Chapter 20

THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF GROTIUS:--SOME OTHER OF HIS WORKS.

1. _Subsequent History of Arminianism_. 2. _Grotius's Religious Sentiments_. 3. _His Projects of Religious Pacification_.

XII. 1.

_Subsequent History of Arminianism._

We left the Arminians under the iron arm of Prince Maurice:--He died in 1625:--We have mentioned, that Prince Frederick-Henry his brother, and successor in the Stadtholderate, adopted more moderate councils in their regard; that he recalled the Remonstrants, with some exceptions, from banishment; that many settled at Amsterdam and Rotterdam; and that the Arminians founded a college in the former city:--_Episcopius_ was its first professor of theology:--it has never been without teachers, of eminence for learning, as Courcelles, Pollemberg, Limborch, Le Clerc, Cottemburgh, and Wetstein.

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

It should be added, that the authority of the Synod of Dort insensibly declined:--its authority was never formally acknowledged by the provinces of _Friesland_, _Zealand_, _Utrecht_, _Gueldreland_ and _Gröningen_: In 1651, they were induced to intimate that they would see with pleasure, the reformed religion maintained upon the footing, upon which it had been maintained and confirmed by the Synod of Dort; but this intimation was never considered to have the force of a legislative enactment.[043]

[Sidenote: XII.1. History of Arminianism.]

The theological system of the Arminians, after their return to Holland, underwent, if we credit Dr. Mosheim,[044] a remarkable change. They appear, by his account, to have almost coincided with those, who exclude the necessity of divine grace in the work of conversion and sanctification; and think that Christ demands from men, rather virtue than faith; and has confined that belief, which is essential for salvation, to very few articles. Thus the modern Arminians, according to Dr. Mosheim, admit into their communion,--1st. All, with an exception of Catholics, who receive the holy scriptures; and more especially the New Testament; allowing at the same time to every individual, his own interpretation of the sacred books:--2dly. All whose lives are regulated by the law of God:--3dly. And all, who neither persecute nor bear ill will towards those who differ from them in their religious sentiments. Their _Confession of Faith_ was drawn up by Episcopius in 1622: four divines of the established church of Holland published a _Refutation_ of it: the authors of the _Confession_ replied to it in the following year, by their _Apology_.

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

James I. of England directed his theological representatives in the Synod of Dort, to join the members in the condemnation of the doctrines of Arminius:--but, when the English divines returned from that assembly, and gave a full account of its proceedings, the King and the greatest part of the English clergy expressed their dissatisfaction with them, and declared that the sentiments of Arminius on the divine decrees, was preferable to those of Calvin and Gomarus. By the exertions of Archbishop Laud, and afterwards, in consequence of the general tendency of the public mind to doctrines of mildness and comprehension, an Arminian construction of the English articles on predestination and free-will was adopted:--it has since prevailed,--and the Arminian creed, by the number of its secret or open adherents, has insensibly found admittance into every Protestant church.

[Sidenote: History of Arminianism.]

If we believe the celebrated Jurieu[045], Arminianism even in its Socinian form, abounded, in less than a century, after the death of Arminius, in the United Provinces, and among the Hugonots of the adjacent part of France. By his account, the dispersion of the French Hugonots, in consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, revealed to the terrified reformers of the original school, the alarming secret of the preponderance of Socinianism in the reformed church. Its members, according to Jurieu, being no longer under the controul of the civil power, spread their Socinian principles every where, with the utmost activity and success: even in England, Jurieu professed to discover the effect of their exertions. He mentions that in 1698, thirty-four French refugee ministers residing in London addressed a letter to the synod, then sitting at Amsterdam, in which they declared, that Socinianism had spread so rapidly, that, if the ecclesiastical assemblies supplied no means for checking their growth, or used palliatives only, the mischief would be incurable.

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

This charge, however, the Arminians have indignantly rejected. A writer in the _Bibliotheque Germanique_[046] relates, that

"the celebrated Anthony Collins called on M. Le Clerc of Amsterdam: He was accompanied by some Frenchmen, of the fraternity of those, who think freely. They expected to find the religious opinions of Le Clerc in unison with their own, but, they were surprised to find the strong stand which he made in favour of revelation. He proved to them, with great strength of argument, the truth of the Christian religion. Jesus Christ, he told them, was born among the Jews; still, it was not the Jewish religion which he taught; neither was it the religion of the Pagan neighbourhood; but, a religion infinitely superior to both. One sees in it the most striking marks of divinity. The Christians, who followed, were incapable of imagining any thing so beautiful. Add to this, that the Christian religion is so excellently calculated for the good of society, that, if we did not derive so great a present from heaven, the good and safety of men would absolutely demand from them an equivalent."

Throughout the conversation, M. Le Clerc reproached the Deists strongly, for the hatred, which they shewed to Christianity. He proved, that, by banishing it from the world,

"they would overturn whatever was most holy and respectable among men; break asunder the surest bonds of humanity; teach men to shake off the yoke of law; deprive them of their strongest incitement to virtue, and bereave them of their best comfort. What," (he asked them) "do you substitute in its place? Can you flatter yourself, that you will discover something better? You expect, no doubt, that men will erect statues to you, for your exertions to deprive them of their religion! Permit me to tell you, that the part you act makes you odious and despicable in the eyes of all honest men."

He finished the conversation by requesting Mr. Collins to bring him no more such visitors.

[Sidenote: XII. 1. History of Arminians.]

From the close of the 17th century, till the present time, Arminianism has been continually on the increase. It is a just observation of Mr. Gibbon, that "the disciples of Arminius must not be computed by their separate congregations."

Doctor Maclaine says, it is certain, that the most eminent philosophers have been found among the Arminians. "If both Arminians and Calvinists," says Mr. Evans, in the excellent work we have cited,

"claim a _King_ (_James_ I.), it is certain that the latter alone can boast of a _Newton_, a _Locke_, a _Clarke_, or a _Boyle_. Archbishop _Usher_ is said to have lived a _Calvinist_; and died an _Arminian_. The members of the episcopal church in Scotland; the Moravians, the general Baptists, the Wesleyan Methodists, the Quakers or Friends, are Arminians; and it is supposed that a great proportion of the Kirk of Scotland teach the doctrines of Arminius, though they have a Calvinistic confession of faith. What a pity it is that the opinions either of Calvinists or Arminians,"

--(we beg leave to add: or any other Catholic or Protestant opinions whatsoever)--

"cannot in the eyes of some persons be held without a diminution of Christian charity!"

XII. 2.

_Grotius's Religious Sentiments_.

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

To the milder form of Arminianism, Grotius always inclined. During his embassy in France, he adopted it without reserve. He was soon disgusted with the French Calvinists. The ministers of Charenton accepted the decisions of the Synod of Dort, and, in conformity with them, refused, when Grotius repaired to Paris, after his escape from Louvestein, to admit him into their communion. On his arrival at Paris, in quality of ambassador, they offered to receive him: Grotius expressed pleasure at the proposal; and, intimated to them, that if he should go into any country, in which the Lutherans, knowing his sentiments on the sacrament of our Lord's Supper, should be willing to receive him into their communion, he would make no difficulty in joining them. Thus every thing appeared to be settled; but the ministers then objected to receive Grotius as ambassador from Sweden, because that kingdom was Lutheran. Grotius, upon this, resolved to have the divine service performed in his house. Lutherans publicly attended it. "We have celebrated," he writes to his brother, "the Feast of the Nativity in my house: the Duke of Wirtemberg, the Count de Saxenburgh, and several Swedish and German lords, attended at it." His first chaplain was imprudent, his second gave him great satisfaction.

[Sidenote: XII. 2. Grotius' Religious Sentiments.]

Burigni has collected, in the last chapter of his Life of Grotius, a multitude of passages, which shew his gradual leaning to the Roman Catholic faith. He produces several passages from his works, which prove,--

_That_ he paid high regard to decisions of the councils, and the discipline of the primitive church; and thought the sentiments of the antient church should be deferred to, in the explanation of the Scriptures: [047]

_That_, the early reformers were held by him in no great esteem:[048]

_That_, mentioning Casaubon's sentiments, Grotius said that this learned man thought the Roman Catholics of France better informed than those of other countries, and came nearer to truth than the ministers of Charenton:--

"It cannot," says Grotius, "be denied, that there are several Roman Catholic pastors here, who teach true religion, without any mixture of superstition; it were to be wished that all did the same:"[049]

_That_ the Calvinists were schismatics, and had no mission:[050]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

_That_ the Jesuits were learned men and good subjects. "I know many of them," he says, in one of his writings against Rivetus, "who are very desirous to see abuses abolished, and the church restored to its primitive unity."--We shall hereafter see that Father Petâu, an illustrious member of the society, possessed the confidence of Grotius:[051]

_That_, Grotius looked upon the abolition of episcopacy and of a visible head of the church, as something very monstrous:[052]

_That_, he acknowledged that some change was made in the eucharistic bread; that, when Jesus Christ, being sacramentally present, favours us with his substance,--as the Council of Trent expresses its doctrine on the Eucharist,--the appearances of bread and wine remain, and in their place succeed the body and blood of Christ: [053]

[Sidenote: XII. 2. Grotius's Religious Sentiments.]

_That_, Grotius did not approve of the sentiments of the Calvinists concerning the Eucharist, and reproached them with their contradiction.

"You will hear them state in their confessions," says Grotius, "that they really, substantially and essentially partake of Christ's body and his blood; but, in their disputes, they maintain that Christ is received only spiritually, by faith. The antients go much further: they admit a real incorporation of Jesus Christ with us, and the reality of Christ's body, as Saint Hilarius speaks."

It must however be remarked that, although Grotius thought that the term _Transubstantiation_ adopted by the council of Trent, was capable of a good interpretation, it is not clear, what was his precise opinion respecting the Eucharist. He proposed the following formulary:

"We believe that, in the use of the supper, we truly, really, and substantially,--that is to say,--in its proper substance,--receive the true body and the true blood of Jesus Christ, in a spiritual and ineffable manner: [054]"

_That_, Grotius justified the decision of the Council of Trent, concerning the number of the sacraments:[055]

_That_, after the year 1640, he took no offence at the use of images in churches, or at prayers for the dead:[056]

_That_, he thought the bishops of Rome may be in error, but cannot long remain in it, if they adhere to the universal church;--this seems to presuppose the church's infallibility:[057]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

_That_ in the opinion of Grotius; fasting was early used in the church; the observance of Lent was a very early practice: the sign of the cross had something respectable in it; the fathers held virginity a more perfect state than marriage; and the celibacy of the priests conformable to the antient discipline of the church:[058]

And

"that those, who shall read the decrees of the Council of Trent, with a mind disposed to peace, will find that every thing is wisely explained in them: and agreeable to what is taught by the Scriptures and the antient fathers."[059]

It is certain, that Grotius was intimate with Father Petâu, a Jesuit, inferior to none of his society, in genius and learning; that the good father used all his endeavours to convert Grotius to the Roman Catholic religion; and was, at length, so much persuaded of his friend's catholicity, that, when he heard of his death, he said prayers for the repose of his soul.[060]

[Sidenote: XII. 3. His Project of Religious Pacification.]

As the religion of Grotius was a problem to many, Menâge wrote the following Epigram upon it: the sense of it is, that--

"As many sects claimed the religion of Grotius, as the towns, which contended for the birth of Homer."

_Smyrna, Rhodos, Colophon, Salamis, Chios, Argos, Athenæ, Siderei certant vatis de patriâ Homeri: Grotiadæ certant de religione, Socinus, Arrius, Arminius, Calvinus, Roma, Lutherus_.

XII. 3.

_Grotius's Project of Religious Pacification._

A wish for religious peace among Christians grew with the growth and strengthened with the strength of Grotius. It was known, before his imprisonment at Louvestein, that he entertained these sentiments: he avows them in the dedication to Lewis XIII. of his treatise _de Jure Belli et Pacis_.

"I shall never cease," he says in a letter to his brother,[061] "to use my utmost endeavours for establishing peace among Christians; And, if I should not succeed, it will be honourable to die in such an enterprise." "I am not the only one, who has conceived such projects," he writes in another letter to his brother:[062] "Erasmus, Cassander; Wicelius and Casaubon had the same design. La Meletiere is employed at present in it. Cardinal de Richelieu declares that he will protect the coalition; and he is such a fortunate man, that he never undertakes any thing, in which he does not succeed. If there were no hopes of success at present, ought we not to sow the seed, which may he useful to posterity?[063] Even if we should only diminish the mutual hatred among Christians, and render them more sociable, would not this be worth purchasing at the price of some labour and reproaches?"[064]

Grotius expressed himself in similar terms to Baron Oxenstiern: Surely it is the true language of the Gospel.

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

In the first appendix to this work,--we shall insert, an account

"of the Formularies, Confessions of Faith, and Symbolic Books, of the Roman Catholic, Greek, and principal Protestant churches:"--

In the second appendix,--we shall insert an account of the principal attempts made, since the Reformation, for the re-union of Christians.--The former is abridged from the "Historical and Literary Account of the Confessions of Faith," which was formerly published by the present writer;--the second is an essay appended to that work:--both have been before referred to in the present publication.

[Sidenote: XII. 3. His Project of Religious Pacification.]

Grotius[065] thought that the most compendious way to produce universal religious peace among Christians, would be to frame, with the concurrence of all the orthodox Eastern and Western churches, a formulary which should express, briefly and explicitly, all the articles of faith, the belief of which they agree in thinking essential to salvation. In a letter addressed from Paris in 1625,[066] he mentions that Gustavus Adolphus had entertained projects of religious pacification, and had taken measures to effect it; that he had procured a meeting of divines of the Lutheran and Reformed churches and that they had separated amicably: Grotius says that the differences between them were as slight as those between the Greek and Coptic churches.

For some time, Grotius flattered himself that he should succeed in his project of pacification. In one of his letters to his brother, he mentions distinguished Protestants, who approved and encouraged them

"I perceive," he says, "that by conversing with men of the most learning among the reformed, and explaining my sentiments to them, they are of my opinion; and that their number will increase, if my treatises are dispersed. I can truly affirm, that I have said nothing in them from party spirit, but followed truth as closely as I could."[067]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

He imagined that some Catholics entered into his views.

"The ablest men among the Catholics," he thus writes to his brother, "think that what I have published is written with great freedom and moderation, and approve of it."[068]

These pacific projects of Grotius cemented the union between him and Father Petâu.

"I had," says that most learned Jesuit, in his 12th Letter, "a great desire to see and converse with Grotius. We have been long together, and very intimate. He is, as far as I can judge, a good man, and possesses great candour. I do not think him far from becoming a Catholic, after the example of Holstenius as you hoped. I shall neglect nothing in my power to reconcile him to Christ, and put him in the way of salvation."[069]

[Sidenote: His Project of Religious Pacification.]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

[Sidenote: XII. 3. His Project of Religious Pacification.]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

As Grotius lays so much stress on the pacific labours of Erasmus, Wicelius, Cassander and Casaubon, we shall briefly mention, in the present chapter, the labours of the three first: Casaubon's we shall notice, in the second appendix to this work.

[Sidenote: XII. 3. His Project of Religious Pacification.]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.] It appears that _Erasmus_ had it in contemplation to compose three dialogues, upon the important subject of religious pacification: the speakers were to have been Luther, under the name of Thrasimacus, and a Catholic divine, under that of Eubolus. In the first dialogue, they were to have discussed the proper methods of terminating the religious controversies of the times; in the second, to have investigated what were the points in controversy, the belief of which was essential to a member of the church of Christ; in the third, they were to have inquired what were the best means to procure a good understanding between the contending parties, and to effect their union. It is to be lamented that Erasmus did not execute his design. His general sentiments appear in his _Paraphrase upon the 83d Psalm_; they are expressed with great wisdom and moderation.[071]

[Sidenote: XII. 3. His Project of Religious Pacification.]

_Wicelius_,--who is next mentioned by Grotius, had been professed in a religious order: had quitted it, and embraced Lutheranism: he afterwards forsook that communion, and returned to the Catholic: upon this, he was appointed to a curacy; and, in the discharge of his functions, obtained general esteem: he was much regarded by the Emperors Ferdinand and Maximilian. In 1537, he published at Leipsic a Latin work, "On the method of procuring Religious Concord,--_Methodus Concordiæ Ecclesiasticæ_." He addressed it to the pope, to all sovereigns, bishops, doctors, and generally to all christians, exhorting them to peace, and to desist from contention. He assumed in it, that the true religion had been preserved in the Catholic church; but he allows that modern doctors had involved it in numerous scholastic subtleties, unknown to antiquity. He complains that on one hand the reformers left nothing untouched; that, on the other, the scholastics would retain every abuse, and every superfluity: Wisdom, he thought, lay between them; the reformers should have respected what antiquity consecrated; the Catholics should have abandoned modern doctrines and modern practices to the discretion of individuals.

The "Royal Road," or _Via Regia_ of Wicelius, a still more important work, was published by him at Helmstadt in 1537. Both works were approved, and the perusal of them warmly recommended, by the emperors: they have been often reprinted; they are inserted, with a life of their author, in the second volume of _Brown's Fasciculus_.

"If all the divines of those times," says Father Simôn the oratorian,[073] "had possessed the same spirit as Wicelius, the affairs of religion might have taken a different turn."

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

[Sidenote: XII.3. His Project of Religious Pacification]

_Cassander_, another peacemaker, mentioned with praise by Grotius, is the subject of a long and interesting article in _Dupin's Ecclesiastical History_:[074]

"He was," says Dupin, "solidly learned; and thoroughly versed in ecclesiastical antiquity and the controversies of his own times. The flaming zeal, which he had for the re-union and peace of the church, made him yield much to the Protestants, and led him to advance some propositions that were too bold. But he always kept in the communion of the Catholic church. He declared that he submitted to its judgments, and openly condemned the authors of the schism and their principal errors. He was a gentle, humble and moderate man; patient under afflictions, and entirely disinterested. In his disputes, he never returned injury for injury; and neither in his manners nor in his writings were presumption or arrogance ever discoverable. He avoided glory, honor, or wealth; and lived private and retired, having no other thought or wish, but to promote the peace of the church; no employment, but study; no business, but to compose books, which might be profitable to the public; and no passion, but knowing and teaching the truth."

His character procured him universal respect. The emperor and several Catholic princes in Germany fixed upon him as a mediator in the religious disputes, by which the empire was, at that time, agitated. In conformity with their views he published his celebrated, "_Consultatio de Articulis Religionis inter Catholicos et Protestantes Controversis_."

"In this work," says Mr. Chalmers, "he discusses the several articles of the Augsburgh Confession, stating their difference from the doctrines of the Catholic church, and the concessions that might safely be made in respect to them. This work was written with great liberality, was much applauded by those, who were desirous of a coalition: they were too soon convinced that every attempt of this kind was nugatory. Cassander presented it to the Emperors Ferdinand I. and Maximilian II. They received it favourably; the former invited Cassander to Vienna, but his infirmities prevented his accepting the offer."

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

In 1542, Grotius published his "_Road to Religious Peace,--Via ad Pacem Ecclesiasticam_:" he inserted in it Cassander's "_Consultation_," and accompanied it with notes.

All pacific persons reverenced Grotius, and still reverence his memory, for his attempts to restore the religious peace of Christendom: all the violent condemned him, and opposed his projects. The contradictions, which he met with, chagrined him; so that he sometimes lost that tranquillity of mind, which he had possessed in his deepest adversity. But, to use his own words, he looked to the blessed Peacemaker for his reward, and trusted that posterity would do justice to its intentions.--

"Perhaps, by writing to reconcile such as entertain very opposite sentiments, I shall," says Grotius, "offend both parties: but, if that should so happen, I shall comfort myself with the example of him, who said, If I please men, I am not the servant of Christ."

[Sidenote: XII. 3. His Project of Religious Pacification.]

"Grotius," says Burigni, "content with gratifying his pacific desires, expected his reward from posterity. This he clearly intimates in the following verses, written by him on the subject:

"_Accipe, sed placidé, quæ, si non optimo, certé Espressit nobis non mala pacis amor. Et tibi dic, nostro labor hic si displicet avo, A gratia pretium posteritate feret_."

The projects of religious pacification did not cease with Grotius: several divines of distinction adopted it; and attempted, some with more prudence and ability than others, to carry it into effect. The principal of these are noticed in the second appendix to the present work. None succeeded: One description of persons, who engaged in this design, was denominated _Syncretists_, or _Calixtines_, from _George Calixtus_ their leader: the other, from their calling men from controversy to holiness of life, received the appellation of _Pietists_: A third party,--perhaps we may style them, the _Ultra-orthodox_,--more hostile to the former than to the latter--arose in opposition to both, and accused them of sacrificing the doctrines of faith to a mistaken zeal for union and sanctity.[075]

It is certain[076] that the friends of union too often erred in this,--that they aimed rather at an uniformity of _terms_ than of _sentiments_; and thus seemed satisfied, when they engaged the contending parties to use the same _words and phrases_, though their _real difference_ in opinion remained the same. This could not be justified: it tended evidently to extinguish truth and honour, and to introduce equivocation.