Excerpt from The Minor Works of George Grote: With Critical Remarks on His Intellectual Character, Writings and Speeches In the present are brought together the most important of Mr. Grote's minor writings. The subjects are very varied; in all of them the composition is highly wrought; and the scholarly and philosophical essays are for the most part treated in a popular manner. The earliest work of the author given at full is the 'Essentials of Parliamentary Reform.' It came out at the commencement of his public and parliamentary career, and sets forth in a systematic shape his theory of Representative Government. Since the date of its publication this country has passed through forty years of unexampled political excitement and discussion; nevertheless, from the thoroughness of the authors grasp of political principles, the freshness and vigour of his illustration, and, not least, the high moral tone pervading the whole, the work is neither antiquated nor commonplace. In particular, his mode of supporting the doctrine that makes property the basis of the franchise, so far from being hackneyed by repetition, has lain unused on occasions when it might have been employed with effect. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.