The Life of Hugo Grotius: With Brief Minutes of the Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of the NetherlandsButler, Charles
History
The Life of Hugo Grotius: With Brief Minutes of the Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of the Netherlands
Butler, Charles
Grotius, Hugo, 1583-1645; Netherlands -- History
Grotius arrived at Paris on the 13th of April 1621. He was immediately
noticed by a multitude of persons of distinction and rank; but it was
not till March 1622, that he was presented to the king. His majesty
received him graciously, and settled upon him a pension of 3,000 livres.
The Prince of Condé, the Chancellor, and the Keeper of the Seals, had
exerted themselves to dispose the king in his favour. His majesty
professed kindness towards those, who had been persecuted by the States;
and issued an edict, dated the 22d April 1622, by which he took them
under his protection, in the same manner as if they were his own
subjects; he even extended this benefit to their children. The
celebrated President Jeannin was one of the most active and useful of
Grotius's friends; but he died soon after Grotius arrived at Paris.
Grotius, during his stay in that city, attended frequently the courts of
justice. He observed the wretched style of oratory, which at that time,
prevailed in them. It was, in some measure, corrected by _Patru_ and _Le
Maitre_; but it did not reach its best state, till the end of the reign
of Lewis XIV. The rhetorical march and laboured amplifications allowed
at the French bar, are offensive to English ears. Has any nation
produced a more perfect style of forensic or judicial eloquence, than
that of _Sir William Grant_? The wisdom and justice of _Lord Stowell's_
decisions, and the admirable arguments by which he explains or
illustrates them, are known and acknowledged by every Court.
[Sidenote: CHAP. IX. 1621--1634]
Grotius's love of his native country continued unabated; all his views,
all his hopes, were directed thither. With these feelings he wrote his
_Apology_. He composed it in the Dutch language, and translated it
afterwards into Latin: it was published in 1622. He dedicated it to the
people of Holland and West Friesland. It is divided into twenty
chapters; in the first, he argues the important point, that each of the
United Provinces is sovereign and independent of the States General, and
that the authority of these is confined to the defence of the provinces
against their enemies. In the second chapter, he applies the position to
ecclesiastical concerns; these, he says, are subject to the sovereign
power of each State. In the following chapters, he descends into the
particular charges against him; defending himself against all the crimes
and irregularities of which he was accused, and shewing the informality
of the judicial proceedings by which he and his companions in misfortune
were tried and condemned.
[Sidenote: From the Escape of Grotius till his appointment of
Ambassador.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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