The New International Encyclopædia/Grotius, Hugo

GROTIUS, grō'shi-ūs, Hugo, or De Groot (1583-1645). A Dutch publicist. He was born at Delft, April 10, 1583. His father, Jan de Groot, was burgomaster of the town, and also curator of the University of Leyden. In his eleventh year Hugo entered the University of Leyden, where he studied under Joseph Scaliger. In his fifteenth year he took his degree. In the following year he accompanied Olden Barneveldt, the grand pensionary, on his embassy to France, where Grotius's talents and conduct gained the favor of Henry IV. On his return he began practice as a lawyer, and conducted his first case at the bar of The Hague in 1599. In 1607 he was appointed fiscal general, and in 1613 council pensionary at Rotterdam. The disputes between the Remonstrants and their opponents were now at their height in Holland; Olden Barneveldt was the protector of the former, and Grotius also supported them by his writings and favor. These theological strifes had a political significance as well, and in consequence both Olden Barneveldt and Grotius were arrested, tried, and condemned by the dominant party under Prince Maurice. (See Barneveldt.) Olden Barneveldt was beheaded in 1619, and Grotius sentenced to imprisonment for life in the Castle of Loevenstein. He escaped, however, by the contrivance of his wife.

For some time Grotius wandered about in destitute circumstances in the Catholic portions of the Netherlands, and finally escaped to France. Here his straitened circumstances continued in spite of the fact that Louis XIII. bestowed upon him a pension of 3000 livres, since but a part of it was paid, and in 1631 it was withdrawn. A friendly letter from Prince Frederick of Orange induced him to return to his native country; but, by the intrigues of his enemies, sentence of perpetual exile was soon passed upon him. He removed to Hamburg, and while there he received invitations from the Kings of Denmark, Poland, and Spain; but the protection promised him by the Chancellor Oxenstiern, and Queen Christina's taste for literature, induced him to enter the Swedish service in 1634. He held the position of Ambassador at the French Court (1635-45). His reception by the Queen on his return to Sweden was flattering; but the literary dilettantism of Christina's Court did not suit so serious and solid a scholar. Besides, the climate of Sweden did not agree with him, and he was anxious to spend the evening of his life in his native land. In consequence, he sent in his resignation of office to the Queen, who, when she found that nothing could induce him to stay, presented him with a sum of 10,000 crowns and some costly plate, besides placing at his disposal a vessel to conduct him down the Baltic to Lübeck. A storm compelled him to land on the coast of Pomerania. While proceeding toward Lübeck, he fell sick, and died at Rostock, August 28, 1645.

To the talents of a most able statesman, Grotius united deep and extensive learning. He was a profound and enlightened theologian, perhaps the best exegete of his day, a distinguished scholar, an acute philosopher, a judicious historian, and a splendid jurist. His metrical translations from the Greek authors also display superior poetical powers; he was one of the best modern writers of Latin verse, and likewise composed poems in Dutch. In spite of his wandering and checkered career, Grotius found time to write a great variety of works. The first was the Mare Liberum, in which he defended the freedom of the Dutch East India trade. His chief work, however, is that entitled De Jure Belli et Pacis, which has been translated into all the principal languages of Europe. It may be considered as the basis of international law, and has been much used as a textbook on the subject. Among his other works we may mention Annales et Historiæ de Rebus Belgicis (Amsterdam, 1657), written in a style that rivals Tacitus for concise and pointed power; Annotationes in Vetus Testamentum (Paris, 1644); De Satisfactione Christi; and De Veritate Religionis Christianæ (Leyden, 1627), remarkable for its clear arrangement, vigorous logic, and eloquent style. Consult: Butler, Life of Grotius (London, 1826); De Vries, Huig de Groot en Maria van Reigersbergen (Amsterdam, 1827); Creuzer, Luther und Hugo Grotius (Heidelberg, 1846).