THE LIFE OF HUGO GROTIUS
With Brief Minutes of the Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History
of the Netherlands
by
CHARLES BUTLER, ESQ.
Of Lincoln's-Inn
London: John Murray, Albemarle-Street.
M.DCCC.XXVI.
TO
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS
THE DUKE OF SUSSEX,
THIS BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT
OF
ONE OF THE MOST AMIABLE AND RESPECTABLE DEFENDERS OF THE NOBLE CAUSE OF
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY,
OF WHICH
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS HAS UNIFORMLY BEEN A CONSTANT AND POWERFUL ADVOCATE,
IS
(WITH HIS PERMISSION),
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY
THE AUTHOR,
Great Ormond Street
29 Sept. 1826
CONTENTS
In the following pages we shall attempt to present our Readers, with a
Life of HUGO GROTIUS; and MINUTES OF THE CIVIL, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND
LITERARY HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS.
In writing these pages, we principally consulted his life, written in
the French language, by _M. de Burigni_, Member of the French Royal
Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres; an English translation of
it, was published in 1754, in one Volume, 8vo.;
_Hugonis Grotii Manes, ab iniquis obtrectationibus vindicati_; 2
vols. 8vo. 1727: the author of this work is said to be M. Lehman;
The article _Grotius_, in _Bayle's and Chalmers's
Dictionaries_;
And many of the letters in _Hugonis Grotii Epistolæ_, published at
Amsterdam in 1687, in one volume, folio; and many in the _Præstantium
et Eruditorum Virorum Epistolæ Ecclesiasticæ_, published at Amsterdam
in 1684, in one volume, 4to.
For what we have said on GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS, we principally
consulted,
_Schmidt's Histoire des Allemands_;
_Pfeffell's Histoire Abregé de l'Allemagne_, 2 vols. 8vo.;
_Mr. Durnford's excellent Translation, of Professor Pütter's
Historical Developement, of the Political History of the German
Empire_; 3 vols. 8vo.;
And _Hugonis Grotii Annales, et Historiæ de Rebus Belgicis_, one
vol. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1658.
In our account of the troubles on _Arminianism_, and the Synod of
Dort; we principally consulted, the French Abridgment, in 3 vols. 8vo.
of _Brand's History of the Netherlands_, and _Grotius's_
excellent _Apology_:
In every part of the work, we have consulted other publications;--three
only of these we shall mention;
The three _Bibliothècques_ of Le Clerc;
_The Life of Arminius_, and
_Calvinism and Arminianism Compared_, by Mr. James Nichols.
From these materials the following pages have been composed: they may be
found to contain,--
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
A.D. 800-911.
I. 1. _Boundaries, and Devolution of the Empire of
Germany, during the Carlovingian dynasty_
2. _State of Literature, in the time of Charlemagne_
3. _Decline of Literature, under the Descendants of
Charlemagne_
A.D. 911-1024.
II. 1. _Boundaries, and Devolution of the empire of
Germany, during the Saxon dynasty_
2. _State of Literature, during the Saxon dynasty_
A.D. 1024-1138.
III. 1. _Boundaries, and State of Germany, during the
Franconian dynasty_
2. _State of German Literature, during the Franconian
dynasty_
A.D. 1138-1519.
IV. 1. _State of Germany, from the beginning of the
Suabian dynasty, until the accession of the
Emperor Charles V._
2. _State of German Literature, during this period_
A.D. 1138-1519.
V. 1. _Antient, and modern Geography of the Netherlands_
2. _The formation, of the different provinces of the
Netherlands, into one State_
3. _Brief view, of the History of the Netherlands, until
the acknowledgment of the Seven United Provinces,
by the Spanish monarch_
4. _Their constitution, and principal officers_
CHAPTER I.
A.D. 1582-1597.
BIRTH, AND EDUCATION OF GROTIUS
CHAPTER II.
A.D. 1597-1610.
GROTIUS, EMBRACES THE PROFESSION OF THE
LAW
CHAPTER III.
THE EARLY PUBLICATIONS, OF GROTIUS
CHAPTER IV.
HISTORICAL MINUTES, OF THE UNITED PROVINCES,
FROM THEIR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
TILL THE ARMINIAN CONTROVERSY
CHAPTER V.
A.D. 1610-1617.
THE FEUDS, IN THE UNITED PROVINCES, BETWEEN
THE DISCIPLES OF CALVIN, AND THE DISCIPLES
OF ARMINIUS, UNTIL THE SYNOD OF DORT
CHAPTER VI.
A.D. 1618.
THE SYNOD OF DORT
CHAPTER VII.
A.D. 1618-1621.
TRIAL AND IMPRISONMENT OF GROTIUS; HIS
ESCAPE FROM PRISON
CHAPTER VIII.
A.D. 1622
JAMES I. VORSTIUS
CHAPTER IX.
A.D. 1621-1634.
GROTIUS, AFTER HIS ESCAPE FROM PRISON, UNTIL
HIS APPOINTMENT OF AMBASSADOR, FROM
SWEDEN, TO THE COURT OF FRANCE
CHAPTER X.
SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS, OF GROTIUS
1. _New edition of Stobæus_
2. _His treatise de Jure Belli et Pacis_
3. ---- _de Veritate Religionis Christianæ_
4. ---- _de Jure summarum potestatum circa
sacra._--And _Commentatio ad loca quædam Novi
Testamenti, quæ de Antichristo agunt, aut agere
videntur_
5. _His Commentaries on the Scriptures_
6. _His other works_
CHAPTER XI.
A.D. 1634-1645.
GROTIUS, AS AMBASSADOR FROM THE KINGDOM
OF SWEDEN, TO THE COURT OF FRANCE
CHAPTER XII.
THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF GROTIUS; SOME
OTHER OF HIS WORKS,
1. _Subsequent History of Arminianism_
2. _Grotius's religious sentiments_
3. _Projects of religious Pacification_
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DEATH OF GROTIUS
CHAPTER XIV.
A.D. 1680-1815.
HISTORICAL MINUTES OF THE REVOLUTIONS OF
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SEVEN UNITED PROVINCES,
FROM THE DEATH OF WILLIAM II. TILL
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF THE
NETHERLANDS.
1. _William III._
2. _John William Count of Nassau Dietz, 1702-1711;
William IV._ 1711-1751
3. _From the death of William IV. till the erection of
the Kingdom of the Netherlands_
APPENDIX I.
_Some Account of the Formularies, Confessions of Faith,
or Symbolic Books, of the Roman-Catholic, Greek,
and principal Protestant Churches_
APPENDIX II.
_On the Reunion of Christians_
FOOTNOTES
INTRODUCTION.
SUCCINCT NOTICE OF THE GEOGRAPHY, PRINCIPAL POLITICAL EVENTS, AND
LITERATURE, OF THE NETHERLANDS, BEFORE THE BIRTH OF GROTIUS.
800-1581.
We propose to present to our readers, in this chapter, a succinct
account, of the Geography, Devolution, and Literature of the
Netherlands,--considering them, until they became subject to the princes
of the House of Burgundy, as a portion of the German Empire, and
included in its history:--and from that time, as forming a separate
territory.
[Sidenote: 800-1581.]
Contemplating the Netherlands in the first of these views,--we shall
briefly mention the Boundaries and Government, of the German Empire, and
the state of learning in its territories, during the Carlovingian,
Saxon, Franconian and Suabian Dynasties, and the period, which
intervened, between the last Suabian emperor and the election of the
Emperor Charles the fifth.
From this time, we shall confine ourselves to the History of the
Netherlands. We shall then, therefore, endeavour to give a short view of
the geography of these countries, and of the manner in which they were
acquired by the Princes of Burgundy; then, shortly mention the
successful revolt of the Seven United Provinces.
In one of them, GROTIUS, the subject of these pages, was born; the part
which he took in the public events of his times, forms the most
important portion of his biography.
I. 1.
_Boundaries and Devolution of the Empire of Germany during the
Carlovingian Dynasty_.
800-911.
The Ocean on the north, the Danube on the south, the Rhine on the west,
and the Sarmatian Provinces on the east, are the boundaries assigned by
Tacitus to Antient Germany. It formed the most extensive portion of the
territories of Charlemagne; descended, at his decease, to his son, Lewis
the Debonnaire; and, on the partition between his three sons, was
allotted to Lewis, his second son.
All the territories of Charlemagne were united in Charles the Fat; he
was deposed by his subjects, and his empire divided. Germany was
assigned to his third son, Charles the Brave. On his decease, it was
possessed by Arnold, a natural son of Carloman, the elder brother of
Charles: from him it descended to Hedwiges, the wife of Otho, Duke of
Saxony, and she transmitted it to their son Henry the Fowler, the first
emperor of that house.
[Sidenote: 800-911.]
From the skirts of Germany and France two new kingdoms arose: the
kingdom of Lorraine, which comprised the countries between the Rhine,
the Meuse, and the Scheld; or the modern Lorraine, the province of
Alsace, the Palatinate, Treves, Cologne, Juliers, Liêge and the
Netherlands;--and the kingdom of Burgundy: This was divided into the
Cis-juranan, or the part of it on the east, and the Trans-juranan, or
the part of it on the west of Mount Jura. The former comprised Provençe,
Dauphiné, the Lyonese, Franche-comté, Bresse, Bugey, and a part of
Savoy; the latter comprised the countries between Mount Jura and the
Pennine Alps, or the part of Switzerland between the Reus, the Valais,
and the rest of Savoy.
Such was the geographical state of Germany at the close of the
Carlovingian Dynasty.
I. 2.
_State of Literature in the time of Charlemagne_.
So far as Literature depends upon the favour of the monarch, no æra in
history promised more than the reign of Charlemagne. His education had
been neglected; but he had real taste for learning and the arts, was
sensible of their beneficial influence both upon the public and the
private welfare of a people; and possessed the amplest means of
encouraging and diffusing them; his wisdom would suggest to him the
properest means of doing it, and the energy of his mind would excite
him to constant exertions.
[Sidenote: I. 2. State of Literature in the time of Charlemagne.]
Nothing that could be effected by a prince thus gifted and disposed, was
left untried by Charlemagne. He drew to him the celebrated Alcuin, Peter
of Pisa, Paul Warnefrid, and many other distinguished literary
characters: he heaped favours upon them; and a marked distinction was
always shewn them at his court. He formed them into a literary society,
which had frequent meetings. Their conversation was literary, he often
bore a part in it; and, what was at least equally gratifying, he always
listened with a polite and flattering attention while others spoke. To
establish perfect equality among them, the monarch, and, after his
example, the other members of this society, dropt their own and adopted
other names. Angelbert was called Homer, from his partiality to that
poet; Riculphus, archbishop of Mentz, chose the name of Damétas, from an
eclogue of Virgil: another member took that of Candidus; Eginhard, the
Emperor's biographer, was called Calliopus, from the Muse Calliope;
Alcuin received, from his country, the name of Albinus; the archbishop
Theodulfe was called Pindar; the abbot Adelard was called Augustine;
Charlemagne, as the man of God's own heart, was called David.
[Sidenote: 800-911]
The Emperor corresponded with men of learning, on subjects of
literature; they generally related to religion. In one of his letters,
he requires of Alcuin an explanation of the words Septuagesima,
Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima, which denote the Sundays which
immediately precede, and the word Quadragesima, which denotes the first
Sunday which occurs in Lent. The denominations of those Sundays give
rise to two difficulties; one, that they seem to imply that each week
consists of ten, not of seven days; the other, that the words sound as
if Septuagesima were the seventieth, when it is only the sixty-third day
before Easter Sunday; Sexagesima, as if it were the sixtieth, when it is
only the fifty-sixth; Quinquagesima, as if it were the fiftieth, when it
is the forty-ninth; Quadragesima, as if it were the fortieth, when it is
the forty-second. Alcuin's answer is more subtle than satisfactory.
At the meals of Charlemagne some person always read to him. His example
was followed by many of his successors, particularly by Francis I. of
France, who, in an happier era for learning, imitated with happier
effects, the example of the Emperor.
[Sidenote: I. 2. State of Literature in the time of Charlemagne.]
Alcuin was general director of all the literary schemes of Charlemagne.
He was an Englishman by birth; skilled both in the Greek and Latin
language, and in many branches of philosophy. Having taught, with great
reputation and success, in his own country, he travelled to Rome. In
780, Charlemagne attracted him to his court.
There, Alcuin gave lectures, and published several treatises. In these,
he began with Orthography; then proceeded to Grammar; afterwards to
Rhetoric, and Dialectic. He composed his treatises in the form of
dialogues; and, as Charlemagne frequently attended them, Alcuin made him
one of his interlocutors. Few scholars of Alcuin were more attentive
than his imperial pupil; he had learned grammar from Peter of Pisa; he
was instructed in rhetoric, dialectic, and astronomy by Alcuin. He also
engaged in the study of divinity; and had the good sense to stop short
of those subtleties, in which Justinian, Heraclius, and other princes,
unfortunately both for themselves and their subjects, bewildered
themselves. Letters from Giséla and Richtrudis, the daughters of
Charlemagne, to Alcuin, shew that they partook of their father's
literary zeal: his favourite study was astronomy.
[Sidenote: 800-911.]
The number of persons in his court, who addicted themselves to pursuits
of literature, was so great, and their application so regular, that
their meetings acquired the appellation of "The School of Charlemagne."
Their library was at Aix-la-Chapelle, the favourite residence of the
monarch: but they accompanied him in many of his journies. Antiquarians
have tracked them at Paris, Thionville, Wormes, Ratisbon, Wurtzburgh,
Mentz, and Frankfort.
Charlemagne established schools in every part of his dominions. In 787,
he addressed a circular letter to all the metropolitan prelates of his
dominions, to be communicated by them to their suffragan bishops, and to
the abbots within their provinces. He exhorted them to erect schools in
every cathedral and monastery. Schools were accordingly established
throughout his vast dominions: they were divided into two classes;
arithmetic, grammar, and music were taught in the lower, the liberal
arts and theology in the higher.
[Sidenote: 1. 2. State of Literature in the time of Charlemagne.]
In France, the abbeys of Corbie, Fontenelles, Ferrieres, St. Denis, St
Germain of Paris, St. Germain of Auxerre, and St. Benedict on the
Loire;--in Germany, the abbeys of Proom, Fulda, and of St Gall;--in
Italy, the abbey of Mount Casino, were celebrated for the excellence of
their schools. One, for the express purpose of teaching the Greek
language, was founded by Charlemagne at Osnabruck. All were equally open
to the children of the nobility and the children of peasants; all
received the same treatment. It happened that, on a public examination
of the children, the peasant boys were found to have made greater
progress than the noble. The Emperor remarked it to the latter, and
declared with an oath, that "the bishopricks and abbeys should be given
to the diligent poor." "You rely," he said to the patrician youths, "on
the merit of your ancestors; these have already been rewarded. The state
owes them nothing; those only are entitled to favour, who qualify
themselves for serving and illustrating their country by their talents
and their merits."
[Sidenote: 800-911.]
The civil law then consisted of the Theodosian code, the Salic,
Ripuarian, Allemannic, Bavarian, Burgundian, and other _codes_; and of
the _formularies_ of Angesise and Marculfus. To these Charlemagne added
his own _capitularies_. The whole collection, in opposition to the canon
or ecclesiastical law, received the appellation of _Lex Mundana_, or
_worldly law_. The canon law consisted of the code of canons which
Charlemagne brought with him from Rome in 784; a code of the canons of
the church of France; the canons inserted in the collection of Angelram,
bishop of Metz; the apostolic canons, published by St. Martin, bishop of
Braga; the capitularies of Theodulfus, of Orleans; and the penitential
canons, published in the Spicilegium of d'Acheri.[001] To the study,
both of the canon and civil law, schools were appropriated by
Charlemagne: few, except persons intended for the ecclesiastical state,
frequented them. Rabanus Maurus,[002] abbot of Fulda, and afterwards
archbishop of Mentz, has left an interesting account of the studies of
this period; it shews that all were referred to theology, and only
considered to be useful so far as they could be made serviceable to
sacred learning. Such a plan of study could conduce but little to the
advancement of general literature or science. Still, it was productive
of good, and led to improvement.
[Sidenote: I.2. State of Literature in the time of Charlemagne.]
It is observable that both antient and modern civilizers of nations,
have called music to their aid; among these we may mention Charlemagne.
In his residence at Rome, he was delighted with the Gregorian chant.
After his return to Germany, he endeavoured to introduce it, both into
his French and German dominions. The former had a chant of their own;
they called it an improvement, but other nations considered it a
corruption of the Gregorian. Greatly against the wish of Charlemagne,
his Gallic subjects persisted in their attachment to their national
music; the merit of it was gravely debated before the Emperor; they
vehemently urged the superiority of their own strains. "Tell me," said
the Emperor, "which is purer, the fountain or the rivulet?" They
answered, "the former." "Return ye, then," (said the Emperor) "to St.
Gregory: he is the fountain, the rivulets are evidently corrupted." The
Emperor was obeyed, and the Gregorian chant was taught, both in France
and Germany, by Italian choristers. The Italian writers of the times
describe the difficulties which they experienced in forming the rough
and almost untuneable voices of their French and German pupils to the
softness of the Gregorian song. They appear to have succeeded better
with the Germans than the French. By these, their lessons were so soon
and so completely forgotten, after the decease of Charlemagne, that
Lewis the Debonnaire, his son, was obliged to request Pope Gregory IV.
to send him from Rome, a new supply of singers to instruct the people.
But music continued to prosper in Germany; it abounded in songs. Some
were amatory, (_münnelier_); some were satirical, (_cantica in
malitiam_); some heroic, (_cantica in honorem,_); some diabolical,
(_cantica diabolica_.) These consisted of incantations, and of
narratives of the feats of evil spirits.
[Sidenote: 800-911.]
Vernacular poetry, and vernacular composition, of every kind, were
almost wholly left to the vulgar; all, who aimed at literary eminence,
wrote in the Latin language. Some discerning spirits became sensible
that the German language was susceptible of great improvement, and
excited their countrymen to its cultivation. Among these was Otfroid; he
translated the Gospel into German verse. He describes, in strong terms,
the difficulties which he had to encounter: "The barbarousness of the
German language is," he says, "so great, and its sounds are so
incoherent and strange, that it is very difficult to subject them to the
rules of grammar, to represent them by syllables, or to find in the
alphabet letters which correspond to them." It is however remarkable,
that, although he complains of the dissonance of the German language, he
never accuses it of poverty.
While France and Germany continued subject to the same monarch, German
was the language of the court, and generally used in every class of
society. When the treaty of Verdun divided the territories of
Charlemagne, the _Romande_, or _Romançe_ language, a corruption of the
Latin, superseded the German in every part of France: it was insensibly
refined into the modern French, but the German continued to be the only
language spoken in Germany.
Great progress was made in architecture: the churches and palaces
constructed by the direction of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle, the
Basilisc at Germani, the church of St. Recquier at Ponthieu, and many
other monuments of great architectural skill and expense, belong to the
age of Charlemagne, and bear ample testimony to the well-directed
exertions of the monarch, and of some of his descendants, and to their
wise and splendid magnificence.
I. 3.
_Decline of Literature under the Descendants of Charlemagne._
[Sidenote: 800-911]
[Sidenote: I. 3. Decline of Literature under the Descendants of
Charlemagne.]
That literature began to decline immediately after the decease of
Charlemagne, in every part of his extensive dominions, and that its
decline was principally owing to the wars among his descendants, which
devastated every portion of his empire, seems to be universally
acknowledged; yet there are strong grounds for contending that it was
not so great as generally represented. _Abbé le Beuf_,[003] in an
excellent dissertation on the state of the sciences in the Gauls during
the period which elapsed between the death of Charlemagne and the reign
of Robert, king of France, attempts to prove the contrary; and the
preliminary discourses of the authors of "l'Histoire Literaire de la
France," on the state of learning during the ninth and tenth centuries,
strongly confirm the abbé's representations. It is surprising how many
works were written during these dark, and, as they are too harshly
called, ignorant ages. It is more to be wondered, that while so much was
written, so little was written well. The classical works of antiquity
were not unknown in those times; the Latin Vulgate translation of the
Old and New Testament was daily read by the clergy, and heard by the
people. Now, although the language of the Vulgate be not classical, it
is not destitute of elegance, and it possesses throughout the exquisite
charms of clearness and simplicity. It is surprising that these
circumstances did not lead the writers to a better style. They had no
such effect; the general style of the time was hard, inflated and
obscure. It should, however, be observed, that Simonde de Sismondi, as
he is translated by Mr. Roscoe, justly observes, that "during the reign
of Charlemagne, and during the four centuries which immediately preceded
it, there appeared, both in France and Italy, some judicious historians,
whose style possesses considerable vivacity, and who gave animated
pictures of their times; some subtle philosophers, who astonished their
contemporaries, rather by the fineness of their speculations than by the
justness of their reasoning; some learned theologians, and some poets.
The names of Paul Warnefrid, of Alcuin, of Luitprand, and Eginhard, are
even yet universally respected. They all, however, wrote in Latin. They
had all of them, by the strength of their intellect, and the happy
circumstances in which they were placed, learned to appreciate the
beauty of the models which antiquity had left them. They breathed the
spirit of a former age, as they had adopted its language: we do not find
them representatives of their contemporaries: it is impossible to
recognize in their style the times in which they lived; it only betrays
the relative industry and felicity with which they imitated the language
and thoughts of a former age. They were the last monuments of civilized
antiquity, the last of a noble race, which, after a long period of
degeneracy, became extinct in them."
II. 1.
_Boundaries and Devolution of the German Empire during the Saxon
Dynasty._
911-1024.
We have mentioned that, on the death of Lewis, the son of Arnhold, the
empire descended to Henry I. in the right of his mother. From him, it
devolved through Otho, surnamed the Great, Otho II., and Otho III., to
Henry II. the last emperor of the Saxon line.
In this period of the German history, the attention of the reader is
particularly directed to two circumstances,--the principal states, of
which Germany was composed, the cradles, as they may be called, of the
present electorates, and the erection of the principal cities and
monasteries in Germany.
[Sidenote: II. 2. State of Literature during the Saxon Dynasty.]
A curious altercation between Nicephorus Phocas, the Greek emperor, and
Luitprand bishop of Cremona, ambassador from Otho I. to the Greek
sovereign, shews the state of Germany during this period. "Your nation,"
said the empire to the ambassador, "does not know how to sit on
horseback; or how to fight on foot: your large shields, massive armour,
long swords, and heavy helmets, disable you for battle."--Luitprand
told the emperor that "he would, the first time they should meet in the
field, feel the contrary." Luitprand observed, that "Germany was so
little advanced in ecclesiastical worth; that no council had been held
within its precincts:" the ambassador remarked, that "all heresies had
originated in Greece." The emperor asserted, that "the Germans were
gluttons and drunkards:" Luitprand replied, that "the Greeks were
effeminate." All writers agree, that, in what each party to this
conversation asserted, there was too much truth.
We have noticed the advance towards civilization which Henry I, made by
the construction of towns; he effected another, by the introduction of
tournaments and field sports, on a large, orderly and showy plan.
Speaking generally, society in Germany during the Saxon line of its
princes, was always improving.
II. 2.
_State of Literature during the Saxon Dynasty_.
[Sidenote: 911-1024.]
"In the school of Paderborn," says the biographer of Meinwert, as he is
cited by Schmidt, "there are famous musicians, dialecticians, orators,
grammarians, mathematicians, astronomers and geometricians. Horace, the
great Virgil, Sallust, and Statius, are highly esteemed. The monks amuse
themselves with poetry, books and music. Several are incessantly
employed in transcribing and painting."
A German translation of the Psalms, by Notker, a monk of the abbey of
St. Gall, shews that some attention was paid to the language of the
country. The Greek was cultivated; the writers of the times mention
several persons skilled in it. Notker, in a letter to one of his
correspondents, informs him, that "his Greek brothers salute him."
[Sidenote: II. 2. State of Literature during the Saxon Dynasty.]
Poetry was a favourite study: the celebrated _Gerbert_, afterwards Pope
Silvester II, and _Waldram_, bishop of Strasburgh, were the best poets
of their times. Hroswith,[004] a nun in the monastery of Gardersheim,
published comedies: "Many Catholics," she says, in her preface to them,
"are guilty of a fault, from which I myself am not altogether free;
they prefer profane works, on account of their style, to the holy
Scriptures. Others have the Scriptures always in their hands, and
despise profane authors; yet they often read Terence, and their
attention to the beauties of his style does not prevent the
objectionable passages in his writings from making an impression on
them."
To this age, the origin of Romances is usually assigned: but these
belong to the French; no specimen of them has been discovered in
Germany. Music was much cultivated. Hroswith introduced it into her
comedies.
It has been mentioned, that Sallust was read in the school at Paderborn.
It is supposed that Tacitus was known to Wittikind or Dittmar: both
relate visions, and several puerile circumstances; but they write with
precision, and shew, on many occasions, great good sense.
The same cannot be said of the Legend-writers; the account which the
authors of "The Literary History of France" give of them is very just.
"The ancient legends," they say, "were lost, in consequence either of
the plunder or the burning of the churches; it was considered necessary
to replace them, as it was thought impossible to honour the memory, or
to preserve the veneration of the saints, without some knowledge of
their lives. It is to be remarked, that the saints, whose memories were
thus sought to be honoured, had been long dead, or had lived in foreign
countries, so that little was known of them except by oral tradition.
From this it may be easily guessed, that those who employed themselves
upon the legends, were deprived of necessary information, and upon that
account could not produce exact and true histories. Thus, to the general
defects of the age in which they lived, they added uncertainty,
confusion, and some falsehood. Their pages abound with visions. In the
place of the simple and natural, they substituted the wonderful and
extraordinary. It even happened too frequently that they took leave to
tell untruths. Heriger, the abbot of St Lupus, says, in direct terms,
that they piously lied."
[Sidenote: 911-1024.]
Dialectic was in great favour: it was called philosophy; no work was
more read than "the Book of Categories," erroneously ascribed to St.
Augustine; and a work, upon the same subject, imputed to Porphyry.
[Sidenote: II. 2. State of Literature during the Saxon Dynasty.]
The schools of the cathedrals and principal monasteries contributed
essentially to the increase and diffusion of literature. Among the
monasteries, those of Fulda, St. Gall, Corbie and Kershaw, were
particularly renowned. Bishops and abbots exerted themselves to procure
books, and to have copies of them made and circulated: they were often
splendidly illuminated. Henry I. caused a painting to be made, of a
battle which he had gained over the Hungarians. Bernard, bishop of
Hildersheim, in imitation of what he had seen in Italy, ornamented the
churches of his diocese with mosaic paintings; he also introduced, among
his countrymen, the art of fusing and working metals; he caused precious
and highly ornamented vases to be made in imitation of the antients.
Large and small bells were cast; chalices, patines, incensories, images,
and even altars of gold and silver, or ornamented with them, were
fabricated. Aventin relates, that at Mauverkirchen, in Bavaria, figures
in plaster, hardened by fire, had, in 948, been made of a duke of
Bavaria and his general.
[Sidenote: 911-1024.]
The establishment of schools, and the protection given to the arts and
sciences, invited the whole body of the nation to the acquisition of
useful and ornamental knowledge; but the invitation was not even
generally accepted. There was much superstition in every order of the
laity. An opinion prevailed among them, that the world was to end, and
the day of judgment arrive, in the year 1000. An universal panic spread
itself over Europe. Strange to relate, the people sought to avoid the
catastrophe, by hiding themselves in caverns and tombs.
The existence of this ignorance cannot be denied: but, to the
ecclesiastics, who strove against it, who erected and fostered so many
schools to dispel it, and who exerted themselves in the manner we have
mentioned, to establish another and a better order of things, a great
share of praise and gratitude should never be denied.
The mines of Hartz were discovered in the time of Otho I. and diffused
so much wealth over Saxony, and afterwards over all Germany, as gave the
reign of that emperor the appellation of "the age of gold." Before this
time, Nicephorus Phocas had called Saxony, from the dress, or rather the
coverings of its inhabitants, "the land of skins." But all the wealth of
the country still continued to be concentrated among the great
landowners.
III. 1.
_Boundaries and State of Germany during the Franconian Dynasty._
1024-1138.
Under Henry III. the second prince of this line, the German empire had
its greatest extent. It comprised Germany, Italy, Burgundy and Lorraine.
Poland, and other parts of the Sclavonian territories, were subject to
it. Denmark and Hungary acknowledged themselves its vassals.
The emperors affected to consider all kingdoms as forming a royal
republic, of which the emperor was chief. For their right to this
splendid prerogative, they always found advocates in their own
dominions: they reckon, among these, the illustrious Leibniz. Out of
Germany, nothing of the claim, beyond precedence in rank, has ever been
allowed. This, no sovereign in Europe has contested with the emperors:
it is observable, that, as the French monarchs insisted on the
Carlovingian extraction of Hugh Capet, they affected to consider Henry
the Fowler the first prince of the Saxon dynasty, and all his successors
in the empire as usurpers. Lewis XIV. expresses himself in this manner
in some memoirs recently attributed to him.
III. 2.
_State of German Literature during the Franconian Dynasty._
[Sidenote: 1024-1138.]
Throughout this period, commerce was always upon the increase; and
literature, science and art, increased with it. The monuments of the
antient grandeur of the eternal city, began about this time to engage
the attention of the inhabitants of Germany, and to attract to Rome many
literary pilgrims. They returned home impressed with admiration of what
they had seen, and related the wonders to their countrymen. "The gods
themselves (they told their hearers) behold their images in Rome with
admiration, and wish to resemble them. Nature herself does not raise
forms as beautiful as those, which the artist creates. One is tempted to
say that they breathe; and to adore the skill of the artist rather than
the inhabitant of Olympus represented by his art." Thus the uncultivated
Germans began to perceive the beauty of these relics of antiquity, and
to feel the wish of imitation. This first appeared on the seals of the
emperors and bishops; several of distinguished beauty have reached our
times. The German artists soon began to engrave on precious stones, and
to work in marble and bronze. Four statues of emperors of the house of
Saxony, of the workmanship of these times, are still to be seen at
Spires; they are rudely fashioned, but are animated, and have distinct
and expressive countenances.
[Sidenote: III. 2. State of German Literature during the Franconian
Dynasty.]
When the emperors or nobility travelled, they were frequently
accompanied by artists. These sometimes made drawings of foreign
churches and edifices, and on their return home, raised others in
imitation of them. Thus the cathedral at Bremen was built on the model
of that of Benevento. The cathedral of Strasburgh, and many other
churches, were built about this time.
Music was considerably improved; the system of Guido Aretinus was no
where understood better, or cultivated with greater ardour, than in
Germany. Some improvement was made in poetry, but it chiefly appeared in
the songs of the common people. A monk of Togernsee, in Bavaria,
composed a collection of poems under the title of Bucolics; they
resemble those of Virgil only in their title. Lambert, of
Aschaffenburgh, published a history of his own times, inferior to none
which have reached us from the middle ages.
[Sidenote: 1024-1138]
Dialectic, however, still continued the favourite study; and the art of
disputation was never carried so far: the interest which the public took
in these disputes was surprising. When it was announced that two
celebrated dialecticians were to hold a public dispute, persons flocked
from all parts to witness the conflict; they listened with avidity, and
with all the feelings of partisans. This appears ridiculous; but, in the
present times, is there no _fancy_ which deserves equal ridicule?
IV. 1
_The State of Germany, from the beginning of the Suabian Dynasty, till
the Accession of the Emperor Charles V._
1138-1519.
The principal events in the reigns of the latter princes of the
Franconian, and of all the princes of the Suabian line, were produced or
influenced by the contests between the popes and emperors, respecting
investitures, or the right of nominating to vacant bishoprics;--by the
pretensions of the popes to hold their antient territories independent
of the emperors;--or by the new acquisitions of the popes in Italy.
1264-1272.
These contests reduced the empire to a state of anarchy, which produced
what is generally called, by the German writers, the Great Interregnum.
While it continued, six princes successively claimed to be emperors of
Germany.
1272-1438.
The interregnum was determined by the election of Rodolph, count of
Hapsburgh. From him, till the ultimate accession of the house of
Austria, in the person of Albert the Second, the empire was held by
several princes of different noble families.
1438-1519.
Albert was succeeded by Frederick III.; Frederick, by Maximilian I.; and
Maximilian, by Charles V.
To the period between the extinction of the Suabian dynasty and the
accession of the emperor Albert, may be assigned the rise of the Italian
republics, particularly Venice, Genoa and Florence; the elevations of
the princes of Savoy and Milan, and the revolutions of Naples, and the
Two Sicilies.
[Sidenote: IV. 1. The State of Germany, from the beginning of the
Suabian Dynasty till the Accession of the Emperor Charles V.]
The boundaries of Germany, during this period, were the Eider and the
sea, on the north; the Scheld, the Meuse, the Saone and the Rhone, on
the west; the Alps and the Rhine, on the south; and the Lech and
Vistula, on the east. They contained,--1. The duchy of Burgundy; 2. The
duchy of Lorraine; 3. The principalities into which Allemmania and
Franconia were divided; 4. The Bavarian territories, which the Franks
had acquired in Rhoetia, Noricum, and Pannonia; 5. Saxony; 6. The
Sclavic territories between the Oder and the Vistula: these were
possessed by the margraves of Brandenburgh, and the dukes of Poland and
Bohemia, and the princes dependent upon them in Moravia, Silesia and
Lusatia;--7. by the provinces of Pomerania and Prussia, on the east of
Saxony; 8. and the Marchia Orientalis, Oostrich, or Austria, on the east
of Bavaria.
At first, the emperor was chosen by the people at large; the right of
election was afterwards confined to the nobility and the principal
officers of state: insensibly, it was engrossed by the five great
officers,--the chancellor, the great marshal, the great chamberlain, the
great butler, and the great master of the palace. But their exclusive
pretensions were much questioned. At length, their right of election was
settled; first, by the Electoral Union, in 1337; and finally, in the
reign of the emperor Charles IV. by the celebrated constitution, called,
from the seal of gold appended to it, _the Golden Bull_. By this, the
right of election was vested in three spiritual and four temporal
electors: two temporal electors have since been added to their numbers.
IV. 2.
_State of German literature during this period_.
[Sidenote: 1438-1519]
While the empire was possessed by the princes of the house of Saxony, a
copy of the Pandects of Justinian was discovered at Amalfi. "The
discovery of them," says Sir William Blackstone, in his Introductory
discourse to his Commentaries, "soon brought the civil law into vogue
all over the west of Europe, where before it was quite laid aside, and
in a manner wholly forgotten; though some traces of its authority
remained in Italy, and the eastern provinces of the empire.--The study
of it was introduced into many universities abroad, particularly that of
Bologna, where exercises were performed, lectures read, and degrees
conferred in this faculty, as in other branches of science; and many
nations of the continent, just then beginning to recover from the
convulsions consequent to the overthrow of the Roman empire, and
settling by degrees into peaceable forms of government, adopted the
civil law (being the best written system then extant,) as the basis of
their several constitutions; blending or interweaving in it their own
feudal customs, in some places, with a more extensive, in others, a more
confined authority."
[Sidenote: IV. 2. State of German Literature, from the Suabian Dynasty
to Charles V.]
This was a great step toward the civilization of Germany, and of the
other countries in which the institutions of the civil law were thus
introduced. They certainly tended to animate the nations, by whom they
were received, to the study of the history and literature of the people
from the works of whose writers they had been compiled. They produced
this effect in several countries of Europe; but their influence in
Germany was very limited: the disposition to subtilize, which was at
that time universal throughout the German empire, led those who
cultivated literature rather to refine upon what was before them, than
to new inquiries. The language of the Pandects is of the silver age; it
might therefore be expected, that it would have improved the general
style of the times; but this improvement is seldom discernible.
[Sidenote: 1438-1519]
[Sidenote: IV. 2. State of German Literature, from the Suabian Dynasty
to Charles V.]
Good or evil is seldom unmixed: civil contests and dissensions,
generally produce both public and private misery; sometimes, however,
they generate mental excitement. This is favourable to Literature and
Science. Its good effects appeared in the contests between the Popes and
the Emperors. Great were the public and the private calamities which
they caused, both in church and state; but they promoted inquiry and
intellectual exertions. These were often attended with happy results.
Irnerius, by birth a German, had studied Justinian's law at
Constantinople. Towards the year 1130, he was appointed professor of
civil law at Bologna: the contests between the popes and the emperors
produced a warfare of words among the disciples of Irnerius. It has been
mentioned that the German emperors pretended to succeed to the empire of
the Cæsars. The language and spirit of the Justinianean code, being
highly favourable to this claim, the emperors encouraged the civilians,
and in return for it, had their pens at command. The decree of Gratian
was favourable to the pretensions of the popes; and on this account was
encouraged by the canonists. Hence, generally speaking, the civilians
were partisans of the emperors, the canonists of the popes. From their
adherence to the law of Justinian, the former were called Legistæ; from
their adherence to the decree of Gratian, the latter were called
Decretistæ. The controversy was carried on with great ardour and
perseverance; the schools both of Italy and Germany resounded with the
disputes, and in both, numerous tracts in support of the opposite
claims, were circulated. The question necessarily carried the
disputants to many incidental topics: these equally increased the powers
and curiosity of the disputants, and stimulated them to better and more
interesting studies.
V. 1.
_Antient and Modern Geography of the Netherlands._
We have thus brought down our historical deduction of the German Empire
to the accession of the Emperor Charles the Fifth.
About 160 years before this event, that portion of the empire, to which
its situation has given the appellation of THE NETHERLANDS, began to
have a separate history, and both a separate and important influence on
the events of the times. To them we shall now direct our attention.
These spacious territories are bounded on the north, by the German
Ocean; on the west, by the British Sea and part of Picardy; on the
south, by Champagne or Lorraine; on the east, by the archbishoprics of
Triers and Trêves, the dutchies of Juliers and Cléves, the bishopric of
Munster, and the county of Embden or East Friesland.
[Sidenote: V. 1. Antient and Modern Geography of the Netherlands.]
When the Romans invaded Gaul, it was divided among three principal
clans: the Rhine then formed its western boundary. The left banks of
this river were occupied by the Belgians: this tract of land now
comprises the catholic Netherlands, and the territory of the United
States; the right bank of the Rhine was then filled by the Frisians,
and now comprises the modern Gröningen, east and west Friesland, a part
of Holland, Gueldres, Utrecht, and Overyssell: the Batavians inhabited
the island which derives its name from them; it now comprises the upper
part of Holland, Utrecht, Gueldres, and Overyssell, the modern Cléves
between the Lech and the Waal.
In antient geography, the Netherlands were separated into the
Cisrhenahan and Transrhenahan divisions: the Cisrhenahan lay on the
western side of the Rhine, and included the Belgic Gaul; it was bounded
by the Rhenus, the Rhodanus, the Sequana, the Matrona, and the Oceanus
Britannicus: the Transrhenahan lay on the eastern side of the Rhine; it
was a part of Lower Germany, and bounded on the north by the eastern
Frisia, Westphalia, the Ager-Colonensis, the Juliacensis-Ducatus, and
the Treveri. The classical reader will have no difficulty in assigning
to these denominations, their actual names in the language of modern
geography.
The whole of these territories is called the Netherlands by the English;
and Flanders by the Italians, Spaniards, and French.
V. 2.
_The formation of the different Provinces of the Netherlands into one
State_.
In 1363, John the Good, the king of France, gave to Philip the Bold, his
third son, the dutchy of Burgundy: it then comprised the county of
Burgundy, Dauphiné, and a portion of Switzerland. The monarch at the
same time created his son duke of Burgundy. Thus Philip, became the
patriarch of the second line of that illustrious house.
History does not produce an instance of a family, which has so greatly
aggrandized itself by marriage, as the house of Austria. The largest
part by far of the Netherlands was derived to it, 1st, from Margaret of
Franche Comtè; 2dly, from Margaret of Flanders; 3dly, from Jane of
Brabant; 4thly, from Mary of Burgundy; 5thly, from Jacqueline of
Holland; and 6thly, from Elizabeth of Luxemburgh.
[Sidenote: Formation of the Provinces of the Netherlands into one
State.]
The possessions of the three first of these splendid heiresses,
descended to Margaret of Flanders. She married Phillip the Bold, who, as
we have just mentioned, was the first of the modern Dukes of Burgundy.
By this marriage, he acquired, in right of his wife, the provinces of
Flanders, Artois, Mechlin, and Rhetel; and transmitted them and his own
dukedom of Burgundy to his son Charles the Intrepid. From Charles, they
descended to his son Philip the Good. He purchased Namur; and by a
transaction with Jacqueline of Holland, acquired that province, Zealand,
Hainault, and Friesland. By other means, he obtained Brabant, Antwerp,
Luxemburgh, Limburgh, Gueldres, and Zutphen. On the failure of issue
male of Philip the Good, all these fourteen provinces descended to Mary
his only daughter. She married the Emperor Maximilian. He had two sons
by her, the Emperor Charles V. and Ferdinand. The former acquired, by
purchase or force, Utrecht, Overyssell and Gröningen.
These territories formed what are generally called the SEVENTEEN
PROVINCES OF THE NETHERLANDS.
In the language of the middle ages, they consisted of the Dutchies of
Brabant, Limburgh, Luxemburgh, and Gueldres; the Earldoms of Flanders,
Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, Namur, Zutphen, Antwerp, (sometimes
called the Marquisate of the Holy Empire) and the Lordships of
Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssell, and Gröningen. Cambrai, the
Cambresis, and the County of Burgundy, though a separate territory, were
considered to be appendages, but not part of them.
V. 3.
_Brief View of the History of the Netherlands, till the acknowledgement
of the Independence of the Seven United Provinces by the Spanish
Monarch._
The laws, the customs, and the government of all these provinces were
nearly alike: each had its representative assembly of the three orders,
of the clergy, nobility, and burghers: each had its courts of justice;
and an appeal from the superior tribunal of each lay to the supreme
court at Mechlin.
Public and fiscal concerns of moment fell under the cognizance of the
sovereign. The people enjoyed numerous and considerable privileges: the
most important of them was the _Droit de Joyeuse entrée_, the right of
not being taxed without the consent of the three estates. Commerce,
agriculture, and the arts, particularly music and painting, flourished
among them. The people were honest, frugal, regular and just in their
general habits; more steady than active; not easily roused; but, when
once roused, not easily appeased.
[Sidenote: Brief View of the History of the Netherlands.]
Charles V. made over his hereditary territories in Germany to his
brother Ferdinand; but retained the Netherlands, and annexed them to the
crown of Spain.
With that crown, they descended to Philip the Second, the only son of
Charles.
Unwise and unjust measures of that monarch drove the inhabitants into
rebellion.
On the 5th of April 1566, a deputation of 400 gentlemen, with Lewis of
Nassau, a brother of the prince of Orange, at their head, presented a
petition to Margaret of Austria, the Governor of the Netherlands. From
the coarseness of their dress, they acquired the name of _gueux_ or
_beggars_, and retained it throughout the whole of the troubles which
followed.
[Sidenote: Brief View of the History of the Netherlands.]
Calvinism had, before this time, made great progress in these countries,
and gained over to it numbers of the discontented party. Philip
proceeded to the most violent measures, and sent the Duke of Alva, with
an army of 20,000 men, into the Netherlands. William, Prince of Orange,
placed himself at the head of the malcontents, and raised an army. At an
assembly of the States of Holland and Zealand in 1559, he was declared
Stadtholder, or Governor of Holland, Friesland, and Utrecht: Calvinism
was declared to be the religion of the States. In 1579, the three
provinces were joined by those of Gueldres, Zutphen, Overyssell, and
Gröningen. All signed, by their deputies, the TREATY OF UNION; it became
the basis of their constitution: still, however, they acknowledged
Philip for their sovereign. But in 1581, the deputies of the United
States assembled at Amsterdam, subscribed a solemn act, by which they
formally renounced allegiance to Philip and his successors, and asserted
their independence. They declared in their manifesto, that "the prince
is made for the people, not the people for the prince;" that "the
prince, who treats his subjects as slaves, is a tyrant, whom his
subjects have a right to dethrone, when they have no other means of
preserving their liberty;" that "this right particularly belongs to the
Netherlands; their sovereign, being bound by his coronation oath to
observe the laws, under pain of forfeiting his sovereignty."
In 1584, the Prince of Orange was assassinated by Balthazar Gerard, a
Catholic fanatic: the war was continued till 1609, when it was suspended
by a truce of twelve years. At the expiration of it, the war burst forth
with fresh fury: it was finally terminated by the peace of Munster, or
Westphalia, in 1648, when the King of Spain acknowledged, in the fullest
manner, the INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEVEN UNITED PROVINCES, and of all their
possessions in Asia, Africa, and America.
V.4.
_Their Constitution and principal Officers._
[Sidenote: Constitution of the Netherlands.]
Thus the United Provinces became a confederacy of seven independent
principalities, called in the aggregate the States General. Several
years elapsed before their constitution was finally settled. Then, the
supreme sovereignty of the whole was considered to be vested in the
people of every province represented by the States. These consisted of
deputies appointed to them from the different provinces. Each province
might send to the assembly more than one deputy; but, whatever was the
number of deputies sent by them, they had one vote only in the
proceedings of the assembly. The government of each province was vested
in its states: these were composed of two orders, the deputies from the
towns, and those from the equestrian order.
Each province contained several independent republics.
The States General could not make war or peace, or enter into alliances,
or raise money, without the consent of all the seven provinces; nor did
the decrees of any one of the States bind the constituent parts of it,
without their consent.
[Sidenote: Constitution of the Netherlands.]
The Stadtholder was appointed by the States General, and held his office
at their will. The offices of captain-general and admiral were united in
him: thus he had the appointment of all military commands, both by sea
and land; and had considerable influence and power in the nomination to
civil offices. Three officers,--the _treasurer, the conservator of the
peace, and the grand pensionary,_ were appointed by the States General,
and were immediately subject to their controul; they were wholly
independent of the Stadtholder. The grand pensionary was always supposed
to be profoundly versed in civil, ecclesiastical, and consuetudinary
law; and in foreign diplomacy. All transactions between subjects or
foreigners with the States General, passed through his hands. He
attended the deliberations of the States; he was not entitled to vote,
but was expected to sum up the arguments on each side, and to deliver
his opinion upon them. Each province had its advocate, syndic or
pensionary; a public officer who superintended their public concerns;
and represented them, but only with a deliberative voice, in the
assembly of the States.
[Sidenote: Brief View of the History of the Netherlands.]
We now reach the æra, at which our intended biography commences. A
Literary History of the Netherlands, from the time of their becoming
subjects to the Dukes of Burgundy, till this æra, is much wanted.
CHAPTER I.
THE BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF HUGO GROTIUS.
1582-1597.
The Life of Erasmus, which we have offered to the public, presents to
its readers, the interesting spectacle of a person, born under every,
disadvantage for the acquisition of literature, surmounting them all by
his genius and perseverance, and reaching, at an early age, the highest
summit of literary eminence: the Life of GROTIUS, which we now attempt,
exhibits the successful literary career of a person, born with every
advantage, undeviatingly availing himself of them, and attaining equal
eminence; with the addition of high reputation for great political
wisdom and public integrity.
[Sidenote: His Birth and Education.]
He was born at Delft, on the 10th April 1582. His parents were John de
Groote, and Alida Averschie. John was the second son of Hugo de Groote
by Elselinda Heemskirke. Hugo was the son of Cornelius Cornet by
Ermingarde, the daughter and sole heiress of Diederic de Groote. Upon
their marriage, Diederic stipulated that Cornet should adopt the
surname of Groote: it signifies _Great_, and is said to have been given
to Diederic for some signal service, which he had rendered to his
sovereign. All the males and females mentioned in the genealogy of
Grotius were of noble extraction.
Learning appears to have been hereditary in the family: John, the father
of Hugo, the subject of our biography, was both a lawyer in great
practice, and a general scholar.
The 10th of April, on which GROTIUS was born, was Easter Sunday in that
year: he always observed his birthday with religious solemnity.
All the biographers of Grotius assert, and their assertion will be
easily believed, that he discovered, in his earliest years, great
aptitude for the acquisition of learning, great taste, judgment and
application, and a wonderful memory. He found, in his father, an
excellent tutor: by him, Grotius was instructed in the rudiments of the
Christian doctrine, and his infant mind impressed with sound principles
of morality and honour; in this, he was aided by the mother of Grotius.
The youth corresponded with their cares. He has celebrated, in elegant
verses, their pious attention to his early education. The mention of
these verses will bring to the recollection of every English reader, the
magnificent strains, in which, Milton addressed _his_ father.
[Sidenote: CHAP. I. 1582-1597.]
As soon as Grotius had passed his childhood, he was placed with
Utengobard, an Arminian clergyman: we shall see that this circumstance
had a decisive influence upon his future life. He retained a lasting
regard for Utengobard, and a grateful recollection of his obligations to
him. At the age of twelve years, Grotius was sent to the university of
Leyden, and committed to the care of Francis Junius. Here, he
distinguished himself so much by his diligence, his talents, and his
modesty, as to obtain the notice and regard of several of the most
famous scholars of the times. Even Joseph Scaliger, equally
distinguished by his learning and caustic arrogance, noticed him, and
condescended to direct his studies. He was scarcely eleven years of age
when Douza, one of the princes of the republic of letters in those
times, celebrated his praises in verse: He declared that "he could
scarcely believe that Erasmus promised so much as Grotius at his age:"
he announced that "Grotius would soon excel all his contemporaries, and
bear a comparison with the most leaned of the antients."
Grotius also gained the esteem of Barneveldt, the grand pensionary, in
whose fate he was afterward involved. In 1587, the Dutch sent Count
Justin of Nassau and Barneveldt, at the head of an embassy, to Henry IV.
of France. Barneveldt permitted Grotius to accompany him.
[Sidenote: His Birth and Education.]
Grotius had been preceded by his reputation. He was known to M. de
Busenval, the monarch's ambassador in Holland. Busenval described him
favourably to the monarch. Henry gave Grotius a gracious reception, and
was so pleased with his conversation and demeanour, that he presented
him with his picture and a golden chain. Grotius gives an account of
this embassy, in the seventh book of his Annals: he abstains, with a
praiseworthy modesty, from any mention of himself: but, in one of his
poems, he dwells with complacency on his having seen the monarch, "who
owed his kingdom only to his valour"--
" ... _Le Heros, qui regna sur la Françe,
Et par droit de conquête et par droit de naissançe_."
VOLTAIRE, _Henriade_.
Grotius was so much pleased with his reception, and the present which he
received from Henry, that he caused a print of himself, adorned with the
chain presented to him by Henry, to be engraved. He was introduced to
many of the most distinguished persons at Paris: there was one, whom he
particularly esteemed, but whom, from some unexplained circumstance, he
missed seeing.
[Sidenote: Chap. 1. 1582-1597]
This was _the President de Thou_, a name never to be mentioned without
veneration. He had been employed by his sovereign on many delicate and
important commissions, and had acquitted himself in all, with ability
and honour. He had filled the office of _Maitre des Requétes_, and been
advanced to that of _President a Mortiér_. He was employed, at this
time, upon his immortal History. In the account which it gives of the
events, that took place in France, it is entitled to almost unqualified
praise: in regard to what happened to other countries, he necessarily
depended on the information which he received from them, and cannot
therefore be equally relied upon. The prolixity, with which he is now
reproached, was not felt at the time in which he wrote; every event,
however small, was then thought to be important, and multitudes were
personally interested in it. But the charm of his work is, that every
page of it shews a true lover of his country, an impartial judgment, and
an honourable mind. The memoirs, which he has left us of his own life,
recently translated into English by Mr. Collinson, are interesting and
entertaining. He collected a very large library, both of printed books
and manuscripts, and had them splendidly bound. The whole was sold by
auction in the reign of Louis XIV, and scarcely produced half the sum
which the binding of its volumes had cost: The same has been said of the
Harleian collection, sold in our times.
[Sidenote: His Birth and Education.]
Having remained a twelvemonth at Paris, Grotius returned to Holland.
Immediately after his arrival, he addressed a letter to the president
de Thou, in which he expressed great mortification at not having seen
him, and requested his acceptance of a book accompanying his letter,
which he had dedicated to the Prince of Condé. The president de Thou was
highly pleased with this letter: a correspondence took place between
them. Grotius furnished the president with materials for that portion of
his history which related to the troubles in the Low Countries.
In the last letter of the President de Thou, in this correspondence, he
earnestly dissuades Grotius from engaging in the religious disputes of
the times. In reply to it, Grotius respectfully intimates to the
president, that "he found himself obliged to enter into them by his love
of his country; his wish to serve his church, and the request of those
to whom he owed obedience:" promising, at the same time, "to abstain
from all disputes that were not necessary." After the death of the
President, Grotius celebrated his memory in a poem, which was considered
by the bard's admirers to be one of his best performances.