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.
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.
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.
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.
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 theDroit 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.
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 ofgueuxorbeggars, and retained it throughout the whole of the troubles which followed.
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.
Their Constitution and principal Officers.
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.
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,-thetreasurer, 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.
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.
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.
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 signifiesGreat, 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 addressedhisfather.
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.
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.
Chap. 1. 1582-1597
This wasthe 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 ofMaitre des Requétes, and been advanced to that ofPresident 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.
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.
GROTIUS EMBRACES THE PROFESSION OF THE LAW. HIS FIRST PROMOTIONS.
1597-1610.
In the ruin of the Roman Empire, her laws were lost in the general wreck. During the 200 years, which followed the reign of Constantine the Great, Europe was a scene of every calamity, which the inroads of barbarians could inflict, either on the countries through which they passed, or those in which they settled. About the sixth century, Europe obtained some degree of tranquillity, in consequence of the introduction of feudalism; the most singular event in the annals of history. At first, it produced a general anarchy; but the system of subordination upon which it was grounded, contained in it the germ of regular government, and even, of jurisprudence. Its effects were first visible in thevarious codes of lawwhich the barbarous nations promulgated. Such are the Salic, the Ripuarian, the Alemannic, the Burgundian, the Visigothic, and the Lombard laws.
Feudal Jurisprudence.
A complicated or refined system of jurisprudence is not to be looked for in them; but, if they are considered with due regard to the state of society for which they were calculated, they will be found to contain much that deserves praise. Thecapitularies, or short legislative provisions, propounded by the sovereign, and adopted by the public assemblies of the nation, were a further advance in legislation. By degrees, so much regularity prevailed in the judicial proceedings and legal transactions, that they were regulated by establishedformularies; and, in addition to those provisions, every nation contained a collection of unwritten usages orcustoms, which had the force of law. The natural tendency of these institutions to introduce order and peaceful habits into society was great; but it was so much counteracted by the turbulent spirit of every class of men, that it was not till the beginning of the thirteenth century that this effect of them became discernible.
CHAP. II. 1597-1610
From this time, the governments of Europe sensibly improved. A better spirit of legislation shewed itself; the administration of justice became more regular; trade and husbandry were protected, several arts were encouraged; and a general wish for a better order of things prevailed in every part of Europe. While the public mind was in this state of improvement, an event fortunately happened, which gave it a very salutary direction. This was, (what we have already noticed), the discovery of a complete copy of thePandects of Justinianat Amalfi, a town in Italy, near Salerno. From Amalfi, it found its way to Pisa; and in 1406, was carried to Florence, where it has since remained.
The Civil Law
Few events in history can be mentioned which have conduced more to the welfare of Europe than this discovery. The codes, the capitularies, the formularies, and the customs, by which, till that time, the feudal nations had been governed, fell very short of affording them the legal provisions, which society, in the improved state of civilization, to which it was then advancing, evidently required. Unexpectedly, a system of law presented itself, which seemed to contain every thing that the most enlightened men of those times could have desired. The wisdom and justice of the system of law expressed in the Pandects seem to have been universally felt. The study of it was immediately pursued with ardour. It was introduced into several universities; exercises were performed, lectures read, and degrees conferred in that, as in other branches of science; and most of the nations of the continent adopted it, if not as the basis, at least as an important portion of their civil jurisprudence. A regularsuccession of civillawyers followed. At first, they rather incumbered the text with their subtleties, than illustrated it by learning and discrimination.Andrew Alciatwas the first who united the study of polite learning with the study of the civil law: he was founder of a school called theCujacian, fromCujas, the glory of civilians. Of him, it may be truly said, that he found the civil law in wood and left it in marble.
This school has subsisted until our time: it has never been without writers of the greatest taste, judgment and erudition; the names of Cujacius, Augustinus, the Gothofredi, Heineccius, Voetius, Vinnius, Gravina and Pothier, are as dear to the scholar as they are to the lawyer; an Englishman however must reflect with pleasure, that the Commentaries of his countryman, Sir William Blackstone, will not suffer in a comparison with any foreign work of jurisprudence. So far as the researches of the present writer extend, the only one that can be put into competition with them, is theJus Canonicum of Van-Espen.
CHAP. II. 1597-1610
The judicial process of the nations on the continent differed considerably from that of England. Trial by jury, and separate courts of equity, were unknown to them. Some causes were heard and decided by all the magistrates of the courts; others were referred to one or more of their number. The king's advocate, or the advocate of the state, as he was termed in a republic, held a situation between the judges and the suitors: his province was to sum the facts and arguments of the cause, and to suggest his opinions upon them to the judges.-We trust our readers will excuse this summary view of foreign jurisprudence.
Grotius, by the advice of his father, addicted himself to the profession of the law. He was only in his seventeenth year, when he pleaded his first cause. He acquired by it, great reputation; and this was constantly upon the increase, through the whole of his professional career. He observed in his pleadings a rule, which he afterwards recommended to his son: "That you may not," he told him, "be embarrassed by the little order observed by the adversary counsel, attend to one thing, which I have found eminently useful: Distribute all that can be said on both sides, under certain heads; imprint these strongly in your memory; and, whatever your adversary says, refer it not to his division, but to your own."
Grotius embraces the profession of the Law.
The brilliant success of Grotius at the bar soon procured him very considerable promotions. The place of Advocate-General of the Fisc of the provinces of Holland and Zealand becoming vacant, it was unanimously conferred on him. This situation was attended with great distinction and authority; the person invested with it, being charged with the preservation of the public peace, and the prosecution of public offenders. In 1613, Grotius was advanced to the situation of Pensionary of Rotterdam; and his high character authorized him to stipulate before he accepted it, that he should hold it during his life, and not, at will, its usual tenure. It immediately gave him a seat in the assembly of the States of Holland; and, at a future time, a seat in the assembly of the States General.
Between the time of his appointment to the advocacy of the Fisc of Holland and Zealand, and his being appointed Pensionary of Rotterdam, he married Mary Reygersburgh, of an illustrious family in Zealand. It proved a marriage of happiness. The most perfect harmony subsisted between Grotius and his consort: we shall find that she was an ornament to him in prosperity, his comfort and aid in adverse fortune. The marriage was solemnized in July 1608, and celebrated by many a Belgic bard.
CHAP II. 1597-1610.
A dispute arising about this time between England and the States General, upon the exclusive right claimed by the former to fish in the Northern seas, the States, with a view to an amicable adjustment of it, sent Grotius to England. Several meetings took place between him and commissioners appointed by James, the British sovereign. If we credit the account, given by Grotius, of the point in dispute, and the negociation to which it gave rise, justice was decidedly on the side of the States General; and England only carried the point by the lion's right,-thedroit du plus fort.
Grotius embraces the profession of the Law.
Grotius had every reason to be pleased with his reception by the English monarch and his court. Between Grotius and Casaubon, who, at this time, resided in England, an intimacy had long subsisted. It was cemented by mutual esteem, similarity of studies, and the earnest wish of each for an amicable termination of religious differences: each respected the antient doctrines and discipline of the church; each thought that many of the points in controversy were disputes of words; that much might be gained by mutual concessions; and that the articles, upon which there was any substantial difference, were few. "I esteem Grotius highly,"-Casaubon writes in a letter to the president de Thou, "on account of his other great qualities; but particularly because he judges of the modern subjects of religious controversy like a learned and good man. In his veneration for antiquity, he agrees with the wisest men." ... "I heartily pray God," says Casaubon in a letter to Grotius, "to; preserve you: as long as I shall live, I shall hold you in the highest esteem: so much am I taken with your piety, your probity, and your admirable learning."[005]
THE EARLY PUBLICATIONS OF GROTIUS.
There is not, perhaps, an instance of a person's acquiring at an age equally early, the reputation, which attended the first publication of Grotius. It was an edition, with notes, of the work of "Martianus Mineus Felix Capella, on the Marriage of Mercury and Philology, in two books; and of the same writer's Seven Treatises on the Liberal Arts." They had been often printed; but all the editions were faulty: a manuscript of them having been put into the hands of Grotius by his father, he communicated it to Scaliger, and by his advice undertook a new edition of them.
The time, in which Capella lived, and the place of his birth, are uncertain; the better opinion seems to be, that he flourished towards the third century, resided at Rome, and attained the consular dignity. His works are written in prose, intermixed with poetry. His diction has some resemblance to that of Tertullian, but is much more crabbed and obscure: none, but the ablest Latin scholars, can understand him. The Marriage of Mercury and Philology,-or of Speech with Learning, is not uninteresting. His other treatises contain nothing remarkable: that upon music, is hardly intelligible; it is printed separately in the collection ofMeibomius. With all his harshness and obscurity, Capella seems to have been much studied in the middle ages,-some proof that there was more learning in them, than is generally supposed,-he is so often quoted by the writers of those times, that some persons have supposed that his work was then a text book in the schools.
The early publications of Grotius.
CHAP. III. 1597-1610.
When Grotius undertook his edition of Capella, he was only twelve years of age: he published it in his fourteenth year, and dedicated it to the Prince of Condé. The learning and critical discernment displayed by him in this publication excited astonishment, and obtained for him the applause of all the literary world. Grotius himself gives the following account of his work: "We have collated Capella with the several authors, who have investigated the same subjects. In the two first books, we have consulted those whose writings contain the sentiments of the antient philosophers, as Apuleius, Albericus and others, too tedious to name; on grammar, we have compared, Capella with the antient grammarians; in what he has said on rhetoric, with Cicero and Aquila; on logic, with Porphyry, Aristotle, Cassiodorus and Apuleius; on geography, with Strabo, Mela, Solinus, and Ptolemy, but chiefly Pliny; on arithmetic, with Euclid; on astronomy, with Hyginus, and others, who have treated on that subject; on music, with Cleonides, Vitruvius and Boethius." In Grotius's Annotations all these writers are mentioned in a manner, which shews that he was thoroughly conversant with their works. Grotius's edition is become, from its extreme scarcity, a typographical curiosity: all the other editions are scarce. The writer of these pages found, with great difficulty, a copy of it in the London market.[006]That of Bonhomme, published at Lyons in 1539, he procured by loan. The celebrated Leibniz began to prepare an edition of Capellain usum Delphini; but his collections being purloined from him, he desisted from his project: it must be owned that the general learning of Leibniz qualified him admirably for such a task.[009]
The early Publications of Grotius.
While yet in his fourteenth year, Grotius published a translation of a work, published by Simon Steven in 1586, upon Navigation, and shewed by it a profound knowledge of mathematics:[010]he dedicated it to the republic of Venice.
CHAP. III. 1597-1610.
In the following year, Grotius publishedthe Phenomena of Aratus, a poetical treatise of that author upon astronomy, with Cicero's translation of it, so far as it has reached us. Grotius supplied the vacancies. It is universally admitted that the parts supplied by him, are not inferior to those of Cicero. The abbé d'Olivet, the editor of Cicero's works, and an enthusiastic admirer of his style, declares that "the Muse of Cicero[011]did not throw the Muse of Grotius into the shade:" he therefore inserted the supplementary verses of Grotius in his edition. Grotius dedicated his work to the States of Holland and West Friseland; and promised them in his dedication something more considerable. He was complimented upon it by several of the greatest men of the age.
The following simile, taken from Cicero's translation of Aratus, and Voltaire's version of it, are greatly admired:
Sic Jovis altisoni subito pennata satelles,Arboris è trunco, serpentis saucia morsu;Ipsa feris subigit transfigens unguibus anguemSemianimum, et variâ graviter cervice micantem;Quem se intorquentem laniens rostroque craentans,Abjicit efflantem, et laceratum effundit in undas,Seque obitu a solis nitidos convertit ad ortus.CICERO.
Tel on voit cet oiseau, qui porte le tonnere,Blessé par un serpent élancé de la terre;Il s'envole, il entraine au sejour azuréL'ennemi tortueux dont il est entouré.Le sang tombe des airs: il dechire, il devoreLe reptile acharné, qui le combat encore;Il le perçe, il le tient sous ses ongles vainqeurs,Par cent coups rédoublés il venge ses douleurs;Le Monstre en expirant, se debat, se replie;Il exhale en poison le reste de sa vie;Et l'aigle tout sanglant, fier et victorieux,Le rejette en fureur, et plane au haut des cieux.VOLTAIRE.
The early Publications of Grotius.
About the year 1608, Grotius published his celebrated workMare Liberum, to assert in it against the English, the general freedom of the sea. The controversy arose upon the claim of Great Britain to enjoy the dominion of the British seas, in the most extensive sense of those words, both as to the right of navigating them, and the right of fishing within them. Against this claim, Grotius attempted to shew that the sea was, from its nature, insusceptible of exclusive right; and that, if it were susceptible of it, England did not prove her title to it. Selden, in opposition to Grotius, asserted the British claim, by his treatiseMare Clausam,-a noble exertion of a vigorous mind, fraught with profound and extensive erudition. It is pleasing to add, that he treats Grotius with the respect due to his learning and character. Selden's treatise was thought of so much importance to his cause, that a copy of it was directed to be deposited in the British Admiralty. Grotius was highly pleased with the respect, which was shewn to him by Selden.
On Selden'sMare Clausumhe composed the following epigram:-
Ipsum compedibus qui vinxerat Ennegisæum,Est Grecâ Xerxes multus in historia:Lucullum Latii Xerxem dixere togatum;Seldenus Xerxes ecce Britannus erit.
CHAP. III. 1597-1610
The States General were gratified by his work; but at that time it was so much their interest to preserve the strictest amity with England, that they discountenanced any further advocation of their claim.[012]
The year after his publication of his "Treatise on the Freedom of the Sea," Grotius printed his work on the "Antiquity of the Batavian Republic." He gives in it an account of the antientBatavians;he professes to shew that they were the allies, not the subjects of the Romans; that, after a period of anarchy, during which little is known of their history, they became subjects of the Counts of Holland; that these were not vassals of the empire, but independent princes; and, strictly speaking, elected by the people, although, in the election of them, great regard was always shewn to the hereditary line: that they were bound to conform to the laws of the state; and always required, before their election, to swear to the observance of the constitution; that the taxes were always imposed by the States, and that Philip the Second had occasioned the grand war, by repeated infractions of the public and private right of the people of the United Provinces.
The early Publications of Grotius.
The States of Holland were highly pleased with this work; they voted thanks to its author, and accompanied them with a present. It is considered that his partiality to his country led him to advance some positions favourable to its antient independence, which his proofs did not justify.
For the use ofDu Maurier, the French ambassador to the States General, Grotius published, about this time, his "Directions for a Course of general Study,"De omni genere studiorum recte instituendo. It was favourably received, both by the diplomatist for whose use it was composed, and the public at large; but, on account of the great extension of literature, since the time of Grotius, it is now little read. Mentioning the Roman history, he shews that a knowledge of it is better acquired by reading its Greek than by reading its Latin historians; because foreigners give more attention to the public manners and customs of a country than natives.