan's-in-the-West before he was twenty years of age. In 1718 he succeeded his master as organist at St. Paul's. In the contest between Handel and Bononcini, after the establishment of the Royal Academy of Music in 1720, Greene supported the Italian, and he has not escaped reproach for the hostility which, upon this and other occasions, he manifested towards the illustrious Handel. The office of organist and composer to the royal chapel, was in 1727 conferred upon Maurice Greene. His reputation as a musician was now established, and in 1730 he received from the university of Cambridge the degree of doctor of music, the exercise assigned to him prior to graduation being to set Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day to music. Shortly afterwards Dr. Greene was nominated professor of music in the university. In 1736 he had the honour of being appointed master of the royal band on the death of the celebrated Eccles. The name of Greene is well known as that of the composer of some of the noblest pieces of music to be heard in English churches, as well as of the airs of several favourite songs. Indeed it is to Dr. Greene that church music in England owes much of its present excellence. In 1750, when he succeeded to an estate of some extent in Essex, he directed his attention mainly to the reform of church music, and with that view he commenced a collection of some of the best English cathedral music. This work, however, his failing health did not permit him to bring to a conclusion, and it was ultimately published in three volumes by his pupil. Dr. Boyce, in 1760. Greene's reputation in the musical world chiefly rests upon his work entitled "Forty Anthems, for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight voices," 2 vols. folio.—R. V. C.
GREENE, Nathaniel, an American general, born at Potowhommett, near Warwick, Rhode Island, on the 27th of May, 1742. His father was a quaker preacher and a blacksmith; and Nathaniel, although trained to follow the spiritual and secular calling of his father, early diverged from both. In 1770 he was elected to the general assembly of the colony, and was ardent in opposition to the measures of the king's government. When the final resort to arms was made, and Rhode Island raised its little army of sixteen hundred men, Greene was elected to the command as major-general. On joining the federal army under Washington, he became a brigadier by appointment of congress. He gained the confidence and favour of his illustrious compatriot and leader, and shared in his triumphs at Trenton and Princeton in 1776-77. In March, 1778, he was appointed quartermaster-general. He took part in the battle of Monmouth on 28th June, 1778. The most brilliant portion of his public career, however, began with his appointment to supersede Gates in the command of the army in Carolina. He reached the encampment at Charlotte in North Carolina, December 2, 1780. In little more than a month he restored so much vigour to a shattered and demoralized force that Morgan, whom he detached with a few troops, gained the victory of Cowpens, January 17, 1781. Though a man of kind heart, he enforced the rules of discipline with a needful rigour. The retreat of Greene's army through North Carolina in the depth of winter before Cornwallis and a superior force, is one of the most interesting episodes of the American war, and reflects infinite credit on the American general. On 15th March, 1781, he returned and risked a battle at Guilford, in which he was defeated. After this he quitted North for South Carolina, and measured his strength with Lord Rawdon at Camden, where he was again defeated, April 25, in the battle of Hobkirkshill. His defeats, however, never seemed greatly to injure him. He kept a vigilant eye on the many separate forts, which the British could not garrison strongly without a serious sacrifice of men. One by one they fell into the hands of the Americans. Greene commenced the siege of Ninety-six, May 22, but raised it on the approach of Lord Rawdon in June, and retired towards the Catawba river. On the 8th September the long-expected battle took place at Eutaw Springs. It is claimed by many Americans as a signal victory gained by their general; but Greene's grandson and biographer is contented to call it a drawn battle. Enough that English veteran regiments had yielded on an open battlefield to American militia and volunteers. Greene fell back to his quarters, in the confidence that virtually a victory had been won, and that the evacuation of Charleston by his enemies was only a matter of time. That event took place on the 14th December, 1782. At the conclusion of the war Greene received thanks, honours, and rewards. He retired to an estate he had in Georgia, not far from Savannah, where he died from the effects of a sunstroke, June 19, 1786.—R. H.
GREENE, Robert, an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was born about the year 1560, probably at Ipswich, though Norfolk has been also conjectured to have been the place of his nativity, as he signs himself "Norfolciensis" to one of his compositions. He was educated at St. John's college, Cambridge. After graduating there he passed several years in travel on the continent of Europe. On his return to England he is said to have been ordained and to have held a vicarage in Essex. If this be so, he did not long retain it, and as speedily divested himself of his clerical character. Greene mixed in the gay and dissolute society of London, and having married a Lincolnshire lady of great personal attractions, he deserted her and abandoned himself to a discreditable life, in which he continued, with occasional fits of shortlived repentance, till he died, September 3, 1592, from the effects of a surfeit, in abject poverty, and in the company of a wretched woman to whom he had attached him-
