WILLIAM, a distinguished classical scholar, was born at Bristol in 1442, and educated at Winchester School, and New College, Oxford. He was the friend of Dean Colet the tutor of Erasmus, and the godfather of Lilly the grammarian. A Latin epistle of his to Aldus Manutius is prefixed to Lincere's translation of Proculus de Sphaera. It was Grocyn who first publicly taught Greek in Exeter College, Oxford, and introduced a better pronunciation of that language than had hitherto been known in England. By the introduction of this language alarming many as a most dangerous innovation, the university divided itself into two factions, distinguished as "Greeks and Trojans," who bore such decided hostility to each other that they proceeded to open hostilities. Thus was Grocyn situated when Erasmus came to Oxford and studied Greek under his tuition. After distinguishing himself as one of the most learned and able men of his day, Grocyn died at Maidstone in 1519. His will is printed in the appendix to Knight's Life of Erasmus.

GRÖDNO, a government in the middle and western portion of European Russia, lying between N. Lat. 51° 30' and 54° 20', E. Long. 23° 7' and 26° 42', and bounded on the N. by the government of Vilna, E. by Minsk, S. by Volhynia, and W. by the kingdom of Poland. Its greatest length is about 173 miles and its greatest breadth about 120. Area 14,700 square miles. The surface is an extended sandy plain, broken only by a few chalk hills. A large portion of it is covered with forests, particularly in the N., while in the S. are extensive marshes. The principal rivers are the Niemen, Bug, Narew, and Priepiec. The climate is moist and foggy. Rye is the principal grain cultivated, of which about 2,348,000 English quarters are produced annually, and about one-third of this quantity is exported. Few other kinds of grain or vegetables are grown for food; but considerable quantities of flax, hemp, and hops are raised. The pasture lands are extensive, and the rearing of cattle obtains a considerable amount of attention. The sheep have been much improved by crossing, and wool constitutes a principal article of export. The mineral products comprise iron, chalk, nitre, and building stone. The manufactures are inconsiderable, and chiefly for domestic use; the principal are woollen cloths and leather. In the N. the inhabitants are mostly Lithuanians, elsewhere the Rusniaks prevail. It is divided into eight circles. The principal towns are Grodno, Novogrodek, Slonim, and Brzesz-Litovski. Pop. (1849) 905,666.