GREVILLE, CHARLES CAVENDISH FULRE, 1794-1865; great-grandson of the fifth earl of Warwick. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, and became clerk of the coun cil in 1821, which office he held nearly 40 years, serving under three sovereigns. Well born, well-bred, handsome, and accomplished, Greville led the easy life of a man of fashion, taking an occasional part in the transactions of his day, and much consulted in the affairs of private life. But the celebrity which now attaches to his name is entirely due to the posthumous publications of a portion of a journal or diary which it was his practice to keep during thqzreaterpart'of his life. These papers were given by him to his friend Mr. Reeve, a short tittle before his death, With an that they should be published, as far as feasible, at not too remote a period after the writer's death. The journals of the reign of George IV. and William IV. (extending from 1820 to 1837), were accordingly so published about 10 years after the event. Few publica tions have been received with greater interest by the public; five large editions were sold in little inure thau a year, and the demand in America was as great as in England.
These journals were regarded as a faithful record of the impressions made on the mind of a competent observer, at the time, by the events he witnessed and the persons with whom lie associated. Their characteristic is the love of truth, of justice, and of since'. ity. The court was irritated at the scornful disclosure of the vices and follies of former sovereigns, and fashionable society was annoyed at the writer's absolute indifference to its pretensions. But Greville did not stoop to collect or record private scandal. His object appears to have been to leave behind him some of the materials of history, by which the men and actions of his own tame would be judged. he records not so much public events as the private causes which led to them; and perhaps no English memoir writer hg's left behind him a more valuable contribution to the history of this century. Greville published anonymously, in 1845, a volume ou the policy of England to Ireland, in which lie advocated the payment of the Roman Catholic clergy; lie was also the author of several pamphlets ou the events of his day. [Eneye. Brit., 9th ed.]