526 
Grotius. ved highly satisfactory; and anxious as he was to retire 
“~" from public life, she would have gladly retained him in 
her councils; but the jealousies of her courtiers indu= 
cing him to persist in his desire, she at length consent- 
ed. She made him, when on the eve of his departure, 
a-pfesent of twelve thousand rix-dollars. Stress of 
weather driving the vessel in which he emBarked for 
Holland upon the coast of Pomerania, he was put ashore 
in a bad state of health, intending to finish his journey 
by land. _ He was unable to proceed farther than Ros- 
tock. Calumnies, with regard to the soundness of the 
religious principles of Grotius, and the state of his mind 
at his death, were. officiously published’ by his enemies ; 
but they are satisfactorily confuted by John Questorpius, 
professor of theology, and minister of Rostock. This 
learned and pious man wrote.a letter, which is still extant, 
_giving a pleasing account of the chearful resignation and 
Christian piety by which the close of his valuable life was 
characterized. He expired at Rostock, on the 28th of 
August 1645, inthe 63d year of his age. The remains 
-of this.great and good man were embalmed, and re- 
moved to Delft, where they were committed to the se- 
pulchre of his ancestors. His wife appears to have sur- 
vived him. He left three sons anda daughter. The 
eldest son Cornelius, who, wrote elegant Latin verses, 
was for some time employed by Oxenstern in Sweden, 
The second, Dederic, was aide-de-camp to Duke Ber- 
nard of Weimar, and was assassinated in a tavern by 
his valet. The youngest, Peter, was appointed by the 
Elector Palatine to be his resident with the states ge- 
neral ; and, by the favour of the De Wits, he was made 
pensionary of Amsterdam. After having been em- 
ployed in. different political.embassies.for Holland, he 
was tried for alleged offences against the state, and was 
acquitted, .He died in retirement at the age of seven- 
ty. Cornelia, the daughter of Grotius, was married to 
M. de Mouthas, who served with eclat in Holland; 
but being involved in the fall of the De Wits, he quit- 
ted that country in 1672. 
The multitude of works which Grotius left .behind 
him on various subjects, prove him to have been ansuni- 
versal and profound scholar, and a man.of the most in- 
defatigable industry. It is not without astonishment 
that we contemplate the literary labours.of one, whose 
private misfortunes and public duties might have been 
supposed to leave him little inclination, and less leisure, 
for the calm pursuits of philosophy and science. His 
mind was amply stored with the treasures of ancient 
and modern learning, and his excellent memory ena- 
bled him to retain and em loy, as occasion might re- 
quire, the knowledge which he derived from his books. 
It is indeed related of him by Borreman, in proof of 
his wonderful memory, though we must be permitted 
to doubt the accuracy of the anecdote, that Grotius-ha- 
ving been present at the review of a regiment, recol- 
lected the name of every individual belonging to it. 
It would be tedious to give a catalogue of the works 
which are known to have proceeded from his pen, most 
of which were published during the life of the author, 
as they amount to seventy-four or seventy-five. As 
his writings, however, exercised a powerful influence, 
not only over his contemporaries, but. have continued, 
and still continue, to influence the policy of nations, 
and the opinions of scholars and Wulosanbers through- 
ont the civilized world, we shall mention the names of 
some of the most remarkable, and add a tew occasional 
reflections on their value, Considering him, then, as 
an author, we may, for the sake of arrangement, notice 
some of those compositions which exhibit him respec~ 
tively as a scholar and poet, a patriot, a philosopher, a 
GROTIUS. . 
hilanthropist, and a theologian.’ Itis to be premised, 
that his inet were patierall paar in the Patin Jan- 
guage, which in his time, and for ages after, formed 
the chief medium of communication among the learned 
of all the countries of Europe. ' F , 
In viewing Grotius as a scholar and a poet, we may 
mention the following works : 
1, Pocmata nonnulla, seu Characteris Pontificis Ros _ 
mani, &e, &e. 4to, 1599. ; 
2. Marciani, M. F. Capellee Satyricon, seu de Nup- 
tiis Philologia et Mercurii, libri duo emendali et notis ile 
lustrati, 8vo, 1600. This learned publication, from so. 
young an author as Grotius, was among the first things _ 
that brought him into notice, and gave a most auspi« 
cious promise of his future greatness, te 
8. Miérabilium anni 1600, que Belgas spectant, &e.; a 
poem in 4to. 
4. Adamus Exul, tragedia, 8vo, 1601. This work 
was printed when the author was only eighteen, and 
about seven years before the birth of Milton, Whether 
or not this tragedy may have suggested the idea of 
Paradise Lost, or Me far he, Milton, may have availed 
himself of it, we have not at present the means of as- 
certaining. But the choice of this subject by two such 
eminent contemporaries, is an interesting coincidence 
in the history of literature. 
5. Christus paliens, trageedia, 8vo, 1608. This tra- 
gedy was translated inte English by George Sandys, 
with notes, in 1640. A German writer used it as a 
model for the illustration of the rules of tragedy ; and — 
Curpzovius, Professor of Poetry at Wittemberg, made 
it the theme of some of his lectures, F 
6. Commendatio Annult, (a poem) 4to, 1609. 7. Lu« 
cant Pharsalia, cum notis, 4to, 1014. 8. Ewxerpia ex 
Tragediis et Comediis Grecis, &c. ; 
In the biographical sketch, we have had occasion to | 
mention the ardent love of country which characterized 
Grotius, amidst all the sufferings and varieties of his” 
life ; and we noticed two of his works relating to his na-— 
tive land, the one of a historical, the other of a commers _ 
cial nature. The title of the latter of these, and of the 
answer toit, are curious, and particularly when we con- 
sider them in connection with the political events 
and speculations which have marked the close of the 
eighteenth, and the opening of the nineteenth cen-_ 
tury, both on this and the other side of the Atian- 
tic. It, is called Mare Laberum, seu de jure qued Ba- 
tavis competit, aut Indica commercia, 8vo, 1609. It was 
at first printed anonymously, was then translated into 
Dutch, and passed through many editions. After the 
lapse of some years it was answered by John Seldon, 
in a composition entitled Mare clausum, seu de domi« 
nio maris, Lond. 1635. To this attack, Grotius, in so 
far as we have been able to discover, made no reply. 
Grotius published in 4to, A. D. 1610, his work De An- 
tiquitate. Rerpublice Batavia. Also, a Discourse 
nounced in the Senate of Amsterdam, upon the views 
of the States of Holland respecting the Reformed Re« 
ligion. In the Dutch language, 4to, 1616. : 
But it behoves us now to speak of the great work 
upon which the fame of Grotius chiefly rests, which 
exhibits him as a citizen of the world, and which forms — 
the beginning of a great era in the history of political _ 
philosophy. The work to which we allude was writ- 
ten in France, at the instigation of his friend Peires- 
kius, and printed at Paris, in 4to, in 1625, entitled De 
Jure Belli et Pacis. The President Jean Jacques de 
Mesmes gave him the use of his country house Balag- - 
ni, that he might have leisure and retirement for the 
composition of this work, The author dedicated it 
Re Wing Me, git ® 
Reap SMA AIRE it 
