we GRO, 
XIII. and he quickly attained by it a splendid 
of popularity and fame. It was revised and im- 
by Grotius, and translated into many em a 
this title he has attempted to give a complete 
‘system of’ natural law, and to evolve from the mass of 
ees, and lar statutes, which constituted 
chief study of the lawyers of his time, many of those 
general maxims which should enter into the principles 
_of legislation, and regulate inter-national transactions, 
as well as to point out their foundation and sanctions 
in the nature of man, and in the constitution of human 
society. His work partakes, in some respects, of the 
prejudices of the age in which it was written, and, par- 
ticularly, of an overstrained reverence for the institu- 
tions oF the Roman law. It is also overloaded with 
otations and authorities from classical writers, from 
the Mosaic law, from other parts of scripture, and from 
various writers sacred and profane, by which the mind 
of the reader is often perplexed rather than enlighten- 
ed; and the diffuseness of the notes forms a curious 
contrast to the brevity and obscurity of the text. Puf- 
fendorff, for whom a professorship was formed at Hei- 
delberg, for the express purpose of extending the 
know] of the doctrines of Grotius, is deemed the 
most eminent of his disciples and commentators. These 
doctrines have been since taught almost to our own 
day, in the most celebrated universities of Europe, and, 
in the opinion of respectable judges, form the founda- 
tion of the ethical and political philosophy of the pre- 
sent times. Bayle has justly remarked, that Grotius 
must be deemed particularly fortunate as an author ; 
and that, fifty years after his death, this work obtained 
for him an honour, which was not bestowed upon the 
ancients till after many ages, namely, that he appeared 
in it cum commentariis variorum. 
» We have space only farther tomention, that, besides 
several treatises connected with religion and the con- 
troversies of the day, Grotius distinguished himself by 
a popular and a philosophical work in defence of Chris- 
tianity. The first of these was entitled, Proofs of the 
- True Religion. It was written in Dutch verse, with 
the benevolent designs of furnishing innocent and use- 
~ ful employment to the minds of his sea-faring country- 
men in long and tedious voyages; and enabling 
them to maintain their stedfastness in their own faith, 
and, as opportunities might occur, to explain and re- 
commend it to the foreigners with whom they might 
have intercourse. The other work to which we have 
alluded, is the celebrated treatise De Veritate Religio- 
uis Christiane, which was published at Paris in 1639, 
and dedicated to his friend Bignonius. The plan of 
‘this work is comprehensive, the style frequently ob- 
scure, and the notes unnecessarily copious and minute. 
Yet, as it was among the first works of the kind which 
were published, and as it contained much new and excel- 
lent t and illustration, it has been translated into 
all the European languages, referred to in most works on 
the same subject, and preserves its estimation as a stand- 
ard work on theology at the present day. (/) 
~ GROTTO, is a subterraneous fissure or opening in 
the earth, generally adorned by calcareous incrusta- 
tions, which produce a brilliant effect when illuminated 
by torches. 
_ Mountainous and volcanic countries, or those regions 
which are partitioned into many islands, more frequent- 
ly exhibit grottos, caverns, or fissures, than low or level 
grounds. ‘They are also common in places subject to 
earthquakes, and liave the greatest extent and intricacy 
in countries where huge masses of limestone abound. 
- The most celebrated grotto for beauty, size, and 
- 
y » 
527 
GRO 
magnificence, is that of Awriranos, an island of the Me- Grotls, 
diterranean, already described in the previous part of -"\—— 
this work; and that which is reputed next to it is of Cfo“ of 
recent discovery in the island of Skye, among the He- xa 
brides of Scotland, It had been long known to. the 
islanders, that the mouth of a cavern called Slochd Al. 
triman, or’ the Nursling Cave, ed among the cliffs 
overhanging the sea on the por rt shore, and that 
a particular tradition was annexed to its history. But 
none ventured to: explore its recesses, until, in the 
year 1808, the masculine intrepidity of a lady, Mrs 
Gillespie, exposed to more timid adventurers what has 
been called one of the most remarkable phenomena; 
which exists in the structure of the earth. 
This cave comes under the particular description of Grotto in 
a grotto; for, it may be observed, that a cave and a ca- the istand’ 
vern, between which some authors»even make a dis~ f Skye. 
tinction, p' ly implies:a subterraneous vacuity with. 
out inerustations. The land above Slochd Altriman is 
of moderate height; but, from the shore consisting en- 
tirely of perpendicular rocks, the entrance can be reach- 
ed on foot only at low water, and then with particular 
difficulty. When the tide is up, however, a boat can 
easily approach it, unless the wind should render such 
an attempt dangerous from sunken rocks, and dislocas 
tions of stony masses from the cliffs. The grand ac- 
cess to the cave is formed by two immense walls of 
free stone, separated thirty feet asunder, rising above 
100 feet in perpendicular height, and stretching out in 
a straight line from the shore. Here the tide flows 
in about 400 feet; but, at low water, the bottom is 
rough, and covered with slippery weeds. These ob- 
structions being surmounted, a magnificent rugged 
arch, of a Gothic form, is presented to the spectator; 
and on one side an inferior cave with many lateral cre« 
vices. ‘his great aperture is embellished with innu« 
merable dark green stalactites of various sizes ; some 
descending to the ground, and forming pillars over- 
grown with moss, which, with the intermixture of vi- 
vid foliage, brown heath, and wild flowers, produces 
an interesting combination. Close to the entrance of 
perce there is, as it were cut out of the stone, a 
small fountain of pure water, surrounded by rocky pil- 
lars, and the water collected in the cistern is derived 
from the exudation of the rock above. A passage 
about nine feet broad, and from fifteen to twenty im 
height, conducts the visitor almost on a perfect level for 
twenty yards, when a steep ascent for 55 feet leads up 
a bank of earth, sand, and small broken whinstone, 
another acclivity now commences, more difficult to 
overcome, of irregular surface, resembling a solid cas+ 
cade, or frozen snow, and sparkling woke crystalliza- 
tions. Advancing a few yards, the principal entrance 
to the interior grotto is gained, eight feet broad, and 
twelve in height, csivenpelt white as marble, and vari- 
ously decorated with beautiful incrustations, Thousands 
of icicles of pure white spar are suspended from the 
roof like the festoons of a curtain, giving the whole a 
finished ap ce. The breadth, on proceeding still 
farther, ore to ten feet, and the height to forty, 
while the white marble spar continues rough and un- 
even ; and it is only after traversing thirty-five feet of 
this gallery, that the proper excavation, which has been 
denominated the Spar Cave, is reached. It consists.of 
a circular vacuity about twenty feet in diameter, with 
a lofty roof, and a pool at the bottom, contained in a 
marble cistern, But the whole is said to exhibit the 
most brilliant spectacle which imagination can conceives 
The sparry concretions are innumerable, and in every 
variety of form; while the lights, by which the spectas 
