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therto evinced the greatest hostility to the Reformed, explains the dogma of Transubstantiation, and some others, in such a manAs for the Low Countries, you know that there are many there, whose eyes are opened to look this way; and in France I know some, (though not so many as elsewhere,) whose heads are lifted up because their deliverance is at hand. Nor do we christians only expect shortly some great change of affairs, but even the Jews almost every where are also made sensible of the approaching change of their condition. So that, seeing there is an universal concurrence of thoughts towards this object, we may rationally conclude, that the Lord is hastening to finish his work in righteousness: And because it is apparent, that on all sides the enemy is about to lift himself up like a flood, we may also see it herein manifest that the Spirit of the Lord,' according to his promise, is preparing to lift up a standard against him.' (Isa. lix, 19.) "SECONDLY. This call, which is given to us from so far, doth signify unto me two things:-First, somewhat of God's way to accomplish his design,Secondly, somewhat of our duty in subordination thereunto. God's way to accomplish his design, according to the Scriptures, is and will be the communion of saints in the mystery of godliness, when every member, acted by the same spirit towards God and each to other, shall draw from him, and supply one to another that which he will give to every one for the edifying of the whole in love. And although they have not such an exact contrivance of correspondency settled one with another, as the politic Jesuits have in their way, yet the Spirit by which they are led, acting the same thing in them all, will make the effect of their counsels and actings to correspond, without any special contrivance of their own; that the work in the issue may appear to be of God, and not of men : For Sion, as soon as she travaileth, nay before she travaileth, and her pain comes, she shall be delivered and bring forth a nation at once. (Isa. lxvi, 7, 8.) God, by the communion of saints in one and the same Spirit, shall do this, by his contrivance of his own way amongst them: Nor shall any gathering together of enemies, (which shall not be wanting,) nor any violent attempts or destructive weapons and endeavours, which will be set a foot, be able to obstruct the effect of this communion which will bring the body of Christ to the stature of a perfect man.

"The THIRD thing, which the sending of this book from Poland hither to be translated, and the calling upon us to communicate our thoughts to them concerning it, doth signify unto me, is a warning unto us, as from the Spirit of God, to waken us from security, and to move us to expect, as those of Poland say they do, both a further trial of our faith and patience, and also a gracious deliverance to follow thereupon, whereof we shall partake if we hold fast the beginning and confidence of our hope firm unto the end with joy. We know that no man shall be crowned but he that strives first lawfully, and that none shall reign with Christ but he that suffers with him. As for me, I cannot see that our warfare is yet, as some would have it, (and to their own particular station think it to be,) at an end; those upon that account having embraced the pleasures of brutishness and sensuality in this present world, have also made it a part of their happiness to dethrone God and Christ in their ranting and blasphemous imagination, and so are justly given over unto a reprobate mind. But as I have cause to grieve at the dishonour which they do to God and to the holy profession, and at the certainty of their endless misery under the notion of a present perfection and felicity; so I am awakened thereby to wait for the overflowing scourge and the storm of hail, which shall sweep away the refuge of such lies, and the flood of waters which shall drown the hiding-places thereof. I am therefore inclined to expect still, before the times of refreshment, which shall come from the presence of the Lord, the last assault of the power of darkness and of this world against the saints, which shall be, of all other, the heaviest and fiercest. And this I am induced to believe from the analogy which is to be between the sufferings of Christ in the flesh, and the sufferings of his members under the power of Antichrist, before he comes to his end. Christ's last sufferings, immediately before his unchangeable state of glory, were the greatest which befel unto him in all his life; nor was he raised by the power of God to sit at his right hand, till he was first laid in the grave: so must it also fare with his body the church."

ner as to make them not only quite harmless but very useful. My book on the Truth of the Christian Religion, which contains many passages relative to peace-makers, has been favourably received by the Cardinal and the principal men, and is now published under the auspices of the king's authority. In addition to these facts, consider, that the Spaniards and the French, encouraged by the example of the Venetians, the Tuscans, and even the inhabitants of the small republic of Lucca, are affixing bounds to the Pontifical power, and that the Greeks, Armenians, and Maronites, are received into communion by the Church of Rome, and allowed to retain their own rites :- -When have considered all these things, say, ought they not to inspire us with some hopes? And even if there were now no hope at all, is it not our duty to plant trees for the benefit of future generations? Besides, since we have received a command from Christ to procure, by every method that is not offensive to God,* the unity of the church, even in the common sacraments, is it not our duty to labour against hope, and to say, • Hath not God now pointed out a way by ' which his sacred purposes may be accomplished?' But if we

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*The piety of Grotius displayed itself on all occasions; and those who bave perused his works with attention must know, that his integrity was such as to prevent him from employing in the accomplishment of his purposes any method that he deemed to be offensive to God." But he had seen more of the world than several of those who reprehended his conduct; and he was evidently aware, that if more scriptural principles could once be introduced into the Romish Church, they would soon leaven the whole lump," and assimilate to their own purity the gradually impregnated mixture. This was the true reason why he made those large concessions with regard to some of the peculiar rites and dogmas of the Roman Catholics, which must have appeared very alarming to all who were not apprised of his design. The Rev. Mr. Twells, in his Life of Dr. Pocock, says, in continuation of the paragraph quoted page 280 :

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"Upon this occasion, these two learned men entered into a long discourse concerning the state of things in the East, and the reasons why the holy religion of Jesus Christ was so far from gaining ground in those countries, that it was treated there, by unbelievers, with great contempt. Mr. Pocock mentioned several things, which he observed to be thus fatally mischievous: But amongst them all,' he told him, there was nothing more so, than the many schisms and divisions of those that own the name of Christ, who ought to be as one fold under one shepherd.' As Grotius very easily believed what Mr. Pocock thus reported, so it inspired him with new resolution and courage to pursue the design he was engaged in, to promote as far as he was able the peace and union of the christian world: A glorious undertaking, and such as highly deserves the most zealous endeavours and the most fervent prayers of all that love the Lord Jesus Christ with sincerity; though some of the measures which were followed by that most learned man, are not to be justified. For, though we are to do what lies in us for the sake of christian peace, we are not to yield up the truth even for obtain ing that most desirable blessing: We must not, we cannot, part with truth." On a review of the whole question, these sentiments are more correct than those of the unguarded admirers of Grotius, who deserves to be venerated by all good men for his arduous though unsuccessful attempts to cure the maladies of the Romish Church by the feasible scheme of Protestant inoculation.

obtain no other result than this from our exertions, to diminish the odium produced by these harsh assertions, and to make Christians somewhat milder and a little more sociable with each other, is not this worthy to be purchased at the expence of a little labour and of giving offence to certain individuals? My brother, I have now completed my fifty-eighth year, and I have a father yet living, who is much more advanced in years. Yet, had I formerly been less anxious, this age has made me look forward to the end of my course. I beseech you never to suppose that, in the things of God, I have regard to any thing else than to God himself, and to that care for my neighbour which, next to God, is recommended to our attention. Of this care a principal part consists in the unity of the church, which is the preserver not only of charity but of truth. For the truth is much better preserved in that bond of agreement which is diffused through the whole habitable globe, than it can be in small parties, and, according to the present fashion, in fragments of small parties. I leave to others the delight which they feel in favouring and cherishing different parties, in which they alone may hold the reins of government. But it has not escaped my observation, how little true piety has been promoted by these partitions, and divisions into many new churches. Let us therefore perform with seriousness that which is our duty; and let us leave to God the times or the seasons, which he holds in his own power. (Acts i, 7.) But I consider myself placed by God in this embassy, as in an asylum, that as long as I live I may render some service to his truth and to the sacred cause of concord."

To Israel Jasky of Dantzic, on the 19th of January 1641, Grotius wrote thus: "Most noble Lord, I desire from my heart that your city may enjoy a secure and perpetual peace, and the fruits of tranquility, which are Literature and Commerce. I approve highly of the practice of those men who deem it to be of more consequence to exercise themselves in the points of controversy which we have with Mahometans and Jews, than in those dissensions in which Christians indulge among themselves. I shewed myself to be of this opinion long ago, when I first published my treatise on the Truth of the Christian Religion; and that I still maintain the same sentiment, is proved by the Testimonies which I have added to that Treatise, and are just published, but I do not know whether they will have yet arrived in your city. I have weighty reasons for thinking, that all those epithets which are applied to the Pope by many people, do not belong to him: These reasons I have embodied in a small pamphlet, which does not bear my name in its title. Some persons have appeared to refute it as my production; I am therefore compelled to defend it as my own. I think a period

may come when the Church will have a Pope,* who may consider it one of the duties which appertain to his office, to restore the broken and scattered members into their one entire

* Arminius was of a different opinion, as will be seen by the subjoined quotation from his letter to Sebastian Egberts, one of the Magistrates of Ámsterdam, dated Sept. 24, 1608: "I openly profess, that I do not own the Roman Pontiff as a member of Christ's body, but account him an enemy, a traitor, a sacrilegious and blasphemous man, a tyrant, and a very violent usurper of most unjust domination over the church, the man of sin, the son of perdition, that most notorious outlaw, &c. But, in this description, I understand a Pope who executes the functions of the Pontificate in the usual manner. But if an Adrian of Utrecht, raised to the Pontifical diguity without intrigues, were to attempt a reformation of the Church, and were to make a commencement with the Pope himself, the Pontificate, and the Court of Rome, and if he were to assume to himself nothing more than the name and authority of a Bishop, though holding, according to the ancient statutes of the Church, the principal station among the rest of the Bishops, -I durst not bestow on such a man these epithets. For I cannot persuade myself, that an individual, whom the partisans of anti-christianity and the Court of Rome hated so dreadfully, as to deprive him of existence, is that wicked one. It is believed, that he was poisoned by those persons who were afraid of his effecting a reformation in the Church, and especially in the Court of Rome. Yet I am of opinion, and I think it can be proved with great appearance of probability from the Scriptures, that a reformation must not be expected from any one who is elevated to the Roman Pontificate; and that, if a person allows himself to be promoted to that dignity in hopes of personally accomplishing such a reform, he will incur the certain peril of death or exile, because God himself has thus ordered the matter. For he shall be destroyed at the glorious appearing of Christ; and the predicted reformation will be effected by the separation of the nations from Babylon, which city will never be destitute of its head.-But if that preacher supposes it to be a consequence which flows from the sentiment which I hold, about God not having yet sent a bill of divorcement to the Church in which the Roman Pontiff presides, that I acknowledge the Pontiff himself for a member of the Church;' by such a supposition he declares himself incapable of distinguishing between those who have been seduced and who endure the tyranny, and the FALSE PROPHET AND TYRANT HIMSELF, who spontaneously divests himself of the appellation of a member of the Church, by boldly styling himself THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH, and by actually excommunicating or accounting as excommunicated all those who are unwilling to acknowledge him in that character. But if on this account such a charge can lawfully be made against me, I have, as my associates in this crime, Francis Junius and Luke Trelcatius, both of pious memory, beside Gomarus himself and the greatest part of our divines."

These are just sentiments, and especially that which relates the hopelessness of any attempt of a Pope to introduce reformation into the Roman Catholic body of corruption since, by the bare assumption of that title and the prerogatives vainly ascribed to it, he commits an act of hostility against the God of Heaven, and proves himself to be "that sou of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped." From such an impure source what hope of reformation can be derived? This was an opinion which the principal of the Dutch Remonstrants imbibed from the great divine whose memory they venerated, and which they continued to maintain amidst all the temptations to the contrary from various quarters. Grotius utters grievous complaints on this subject; and, in some of his letters, their refusal to unite with him in his pacific undertaking is attributed to the slight estimation in which their leaders held the authority of the Ancient Fathers. This charge was justly applicable to Episcopius, who, with some of his friends, conceived the same kind of antipathy to those venerable authorities, as John Hales had done, after the decisions of the Synod of Dort; and both these great men expressed that temporary loathing in their subsequent writings.

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body. But as long as it is held for an undoubted verity, that all the Popes to the end of the world will be Antichrists, men of sin, and sons of perdition, and that all the people who hold 'communion with them are idolaters and enemies to Divine Grace, who from the very foundation overthrow the merits of Christ,'-no peaceable result can possible be expected. The great men about the French Court think, that we must not despair about beholding concord; but that, prior to its establishment, those things must be removed by which the wounds are inflamed. My Annotations on the Gospels will soon be published, in which I shall contribute what my abilities will permit, to the pious purpose of promoting truth and peace.-Î lament that when the German Princes, who call themselves THE REFORMED, feel the wrath of God pressing upon them so long and so heavily, they do not begin to reflect upon the probable causes of such a great evil, and seriously endeavour to avoid them in future.* -Against those men who suppose, 'that the time of one's ' death is absolutely fixed and fastened with adamantine nails, 'without any regard to human actions,' I am accustomed to oppose the following passages of scripture:† Honour thy father

On the 19th of Feb., 1639, Grotius addressed the following lines to his brother: "Uitenbogardt is timid through old age; Vossius is naturally of a timorous disposition, and perhaps is now rendered more fearful through his anxiety for the affairs of Great Britain. But I do not account these two assertions,-The Pope is Antichrist, and Antichrist will spring from the tribe of Dan,-to be articles of Faith; and I think no man ought to be hindered from propounding, to the consideration of pious and learned men, his thoughts and meditations, as long as they are not prejudicial to godliness. I also praise those who choose rather to cool this hot and turbulent age, than to inflame it."

And on the third of January, 1643, Grotius again wrote to his brother: "The Roman Catholics among you [in Holland] do not preserve that moderation which the French display. The most accomplished of the Remonstrants reject traditions, the Fathers, and the ancient rites, even those of them which are of a harmless nature: They are too much addicted to their own party, or rather to their shred of a party. Vossius is timid; Barlæus has some time since abandoned these studies. The Reformed who in these parts are studious of peace, adhere to the limits which they have prescribed to themselves, and pay no regard to the common good of Christendom. God will probably find for himself some [fit] person. I will abide by what I have said, and will not suffer myself to be committed any further with Rivet, whose opprobrious railing is daily increasing. Either I am greatly deceived, or they will all very soon repent of having despised the peace now proffered. For they reject all the conditions of peace except one, which is that they may dictate laws to others!"

* See the note from Mr. Mede, page 522, which contains an exactly similar sentiment.

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To understand this answer of Grotius, it will be necessary to present the reader with a part of the letter which Jasky had previously written: would prove advantageous to christians to introduce moderation not only into their wars, but principally into their religious contests; and, when they had suffered dissensions to cease among themselves, it would be much more pleasing to hear the disputes of the Turks with the Tartars, and with other professors of Mahometanism, respecting the Institutes of their prophet,than for christians pertinaciously to defend their own opinions about faith, though indeed such opinious contribute nothing towards faith. The consequence of such a course would be, the establishment of a mutual toleration, an object the attainment of which has been importunately sought with many

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