THE LIFE JAMES ARMINIUS, D.D., PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY LX THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN, HOLLAXD. TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN OF CASPAR BRANDT, REMONSTRANT MINISTER, AMSTERDAM, BY JOHN GUTHRIE, A.M. WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D.D. Paratus seque discere ac docere.— Armtxius. Nasfjbtlle, fenn,: PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & F. A. OWEN, AGENTS, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 1857. .31 In ^change ike Univere MAY 7 - 1934 Duke University ' STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY A. A. STITT, SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, NASHVILLE, TENN. Contents. PAGE Introduction by the American Editor v Translator's Preface xiii Dedication by the Editor, Gerard Brandt xxi Prefatory Note xxv CHAPTER I. Early life and education of Arminius, till the commencement of his ministry in Amsterdam. — A.D. 1560-1588 81 CHAPTER II. Transition stage of Arminius's mind on the subject of Predestination, with the circumstances in which it originated, and the troubles to which it led.— A. D. 1589-1592 60 CHAPTER III. Arminius, in expounding Romans ix., encounters fresh storms — Con- futes the calumnies of Plancius ; and corresponds, on points in dis- pute, with Gellius Snecanus and Francis Junius. — A.D. 1592- 1597 86 CHAPTER IV. Latense ardor of Arminius in investigating Divine truth, with con- nected incidents ; and his devoted and benevolent pastoral labors at the time of the plague.— A.D. 1597-1602 112 CHAPTER V. Arminius's call to a theological professorship in Leyden, and the active opposition to which it gave rise. — A.D. 1602, 1603 182 CHAPTER VI. Further prosecution and successful issue of Arminius's call to the professorship.— A.D. 1603 160 (iii) IV CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Discussions of Arminius at Leyden, especially on the subject of Pre- destination ; and consequent opposition of Gomarus. — A. D. 1603, r 1604.... 187 CHAPTER VIII. Suspicions against Arminius, and rigorous measures •with his students — Fresh dispiitations — Commencement of ecclesiastical proceedings. — A.D. 1604, 1605 208 CHAPTER IX. Ecclesiastical excitement, and proceedings with a -view to a National Synod — Fresh Calumnies against Arminius. — A.D. 1605-1607.. 236 CHAPTER X. Convention at the Hague to arrange the preliminaries of a National Synod — Misrepresentation of Arminius and his adherents for the opinions they there expressed — His letters to Drusius and Hippoly- tus a Collibus.— A.D. 1607, 1608 272 CHAPTER XI. Conference at the Hague in May, 1608 — Arminius replies to thirty- one defamatory articles, falsely ascribed to him and Adrian Borrius. — A.D. 1608 308 CHAPTER XII. Ever-increasing contentions, amid which the health of Arminius gives way — Final Conference at the Hague in August, 1609 — His last illness and death.— A.D. 1609 349 CHAPTER XIII. Sketch of the person and character of Arminius ; with a variety of testimonies in regard to him, both from friends and foes. — A. D. 1609 376 Appendix 401 Iitinhuiicn. It is a matter of surprise that, among all the biographies of great men issued from the religious press in Britain and America, there should have been, till recently, no Life of Arminius, except a short sketch prefixed to his Works, and a small volume compiled by Dr. Bangs. The wonder is the greater, as there have been various biographies of Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, and other reformers and distinguished divines. It cannot be said that Arminius was not ecpial in learning and piety to others whose Lives constitute a portion of the permanent literature of the Church; as, in both these respects, he has had few superiors, and not many equals. Nor can it be said that there has been no necessity to pub- lish a biography of this excellent man. Perhaps no one that ever lived has been more misrepresented and misunderstood than Jam^s Arminius. Even while he was living, his virulent and unscrupulous enemies did not hesitate to rank him with Socinus, Pelagius, and the pope; and but for the interven- tion and protection of the civil power, he might have shared the fate of Servetus, with whom he was suggestively com- (v) VI INTRODUCTION. pared. Although these slanders were openly met and tri- umphantly refuted by Arminius himself, to whose masterly defences those who symbolize with his views have con- stantly appealed in proof of his orthodoxy, yet the calum- nious allegations have survived from age to age, and even in our own time the Calvinistic pulpit and press give them no infrequent endorsement. Who has not heard Arminians ranked with Pelagians, Socinians, and Papists, and that too by men occupying distinguished positions in Calvinistic churches ? Who has not heard Arminius represented as a wrangling, contentious, ambitious man — subtle, unscrupu- lous, hypocritical ? John Calvin, notwithstanding his bit- terness of spirit, to say nothing of his " horrible decree," is crowned as an apostle of the Church, while James Arminius is condemned as an heretical apostate ! The substantial orthodoxy, pacific disposition, and fervent piety of Arminius, were, indeed, admitted by many of his Calvinistic contem- poraries, and not a few of their successors have done the same ; but still the slanderous misrepresentations survive. It is quite likely that many who retail them believe what they assert. Under the influence of the odium iheologicum, they are but too ready to "take up a reproach" against one who levelled so fatal a blow at their cherished dogmas ; neverthe- less, they believe what they assert, and scarcely any effort has been made to disabuse their minds on the subject. This might be readily done by placing in their hands an authentic Life of the man whom they have unwittingly aspersed. That this has not been done, we repeat, is somewhat sur- prising, especially as more than half the Christian world agrees INTRODUCTION. Y11 with Arruinius in those points in which he differs from Calvin, and may therefore be supposed to be interested in the fair fame of one by whose name these views have been designated. But to this it may be said, the Life of such a man as Arminius, who spent but little time in courts, and none in camps, whose days were occupied in the comparatively noise- less pursuits of literature and theology — a man, too, of singu- larly retiring and pacific disposition — would present compara- tively few points of general interest ; in a word, would not be likely to prove a popular biography. All this is very true. TVe do not expect that the present volume will have what bibliopolists call "a great run." But may we not expect that it will be read by all, whether friends or foes, who are the leaders of public opinion in regard to prominent men and great theological questions — all, that is, who want to know the facts in the case, and not be associated, wittingly or un- wittingly, with those who bear false witness against their neighbor, and lie against the truth ? Candid men of all parties, who have read the Works of Arminius, and his Life by Brandt, in the original Latin, have admitted, and many of them have admired, the sincere and ardent piety of the man, and endorsed the essential orthodoxy of his creed. But those who occupy what is called the Ar- minian platform have not generally been disposed to call themselves Arminians; and have not felt themselves specially set for the defence of the character of this illustrious man. A kind of semi-Pelagianism in the Church of England, and semi-Socinianism in the churches of New England, by some strange means, obtained the name of Arminianism, and this naturally induced a shyness and reserve in reference to this Vlll INTRODUCTION. title. Orthodox Christians, though repudiating the enormous errors of Calvinism, did not want to be identified, in common estimation, with those heterodox systems which lie on the other extreme. Besides, many of those who side with Ar- minius in the quinquarticular controversy are known by other designations, as Lutherans, Wesleyan Methodists, etc. Many of 'them, too — particularly the Methodists of this country — have a great aversion even to seem to call any man master. As Methodists, they have a greater interest in John Wesley than in any one else, yet they do not affect to be styled Wes- leyans — they are not officially recognized as such. Moreover, in common with all who take" the Arminian view of the Five Points, they contend that this is the catholic view — that it has always been held by the Eastern Church — that it was held universally in the Western Church, till the unhappy controversy took place between Pelagius and Augustin, when the latter in opposing one error went over to another — that the endorsers of Augustinianism were always a minority in the Western Church down to the times of the Reformation — that it never was cast into logical form until the time of Calvin — that although, through his influence, it was embo- died with less or more distinctiveness in many of the Re- formed Confessions, yet it was never able to displace the broad, generous, scriptural system which it sought to supplant — and that it has been so modified from time to time as that, in many cases, its avowed supporters can scarcely show any difference between it and that which they professedly oppose; while not a few, missing the via media, have gone over to semi-Pelagianism, or what has been significantly denominated New Divinity. INTRODUCTION. IX It is not difficult, therefore, to discover why the Life and Writings of Arminius have not been made more prominent in the controversies which Arminians, so called, have waged with their Calvinistic opponents. It cannot, however, be questioned, and there is no reason why it should not be admitted, that the logical acuteness, Christian temper, and unbending firmness of Arminius, en- title him to a high rank among the assertors of conditional predestination, general redemption, and cognate points. His ability, prudence, and piety arrested the rampant progress of Calvinism in the Low Countries; and Grotius, Episcopius, the Brandts, and other illustrious men of the succeeding age, would have completed what he began, had not the arm of persecution interposed; but confiscation of goods, imprison- ment, banishment, and death, did for the Remonstrants in Holland what was done by the same Christian agencies in reference to the Reformed in France by their popish perse- cutors — that which in neither case could be done by persua- ion and argument. No: not so much as that; for, perse- cuted as they were, the Remonstrants achieved much in the cause of civil and religious liberty — they softened the asperities of the prevalent theology; and now, despite their creeds and confessions, many of the reputed Calvinists of the Re- formed Dutch Church preach the faith which their fathers sought to destroy. The Huguenots in France produced no such effects as these : no such reactionary influences resulted from their labors and sufferings for the truth. A prominent reason why Arminius should ever be recog- nized with peculiar distinction, is found in the spirit and 1* X INTRODUCTION. motives of all his proceedings. While he opposed error, he abhorred schism. He was willing to abide by the Belgic Confession, provided he was allowed the same latitude of inter- pretation as was allowed to those who subscribed the Augs- burgh and Anglican Confessions — at least, until another Confession might be set forth by competent authority. The Belgic Confession was drawn up by certain parties in the beginning of the Reformation in the Low Countries, to sub- serve a specific purpose, and was never designed to be binding in all its details upon those who subscribed it as containing, for substance, the true Christian doctrine, especially in oppo- sition to Popery. When Gromarus and others wished to put a strict construction upon it, and enforce it upon all, Arminius felt himself bound to withstand the arrogant attempt; and in so doing he did just what he ought to have done. And as the Reformed Church was in an inchoative state, he did right to retain his ecclesiastical position, though his despotic col- league and others attempted to eject him from the pulpit and the chair. In the circumstances in which we are placed, we could not, of course, subscribe the Belgic Confession ; but the case was very different with Arminius. He had subscribed it before there was any occasion for him to challenge any of its details : he had subscribed it as a Protestant Confession, upon the recognized Protestant principle of his paramount fealty to the Bible, the ultimate standard of faith and practice. Occupy- ing, by appointment of the state, a distinguished post as a theologian in the University, it was his duty to use his learn- ing and influence to briug it into conformity with the Divine INTRODUCTION. XI standard rather than renounce it. That was what he tried to do; and so great were his prudence, patience, and perse- verance, that he would have succeeded in his design, to the no small profit of the Church, had he not been so maliciously and enviously opposed by Gomarus and others. His position in regard to the dogma of the inamissibility of grace is strikingly illustrative of his cautious and moderate spirit. This is unquestionably a dangerous doctrine, and, from its logical connection with absolute predestination, could not have been otherwise viewed by Arininius; yet as it is not, like the latter, so shocking to our reason, and so injurious to the Divine character, he was disposed to keep the controversy in reference to it in abeyance; and so of the Calvinistic doctrine of imputation and other points. Headlong, headstrong men are not the best reformers. Those changes which are cau- tiously, quietly, and gradually produced, are not only likely to be the most scriptural, but also the most permanent, espe- cially when the agents by which they are produced are cha- racterized by a love of truth rather than a lust for controversy. The willingness manifested by Arminius, TJitenbogaert, Episcopius, Grotius, Brandt, and other Remonstrants, to sub- scribe a Confession in which all the grand essentials of Chris- tianity should be sharply defined, while the points in debate between them and the Gomarists should be omitted, so that both parties might subscribe it without any compromise or inconvenience, is also illustrative of the liberal catholic spirit of these excellent men. It is the belief of many in all the orthodox communions of the present day, that the substitution of such a symbol — one, for instance, like the Twenty-five Arti- Xll INTRODUCTION. cles of the Methodist Confession — in place of those Confes- sions -which embody the disputed points in question, will take place at no very distant day; and already some Presbyterian churches have a creed of this general character, which they use at the reception of members, in place of the Westminster Confession, which they reserve for ministers and elders, many of whom, by the way, subscribe it with reservation, as they do not, cannot believe its Calvinistic dogmas. The Life of Arminius, in view of its connection with polemical theology, is a study. It must not be read like an ordinary volume of religious biography — it should be pon- dered and reviewed with great care and attention. Written by the learned son of a learned sire, the disciple and friend of Arminius, the work is erudite and genial, while it is im- partial and just. Of this it affords abundant internal evi- dence; indeed, so far as any eulogy of Arminius is concerned, some of his candid theological opponents are more lavish than his admiring biographer. The style of the work is of course conformed to that which obtained two centuries and a half ago. This to us is one of its great recommendations : so we judge it was to the learned and judicious translator; as he appears to have preserved it, so far as the different idioms of the Latin and English tongues would allow. It is very clear that Caspar Brandt put forth his best efforts to produce a work worthy of his subject, and that Mr. Gruthrie has successfully endeavored to reproduce it in a faithful idiomatic translation. Thomas 0. Summers. Nashville, Tenn., March 1, 1857. %xnmhlnfB ffitiin. The name of Brandt is imperishably associated with the literature of Holland. Gerard Brandt, a Remonstrant (or Arminian) minister and professor at Amsterdam, published, in 1671, that great work, "The History of the Reformation in the Low Countries," which has elicited very general admi- ration for the impartiality of its spirit, the nobility of its sentiments, and the valuable and soul-stirring character of many of its records. This eminent historian and divine was the father of our biographer, Caspar Brandt, who was also a minister of the Remonstrants at Amsterdam. Caspar drew up that life of Arminius, a translation of which is presented in this volume, about the beginning of the eighteenth century; but died just as he was preparing to put it to the press. After several years' delay, it was at last edited and published by his son, Gerard, at Amsterdam, in 1724, and republished, with anno- tations, by the ecclesiastical historian, Mosheim, in 1725. That Caspar was no unworthy son of the eminent historian of the Belgic Reformation will sufficiently appear, we trust, (xiii) XIV TRANSLATORS PREFACE. from the following pages, even under the confessed disadvan- tages of translation. He has here developed some of the finest qualities of the biographer — great candor and charity ; consummate judgment and taste in the selection of his mate- rials; and scholarly execution in weaving them into a sym- metrical whole. Stirring incident in the life of a theologian is what no considerate reader will expect; and certain por- tions of this memoir, owing to the subjects treated, can hardly fail to be regarded by some as dry and abstruse; but no one can deny it — what many ingenuous inquirers, we trust, will feel to be an unspeakable charm — the merit of presenting a faithful and full-length portrait of the man Arminius, and no small insight into the state and spirit of his times. The name of Arminius stands identified with that gigantic recoil from Calvinism, than which no reaction in nature could have been more certainly predicted. Of all the actors in that movement, so fertile of mighty actors, no one played a more conspicuous, important, and trying part than Arminius. To high talent and cultivation, and to consummate ability as a disputant, Arminius added the ornament of spotless Christian consistency, (his enemies being judges,) and of a singularly noble, manly, and benevolent nature. This, with his conspicuous position, made his personal influence to be very potent and extensive. And yet, few names have ever been overshadowed by a deeper and denser gloom of prejudice than his; to utter which, as Wesley remarked, was much the same, in some ears, as to raise the cry of " mad dog." This is attributable partly to the latitudinarianism of some of his followers, who, TRANSLATORS PREFACE. XV revolting at the dominant faith, and maddened hy oppression, resiled to the opposite extreme; and partly by the accidental circumstance that his milder scheme found general favor in the Church of England, at a time when she stood in hostile relations to the English Puritans and the Scottish Presbyte- rians. But these were results with which neither the man Arminius, nor the Arminian principle of conditionalism, had any thing whatever to do. To trace them to him were not more just than to trace German Neology to Luther and Me- lancthon, and Genevan Socinianism to Calvin. That the early Arminians had some Erastian leanings, was less their fault than their fate. On this point, at least, their high-handed opponents have no room to speak. Very plausi- ble, no doubt, was the clamor of the Gomarists to have eccle- siastical causes tried by ecclesiastical courts ; and safe, as well as plausible, for they were the dominant party ; but to ascribe this to any just principles of religious liberty would be to betray sheer ignorance of the men and the times. What the Gomarists wished was full scope, in the first place, for their high-handed majority to condemn the Arminians in due eccle- siastical form; and then to demand from Csesar, for the plenary execution of their decrees, the unshackled use of the secular arm. Bogermann, the zealous foe of the Arminians, and the president of the Synod of Dort, by which the Ar- minians were condemned, was one of the translators of Beza's treatise of punishing heretics with death, and pressed the Dutch magistrates with the sentiment " that to tolerate more religions than one in a state, was to make peace with Satan." Though driven by their circumstances to seek shelter under xvi translator's preface. the protective arm of the State, the Arminians were not the less the strenuous champions at once of civil and religious liberty; and to their heroic endurance is it owing that, from being one of the most exclusive, Holland has become one of the most tolerant countries in Europe — a result in which a modern German writer recognizes, not without reason, the fulfilment of a very important part of their mission.* After the rupture between the great Arminian statesmen and Prince Maurice, to whose grasping ambition they refused to immolate the young liberties of the Dutch Republic, the Gomarists, seiziug their opportunity, and postponing patriotism to party, paid court to the Prince, who forthwith turned his back on the Arminians, and threw all his weight into the opposite scale. This policy smoothed the way for the summary mea- sures of the Synod of Port, with its tragic issues to the Arminians, — deposition, suppression, expatriation, — yea, in- carceration, and even death. Hundreds of clergymen were deposed. Multitudes who refused (though plied with the bribe of a comfortable maintenance) to abstain from preach- ing, were sent into exile. Even organists of churches were compelled to sign the canons of the Synod of Port. The Leyden Professors of whatever faculty who refused to do so, were displaced, and recusant students expelled. Arminian assemblies, held in the face of pains and penalties, were some- times converted by a ruthless soldiery into scenes of blood. * Ihre Mission war auch zum grossen Theile vollendet, da Holland immer mehr ein Land religiosen Duldung ward. (Real Encyklopadie fiir Prot. Theol. und Kirche. P. 529.) translator's peeface. xvii The self-denying persistence of the persecuted Arminians was worthy, so long as their days of trial lasted, of our own fore- fathers in the days of the Covenant. The million guilders of the Synod's expenses were the least part of its cost to Hol- land. At the very time it closed its sittings, three great Arminian statesmen, whose names occur in this biography, — Grotius, Hoogerbeets, and Oldenbarneveldt, — were in prison ; the two former being condemned to perpetual imprisonment; the last, who had already turned his period of threescore years and ten, was led forth, a few days after the close of the Synod, to expiate on the scaffold his only crime — incorruptible patriotism. We allude to these facts not for the invidious purpose of tracing the spirit of persecution exclusively to any one creed, (though some creeds distil it more copiously than others,) but partly to vindicate the original Arminians from exaggerated charges of Erastianism, as what their Gomarist opponents did much more to incur; and partly as appropriate supplemental information, as far as it goes, to that contained in the follow- ing memoir, which narrates the causes that ripened into the results described, ten years after Arminius had found an asylum in the grave. The English Reformation having for its doctrinal basis the mild views of Melancthon, Arminianism (which was a virtual revolt from Calvin to Melancthon) has all along powerfully influenced the theology of England. And yet, beyond the old translation (in 1672) of Bertius's funeral oration over Arminius, and brief gleanings from this memoir in our larger works of reference, we know of no English Life of the great XV111 TRANSLATORS PREFACE, Arminius, till, with a zeal, ability, and erudition worthy of his great theme, Mr. James Nichols, of London, addressed himself to the task in the memoir prefixed to the first volume of his translation of the works of Arminius. The present translation of Brandt was nearly completed before we laid our hands on the two volumes of Mr. Nichols, (for the third is still due,) but on doing so, we found, as we expected, that his task and ours in no way interfered. Our object was to meet the prejudice (especially in Scotland) associated with the name of Arminius, by a translation of the classic and authentic memoir by Brandt, in a form which, while tasteful, should be of a price to make it accessible to the masses of the people. Now, Mr. Nichols's Life of Arminius forms part of a large and necessarily expensive work, which is not yet completed; and though Brandt's Memoir is incorporated, it is in a dislocated form, in scattered notes and appendices, while considerable portions are omitted, or reserved for the third volume. In 1843, Dr. Bangs, of New York, compiled from the pages of Nichols a Life of Arminius in a form better adapted to the popular object we had in view; but being professedly but a miniature of Nichols's, it partakes of the same heterogeneous and fragmentary character; contain- ing portions, indeed, of Brandt, but portions also from other sources, including large extracts from the works of Arminius. A simple and continuous edition of Brandt's Life of Arminius was yet wanting; and this, without interference with the respected authors named, and as a fellow-worker in the same cause, we have endeavored to supply in the present publica- tion. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. XIX Of the manner in -which we have executed our task we leave the public to judge; merely observing, that while labor- ing throughout to harmonize, to the best of our judgment, these sometimes refractory compatibilities, fidelity to our author's Latin on the one hand, and to our reader's vernacu- lar on the other, we have allowed the scale to preponderate, where preponderate it must, on the side of literality rather than of elegance. Our object in this publication is something more than a vindication of the injured character of Arininius. "Were all such wrongs to be thus righted, " I suppose that even the world itself ceuld not contain the books that should be writ- ten." There are multitudes of injured characters which, for any practical requirement, can well afford to lie over (as Whitefield said of his) till they be cleared up in the light of the judgment-day. But there are other characters — other transacted lives — which not to know, or to mis-know, is a loss to the world. Of such sort we believe the memory of Armin- ius to be : a memory so beautiful that even those who are constrained to dissent from Arminius the theologian, may yet profitably contemplate and sympathetically admire Arminius the noble-minded, benevolent, and Christian man. For this and such ends, may God graciously accompany this little work with his blessing ! John Guthrie. Greenock, 20th Sept., 1854. DEDICATION BY THE EDITOR, GERARD BRANDT. EMINENTLY PIOUS AND LEARNED LAM BEET DROST AND GEORGE a ZONHOVEN, THE FAITHFCL PASTORS OF THE REMONSTRANT CHURCH AT HAARLEM AND LEYDEN, GERARD BRANDT greeting : Reverend Sirs: Special reasons exist, over and above the common interest you feel in literature and learned men, which have induced me to dedicate to you, in particular, the life, composed by my father, of James Arminius — a name of no mean lustre in Holland during the last century. For whether I reflect on the degree of veneration with which you hold sacred the memory and the doctrine of that incomparable man, or recall to mind the very close tie of friendship which you contracted with the author while he lived, or consider, finally, the favor- able regard toward me personally which you have repeatedly (xxi) XX11 DEDICATION. evidenced by no dubious proofs, I shall have no difficulty in satisfying any competent judge that I have the best reasons indeed for dedicating to you this production of my father. For if to acknowledge favors may be regarded as part of a grateful return, what can better become me than to bear public testimony to the kindness which you have thrown around me from my tender years ? Not unfrequently have you counselled me, in the slippery period of youth, to con- template, as in a mirror, the lives of my ancestors, that thence I might derive examples of virtue and learning, and that, roused from the slumber of inaction by the trophies of hereditary fame, I might ply my studies with alacrity in the liberal arts. You have not hesitated by your counsels, admo- nitions, and every variety of kind offices, to lighten the burdens of orphanage, yea, and to admit me in my riper years into your intimate friendship; in short, you have at no time suffered any advantage to be shut in my face. But, to crown all, by getting your names prefixed to this work, I flatter myself that I have found fit defenders of Arminius ; for not only is it your endeavor, from a regard at once to your office and to conscience, to maintain and defend his doctrine, but, that the good cause may not lack advocacy, you have, in concert with others, undertaken the care and charge of examining, and elevating to sacred functions, the young men who, as the hopes of the Kemonstrant Church, are in course of training under the auspices of the illustrious Cattenburg. I might enlarge, were it not that I have found you to be as loth to admit these commendations, as I have found other DEDICATION. XX1U men willing to tear them ; for virtue has in itself this distin- guishing feature, that it would rather be honored with a quiet admiration, and commended in silence, than eulogized in fulsome terms. Accept then, this memorial, such as it is, of my regard and esteem for you, which, in token of a grateful spirit, I adorn with your names. Should you be kindly disposed to honor it with your patronage, I shall have the satisfaction of reflecting that a debt has been discharged to the memory of Arminius, to the labor of my father, and to my own earnest wishes. It only remains that I pour out a heartfelt prayer to the ever-blessed God, that he would long spare you in health, most excellent Sirs, for the good of your Church, and of all the Remonstrants; and that you may grant me a continuance of your favorable regard. Amsterdam, May 1, 1724. GERARD BRANDT. Before addressing yourself, courteous reader, to the peru- sal of this little work, there are a few things which I think it needful to state in the outset. Nearly thirty years have elapsed since my father, Caspar Brandt, of blessed memory, began to spend his leisure hours in penning a life of the cele- brated James Arminius; and in order that the entire Chris- tian world might be the better able to judge of the piety and doctrine of that great man, whose name had been bandied about in various rumors, (even as citizens the best deserving, whether in the State or the Church, have not always a lot worthy of their endeavors, and envy, like an inseparable shadow, is the usual concomitant of glory and virtue,) he thought it advisable to frame his narrative in Latin, in prefer- ence to doing so in his vernacular tongue. The materials of the work were furnished, not merely by the literary remains, previously published, of Peter Bertius, John Uitenbogaerdt, 2 (xsv) XXVI PEEFATORY NOTE. and other distinguished men of that century, but also by not a few manuscript papers of theirs, and of Arminius himself, of which hitherto no public use had been made. At last, having all but applied a finishing-touch to the memoir, and while making arrangements for committing the work to the press, he was snatched from the stage of time, leaving myself and many good men to bewail his loss. He had made me heir of almost all his manuscripts : among these was this Life of Arminius, which, as I was not yet of age to manage my own affairs, was intrusted, in the usual way, to the faith and custody of a guardian, at whose death it passed into other hands, and there lay concealed for a good many years ; till at last, upward of two years ago, I recov- ered it from its possessor. Impelled, accordingly, by the dictate of filial affection, and by a regard to the memory of James Arminius, I send forth to the public this fruit of my father's mental toil. I have thought it proper to premise these things to vindicate myself from the unmerited censure of some, who, being aware that a memoir of Arminius had been drawn up by my father, accused me of nevertheless pro- crastinating the publication of it longer than was due. Let not these, however, I pray, expect me — in accordance with the usual practice in editing memoirs, whether autobiographi- cal, or otherwise — to advance any thing in praise either of Arminius himself, or of my father.* To dwell on the merits * This is an awkward sentence in the original ; and it even presents a diversity of reading in different impressions of this same edition ; but young Brandt's meaning is nevertheless sufficiently apparent. — Tr. PREFATORY NOTE. X5V11 of the former would not be at all in keeping with my condi- tion in life ; while from any such reference to the latter — by which I might appear desirous of imposing on others — I am restrained by a due veneration for my father's name. It concerns me more to notice the circumstance — as fitted to enhance the reader's estimate of the utility of this work — that there was a memoir by Philip Limborch, the very emi- nent Professor of Theology among the Remonstrants, of the celebrated Simon Episcopius, originally prefixed to his ser- mons, which, for the benefit of foreigners, was well translated into Latin by an ardent lover of letters, and, in a form similar to that of the present work, published in this city by Gallet in the year 1701 ; but, by what fate I know not, copies of this edition have become so rare, that it was with some diffi- culty that one could be obtained for my inspection. Should the rest, however, happen to be liberated from the places of con- finement in which they are said to be detained, and that Life of Episcopius be subjoined to these memoirs of Arminius, the two volumes will be found to embody a record of the rise and vicissitudes of the Remonstrants during a period of forty years — a record not unworthy of the study either of Dutch- men or of Protestants in other lands. Besides, it will be evident even from this, that the genius of the Christian religion consists in meekness and charity, rather than in speculative opinions in matters of faith; and how necessary, in controversies that do not peril the foundations of our faith, is mutual forbearance, to foreclose many schisms into which the Church, alas ! is now cruelly rent ; for, as the XXV111 PREFATORY NOTE. Emperor Justinian wisely warns, in another case, "It is better to leave a cause untouched, than, after it is damaged, to look about for a remedy."* Amsterdam, 1st May, 1724. * L. Ult. C. in quibns caus. in integr. rest, neces. non est. THE LIFE JAMES AEMINIUS, D.D. (29) Cicero Lib. tl. De Oratore. Quis nescit primani esse historite legem, ne quid falsi dioere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat? [Who knows not that the first law of history is, that it venture not to state any thing that is false, that it venture not to suppress any thing that is true?] (30) THE LIFE JAMES ARMINIUS CHAPTER I. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION OF ARMINIUS, TILL THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS MINISTRY IN AMSTERDAM. — A. D. 1560 TO A. D. 1588. Of all the religious controversies which have furnished Divines of recent as well as of ancient note with fertile matter of debate, not the least prominent, perhaps, is the oft-agitated question respecting Divine predestination, and its dependent doctrines. On one side, for example, in that dis- cussion may be found Augustin and his followers, Prosper, Hilary, and Fulgentius; on the other, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and other bishops, both of the Greek and Latin Church : a fact admitted by all who have more attentively studied the writings of the ancients. Afterward, also, when the influ- ence of Augustin was predominant among the (31) 32 TEE LIFE OF Schoolmen, the question as to what was his mean- ing, and as to the principle on which his different statements were to be reconciled, was long keenly debated between the Franciscan and Dominican orders. Nay, even in the last century, at the very dawn of the uprising truth, there was a diversity of opinion on this point among the Pro- testant leaders themselves ; one view being held by Luther,* Calvin, and Beza, and another by Eras- mus, Melancthon, Bullinger, Sarcerius, Latimer, and many other leaders of the Reformed faith. And more : following these last at no great inter- val, George Sohnius, of the University of Heidel- berg; Peter Baro, of the University of Cambridge; and John Holmann, of the Leyclen University, three professors of theology; and in the provinces of Friesland, Guelderland, and Holland, Anastasius Veluanus, Hubert Duifhusius, (or Dovehouse,) Snecanus, and other men of note in these Low Countries, differed from others in their views of this subject, without injury, however, to ecclesi- astical peace or brotherly concord. * Melancthon declares that, on this point, Luther's opinion, latterly at least, coincided 'with his own: — "Scis me," says he, "quaedani minus horride dicere de prsedestinatione, de assensu voluntatis, de necessitate obedientiae nostras, de peccato mortali; de his omnibus scio re-ipsa Lutherum sentire eadem, sed ineruditi quoedam ejus f a National Synod, that the most salutary results may thence accrue to the Church ?" The most of the brethren were of opinion that the Belgic Confession and Cate- chism might be revised, indeed, in the Synod, if the Synod itself, for just reasons, deemed this necessary; but that the States be requested to strike out of their circular of citation, for the sake of the tranquillity of the churches, that clause concerning revision, which seemed to give offence to some, and a license of innovating to others; and that these, or some such words, be substituted in its place : That a Synod be convened for the confirmation, harmonious reception, and propaga- 278 TItELlfEOP tion of the pure and orthodox doctrine; for pre- serving and establishing the peace and good order of the Church; and, in fine, for promoting true piety among the inhabitants of these realms." In defence of this opinion many reasons were advanced, which, when others tried to repel, ad- ducing several arguments to the contrary, on the ground of which it appeared to them that no alteration whatever ought to be made in the cir- cular referred to, by and by the question began to be mooted and discussed concerning the necessity of revision itself ; Arminius, Uitenbogaert, and the two Utrecht ministers maintaining the affirmative, while the rest thought that this should be left for the Synod itself to determine. The greater part exclaimed, "that the doctrine of the Reformed Church, sanctioned by the support of so many most weighty men, and sealed with the blood of so many thousands of martyrs, would, by an in- vestigation of this sort, be called in doubt; and that this would give rise, not only to tumults and stumblings, yea, and shipwreck of consciences, within the Church, but also to calumnies and reproaches beyond its pale." To these reasons, moreover, they added certain offensive eulogiums of the books, the revision of which they were discussing, which came little short of a supersed- ing of the Sacred Scripture. Gomarus declared JAMES ARMINIUS. 279 "that he received the Word of God, indeed, as the primary rule of faith, but the Confession and Catechism for the secondary rule." In this state- ment, J. Bogermann, minister of the church at Leeuwarden, also expressed his concurrence, and did not hesitate, on the same occasion, repeatedly to declare "that the Sacred Scriptures ought to be interpreted according to the Confession and Catechism."* How completely these words (to be attributed to undue heat of debate, and not approved of by all his own party) tore up the basis of the entire Reformation, and ran foul of the seventh article of the Belgic Confession itself, was enough, and more than enough, demonstrated by Arminius and his friends. They further stren- uously contended for the revised decided upon by the States; urging on a variety of grounds how accordant this was to reason, and how necessary, moreover, as matters then stood. Arminius, in particular, maintained this position, and vigorously defended it against the objections of brethren. "For as to what was advanced about the danger of doctrine being called into doubt, this," he contended, "was in the highest degre? offensive; seeing that the thing to be dis- cussed was not the Sacred Text, but a human * Vid. lib. cuititulus, Orig. et Progress. Ecclesiastic. Dissid. in Belg. Belgice script, p. 19. 280 THE LIFE OP composition, which contained errors, and might therefore justly and properly be tried by the touchstone of heavenly truth. It was to no pur- pose to obtrude the authority of divines and mar- tyrs. For, besides that it was possible for even them also to have erred, a distinction must be maintained between the different things which the Confession of the Belgic churches contains. For some things are to be referred to the foundation of faith and of salvation, but other things are reared on that foundation, and therefore, of them- selves, are not indispensably necessary to eternal life. The former, it is true, had been approved by the unanimous consent of all the Reformers, and confirmed by the martyrs' blood; but not by any means the latter : nay, in regard to these con- troversies, at present in agitation, no one of the martyrs probably was ever asked his opinion. The fear, too, that disturbances would perhaps arise from the revisal referred to, was one to which divines truly Reformed ought to attach no great importance. For, this reason admitted, it was then with the best right that the Papists for- merly left no stone unturned, with the view of preventing the doctrine received in the Chureh for so many centuries back from being called into doubt, and subjected to fresh examination. Nay, more: if Luther, Zwingle, and the other leaders JAMTES ARMINIUS. 281 of the Reformed Church, had attributed so much weight to considerations like these, they would never have addressed themselves to a work of such great difficulty, and so full of danger, as the Reformation, and to the serious investigation of the Popish doctrine."* The matter having thus been fully argued on both sides, the great majority of the Convention persisted not the less in harping every now and then on that one string, namely, the offence which they declared there was reason to apprehend from the insertion of the fore-named - clause in the let- ters of citation, till at last Arminius, and those who adhered to him, desirous of gratifying the rest, and more solicitous about the thing itself than the formality, as they called it, gave their consent to the omission of the clause, only that this should be clone without implying the omission of the revisal itself. These deliberations being ended, and all results collected, a document was drawn up, and signed by the hands of all, embodying both the opinions in which they agreed, and the opinions in which they differed, which was presented on the first of June to the assembly of the States : appended was a declaration, on the part of all, that they * Vide sis has rationes fusius postea ab Arminio deductas in Declar. sua coram Ord. 282 THE LIFE OP were ready at the will and command of their High Mightinesses to explain more at large their opinions briefly exhibited in that document, and to fortify them with the reasons on which they respectively depended. Before taking leave of this ecclesiastical con- vention, I must by no means here omit to state that a certain sinister rumor concerning Arminius, occasioned by the holding of this conference, spread out far and wide, to the effect that he had been entreated, with the utmost importunity, by the brethren then assembled, that he would not hesitate to unfold freely those things which he had meditated in the matter of the Christian faith, with the promise that they would do their endea- vor to get him fully satisfied; but that this he had in a tone of sufficient boldness refused.* As this story stirred against him a very bad feeling in the minds of many, who thought that he ought to have paid greater honor to that Conference, convened as it was from all the provinces at once, we think it well to trace from a point a little far- ther back the character of this whole affair, and the transaction as it really happened, according to the account given by Arminius himself. Some time, then, before the subject of our me- * Vid. Praefat. Act. Synod. Dord. — Baudart. monum. Hist. JAMES ARMINIUS. 283 moir, agreeably to the summons of the States- General to attend the Conference, had presented himself at the Hague, he happened accidentally to lay his hand on five articles, viz.: Concerning Predestination, the Fall of Adam, Free Will, Origi- nal Sin, and the Eternal Salvation of Infants. These had been sent into other provinces also, but especially into Zealand and the district of Utrecht; yea, and had been discussed at some ecclesiastical meetings, in terms which implied that, on those heads of doctrine, they contained the sentiments of Arminius himself. But scarcely had he perused them, when he immediately felt assured he had detected their author — one, namely, of the num- ber of those whom the rulers had summoned to that same Conference with himself. Deeming it proper to deal with him on the subject at that very time, he freely signified to him on what grounds he suspected that those articles had been drawn up by him. This imputation the individual referred to did not deny, but declared that they were by no means sent as importing that they contained the opinions of Arminius himself, but simply as articles which furnished matter for dis- putation among the students at Leyden. Armin- ius rejoined that by this circumstance, notwith- standing, serious injury was done to him and to his reputation; nor could it otherwise than hap- 284 THE LIFE OF pen that articles of this kind, everywhere in cir- culation, would be attributed not so much to the students as to himself; when the truth was, that they had neither emanated from him, nor did they accord with his sentiments on the points concerned, nor with the Sacred Scriptures. After these things had passed between them, (two only of the other brethren being present,) Ar- minius further judged it proper, toward the close of this convention at the Hague, when all were pre- sent, to introduce the matter, especially as some were present at this convention who had not only read those articles, but who were under the im- pression that they were the production of Armin- ius himself. Accordingly, when the proceedings of this assembly had been already signed — nay, after certain had been deputed to report their transactions to their Mightinesses the States — he begged the brethren to do him the favor to remain for a little on his account, as there was a matter on which he wished to have some conversation with them. He straightway produced the above- named articles, and having read them, he pro- ceeded in strong terms to complain of the injury clone to him by their circulation; adding, that he protested solemnly, and as in the presence of the Supreme Majesty, that these articles were by no means his, nor did they express his opinions. JAMES ARMINIUS. 285 This he repeated twice, and moreover entreated his brethren that they would not attach such immediate faith to rumors set afloat respecting him, and be so ready to admit things which were falsely laid to his charge. To this, a member of the conference on his own account replied, "that for that end he would do well to signify to his brethren what in these articles he approved, and what he rejected, that thus they might to some extent be made aware of his opinions;" and some other one followed in the same strain. Arminius, however, replied that this did not appear to him to be advisable, nor was it obligatory upon him, seeing that this conference had been appointed for no such end; not to mention that time sufficient had been expended on this assembly, and that the States themselves were expecting their reply. On saying this, the conference was straightway brought to a close, no one seeking to follow up the conversation any farther, nor all assembled simultaneously agreeing in that ■ request, or using any persuasion with him, to undertake such a task. Nay, more: after the conference was over, some of the brethren declared in the presence of Arminius himself, that they had been charged by their churches not to enter on any discussion con- cerning doctrinal controversies, and, should any 286 THE LIFE OP thing of the sort happen, to quit the conference as soon as possible.* But further, after the holding of this conven- tion, calumny heaped fresh charges on Arminius, and on those who, sharing in his opinion, had freely spoken their minds as to the proper way in which the Synod should be held. They were represented as having sought, by these dissentient counsels, to interpose fresh delay in the way of the Synod's being held, and to pave the course directly for bringing about a revolution in doctrinal sentiment. Some made them out to be guilty of having got inserted in the public decree the condi- tion concerning the revisal of the Confession and Catechism. More roughly handled than all were Arminius and Uitenbogaert, whose names, and whose very free expression of sentiment, accord- ing to the license granted to them by the States, were most acrimoniously animadverted on by the Synod of North Holland, which met shortly after at Amsterdam.f Nay, as if all this were not enough, Sybrandus Lubberti, a professor in the Franeker University, dispatched letters to Scot- land, Germany, and France, asking advice of these foreigners, which contained a colored and garbled account of what had been transacted at the pre- * Ex Arm. Declar. coram Ord. f Trigland. Hist. Eccles.— Uitenb. Hist. JAMES AKMINIUS. 287 vious Convention; thereby exerting himself to preoccupy their minds with a violent prejudice against Arminius and Uitenbogaert.* To this doc- ument the accused party felt constrained, in course of time, to oppose another, to vindicate among these foreigners the innocence of their good name against the detractions of adversaries .f The Synod of South Holland, too, held at Delft in September following, embarked in the same business with sufficient animosity. Some of its proceedings, as far as the scope of the present narrative may require, I will here briefly and sum- marily recount. At this Synod, then, Uitenbo- gaert was called upon to explain to its assembled members the reasons why, in giving advice as to the mode of holding the National Syr#/4, ne ? along with Arminius, had thought and counselled differ- ently from the other pastors; in order that the Synod, after giving them due consideration, might be able to judge whether thereby, also, any pre- judice had been done to the church. But Uiten- bogaert immediately replied, " that he, for his part, was ready to communicate to the Synod the opin- ions which had been delivered to the States; but * Vid. literas S. Lnbberti huic fini scriptas inter Epist. Eccles. p. 187. f Vid. Epist. Arm. et Uitenb. Sybrandiante oppos. inter Ep. Eccles. p. 190. 288 THE LIFE OP to render reasons for them in this place, when those who had given expression to the same opin- ions with him were neither present nor consulted, appeared to him altogether unadvisable. More- over, he and his associates in that Convention were by no means bound by the mandate of any particular Synod, but had been summoned by the States of Holland themselves, to bring out their opinions freely and according to the dictate of conscience : to the States, therefore, with the best right must the reasons of these opinions be rendered. It was to no purpose, accordingly, and quite out of place, for this assembly to take upon itself to judge in respect to that matter : rather ought the brethren to take care, and strive by all means, to prevent svtfk very hasty judgments — which also tended to the most serious prejudice of the Supreme Authority — from compromising the in- terests of the churches; and to take care that such proceedings do not interpose fresh obstacles to obtaining the Synod, so long desired."* Vari- ous discussions ensued concerning this affair; as also, on the same occasion, concerning the right of the magistrate in things pertaining to religion. At last the Synod thought that it would be sufficient in the circumstances, if the opinions presented to * Vid. prsefat. Act. Synod. Dord. — Uitenb. Hist. JAMES AK MINI US. 289 the States were merely read to it, and full judg- ment in regard to them deferred until the argu- ments for the dissentients' opinions, yet to be delivered to the States, should be more clearly made known to them. The affair being thus disposed of, the assembly forthwith decided, in terms of the decree of the last Synod held at Gorcum, to press the inquiry, if some animadversions on the Confession and Catechism had not been presented to the classes. It was replied by some of the classical deputies, that most of the ministers in their respective classes had declared that they had no remarks to make in opposition to these writings; and that in their judg- ment they were sound throughout, and in harmony with the Sacred Volume — nay, even, "that they were prepared to live and to die with the Confes- sion and Catechism." On the other hand, Uiten- bogaert and others, in name of their respective classes, intimated that there were amongst them those who were as yet seriously engaged in the examination demanded, and that they would de- liver their animadversions at the proper time.* Immediately snatching occasion from this to get proceedings originated against Uitenbogaert, the president of the Synod asked him whether he, too, * Vid. Press declar. Cpntrarem. oppos. p. 32. 13 290 THE LIFE OP cherished any scruples against these books; on which, lest he should app&ai* to call in question any main points of the Christian doctrine, yea, and of the Reformed Confession,* Uitenbogaert spontaneously and candidly declared "that he ap- proved of the Confession and Catechism as far as concerned the substance and basis of doctrine: he held that the fundamentals of salvation were sufficiently contained in them; and these formula- ries, as far as they agreed with the Harmony-)- of the other Protestant Churches, had his entire assent."J Many joined in this sentiment, and expressed their concurrence in his statements, being desirous of nothing more than that ecclesias- tical affairs should be conducted calmly and peace- ably until the National Synod. To ihe suspicious mind? of some, however, this declaration was by no means satisfactory; but they further asked "if whatsoever things were contained in the Confes- sion and Catechism were, s-s " oects substance, * This noble-minded man, as the elder Brandt informs us, gave the president distinctly to understand that he answered his question ex ffralia, and not at all as being under obligation to do so; and that he declared the question to be "unseasonable, unprofitable, and a kind of inquisition." See Ger. Brandt's Hist. Reform, in Low Countries, vol. ii. p. 43.— Tk. f See Confessionum Fidei Harmonia Orthod. et Ref. Eccl. etc. Geneva, 1581.— Te. % Vid. Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. — Press, declar. Rernonst. p. 32. Respons. ad Epist. Wallach. p. 17. JAMES AEMINIUS. 291 words, phrases, and whatever else of that descrip- tion, believed to be conformable to the Divine mind or not?" To this Uitenbogaert and the others replied "that a declaration of that sort could not be made in a moment, and that to settle this mat- ter aright, a reasonable space of time was requi- site;" on which the Synod at length decided by a plurality of votes to charge all the ministers, and even the professors of theology, that, laying aside all subterfuges, tergiversations, and delays, "they would attentively examine every thing contained in the above-named writings, both as regards sub- stance and as regards words and phrases; and each deliver to his own Classis, as speedily as pos- sible, whatever remarks he might have to offer in opposition to the received doctrine."' 7 ' Nor was this all. Proceeding yet farther, the Synod, under the pretext that dissensions were growing daily and demanded an immediate rem- edy, at the same time decreed "That their High Mightinesses, the States of Holland and West Frieslancl, be requested 1 giant it permission to convoke from the two Synods of South and North Ho 7 Provincial Synod, by which the pro- fessors ology who were to be cited, and such of the Ministers of religion as it may seem neces- * Act. Synod. Delft. Ait. 3. 292 THE LIFE OP sary to the Church to summon, should, on the first opportunity, be brought together to a friendly conference on all those heads of doctrine in regard to which they cherished doubt; that in this way a judgment might be formed by the churches as to the nature and magnitude of the controversies, and as suitable a remedy as possible devised for allaying dissensions and preserving integrity of doctrine."* But this decision and decree, as it mightily pleased many, so it very highly offended others, and exposed its framers and authors to the suspicion of stepping, under the guise of holding this assembly and conference, into the place of a National Synod, and of exerting themselves to forestall its judgment and sentence. Nay, some thought that by this same decree the act of the States in regard to the lawful revision of the Con- fession and Catechism, and their right and author- ity to summon a National Synod in their own name, were very seriously infringed; and that this was done with the sole intent that those whom this ecclesiastical tribunal, after hearing their rea- sons, might have accused of heterodoxy, should henceforth be held disqualified to enjoy the right of voting in the National Synod. This undoubt- edly entered into the grounds on which the clepu- * Act. Synod. Delft. Art. 4. JAMES AEMINIUS. 293 ties of both Synods, who petitioned the States for leave to carry their decisions into effect, were balked of their wish. For, on the 14th of Sep- tember, they received the reply "that, considering the many difficulties with which this matter was beset, and the very grave political business which distracted the States at the time, it was impossible for them, in present circumstances, to comply with the request of the churches; but at their own time, and when opportunity offered, they would take the matter into consideration: they further instructed the deputies of the churches to exert themselves meanwhile to the utmost for the pro- motion of ecclesiastical tranquillity; and they would, besides, see to it that ministers of the opposite sentiment should be admonished of the same duty."* In the mean time, Arminius and Uitenbogaert were warned on all sides of the grievous extent to which, both in Holland and in the adjacent regions, they were everywhere maligned — partly by clandestine whispers, partly by reports openly circulated among the people — on account of the opinions they had expressed as to how the Synod should be held. They judged it by no means their .duty to sit silent under all this: on the con- * Trigland. Hist. Eccles. p. 413. 294 • THE LIFE OP trary, as a satisfaction clue to their own character, they (on the 6th September) delivered to the Grand Pensionary of llolland, for presentation to the States, their reasons for their opinion, and for the advice they gave, drawn up in writing, and signed also by the two delegates from Utrecht. They moreover declared, that of nothing were they more desirous than that the rest of the brethren also should produce their reasons for the different opinions they advanced; and that thus, in regard to this matter, and the holding of the Synod, their High Mightinesses could give such a decision as would be most conducive to the good of the Church.* To the attainment of this wish, however, an obstacle was presented by the public deliberations respecting the armistice, the discus- sion of which so engaged the States as to leave them scarcely any leisure for these ecclesiastical affairs.f * Videsis integrum hoc Scriptum in Hist. Uitenbog. f The deliberations here referred to were of the very gravest char- acter, and proved the source of that alienation between the ambitious Prince Maurice and the incorruptible Oldenbarneveldt, which caused the latter ere long to lose his head. Maurice was opposed to the truce. Oldenbarneveldt, knowing his ulterior designs against the new-born liberties of Holland, promoted it in the face of storms that thickened around him from every side. His resolute patriotism at length tri- umphed iu the famous truce of twelve years concluded with Spain in, 1609, on terms deeply humiliating to the haughty Spaniard and advan- tageous to the Dutch — the fame of whose counsels and arms resounded throughout Europe. See Davies's Hist. Holland, vol. ii. p. 432.— Tb, JAMES AEMIXIUS. 295 It was in allusion to this that the illustrious Philip Mornay declared at the time "that he very much wished that an armistice could be concluded, in respect to the growing contentions in the Ley- den Academy; for, as the times were, nothing could fall out more unseasonable than these."* Still further material and occasion for these dis- sensions were furnished by a little book published in the course of that year (1G07) at Gouda, intended for the religious instruction of youth, and afterward known under the name of the Gouda Catechism. This little work was composed by the pastors of the Church in Gouda for the purpose of testing whether it could be turned by the authorities to the use of the elementary schools, and substituted in the place of the Palatine Catechism, which, in their judgment, contained questions too difficult, and couched in ambiguous terms. f iso sooner had that composition seen the light, than very diverse opinions began to be expressed in regard to it. Those who sided with Arminius praised the little work, partly because its authors, treading in the steps of the Palatine divines in respect to its general order, seemed to have advanced nothing whatever repugnant to the * In Epist. ad F. Aersseniurn, inter Epist. Eccles. f Fusius de hoc libello Uitenb. in Hist. Eccles. 296 THE LIFE OP Christian doctrine ; partly also, and on this ac- count mainly, that the composition referred to, foreclosing all scope for the introduction of thorny and disputable points, and breathing the primeval simplicity of Christianity, embraced in few words, and these, too, deduced from the sacred page, the things to be believed. But immediately some arose from among the opposite ranks who publicly condemned and exe- crated the book, and declared that there scarcely ever was a monstrous opinion but what was veiled in terms as general as itself was horrid ; that sim- plicity suited primitive times, when evils as yet unknown required no antidote, but that afterward, as errors increased, forms of words had to be de- vised which might ferret out errorists from their lurking-places; that this little book either did away with or omitted the primary doctrines of the Christian faith ; that a signal was thereby given to those desirous of innovation; and that Servetus himself would have cheerfully subscribed it,* Thus what 'the former called in harmony with heavenly truth, the latter called the lurking-place of heresies : what the former called liberty, the latter called disorder. * Grot. Annual, p. 555 in fol. — Vid. S. Lubberti Epist. ad Olden- barneveld. inter Epist. Eccles. p. 215. JAMES A R JUNIUS. 297 Nor was this all. Against this little book Rey- ner Donteklok took occasion to brandish his pen ; tfncl in a published treatise he not only addressed himself to the confutation of this small work of the Goucla divines, but also, at the instigation of certain malevolent parties, traduced with sufficient virulence those who had thought differently from others as to the mode of holding the Synod ; and, moreover, in no oblique terms, and all but pointing at him with his finger, he insinuated that Arminius had a hand in drawing up this catechism. But although to the publication of it Arminius had no great objection, and afterward owned that the Goucla ministers had consulted him prior to issuing it, and that, after they had explained the reasons why they thought it should be published, he had expressed his concurrence, nevertheless, to that composition he never applied a hand, nor had any share in the drawing of it up. Nay, more: so far as his choice, and that of some others, was con- cerned, this little book would have lain long enough unnoticed, had not the intemperate clamors of many magnified it into an importance greater than was clue.* Calumny, however, overstepping even these * Vid. Examen. Catech. Goud. a R. Donteklok, Belgice conscript. 1607, pag. 3, 5, 8, 9, 10.— Arm. Epist. ad C. Vorst, Kal. April, 1G09. 13* 298 THE LIFE OF limits, and spurning all restraints of humanity, put in circulation, at this same time, a most foul report concerning Arminius and Uitenbogaert, namely, that the Roman Pontiff, in a most gracious letter which he wrote to them, and holding out the hope of a large emolument, had commended to them the advocacy of the Church of Rome.* How very ;: T? this was from even the semblance of truth, wit] yet more clearly appear from the subsequent taread of our narrative. But this magnificent lie was accompanied by another which was put in circulation about the same time, namely, that Arminius was in the habit of commending to his students, as of prime importance, the writings not only of Castellio and of Coornhert, but also of Suarez and other Jesuits, and of speaking in con- temptuous terms of the works of Calvin, Beza, Martyr, Zanchius, Ursinus, and other eminent divines of the Reformed Church.-j- These, and many more calumnies of the same kind, which were scattered far and wide regarding him throughout Germany, France, England, and Savoy, Arminius received with no other emotion than that of pity for brethren who sinned so grievously against God and their neighbor. Nay, he thought, as he himself testifies, that by this * Ex Epist. Ai'topiei Uitenb. Histor. Eccles. inserta. f Vid. prsefat. Act. Synod. Dord. JAMES AEMINIUS. 299 prodigious ado, and by the preposterous diligence of brethren, "it would only turn out that he, a poor obscure man, who was not able by his own virtues to push himself into notice, and of whom otherwise scarcely any out of Holland would either know any thing, or deign to speak, would day by day be rendered notable and re- nowned."* How inconsistent with truth that allegation was, as to his having recommended writers of question- able note, (which was reported, as elsewhere, so in particular at Amsterdam,) I prefer to state in his own words rather than in mine. Mark these expressions of his which he penned to the chief magistrate of Amsterdam, (Sebastian Egberts :) "The rumor about my advising the students to read the works of the Jesuits and of Coornhert, I can call by no other name than a lie; for never to any one, either by request or spontaneously, have I uttered a word on that subject. So far from this, after the reading of Scripture, which I strenuously inculcate, and more than any other, (as the whole Academy, yea, the conscience of my colleagues will testify,) I recommend that the/ Commentaries of Calvin be read, whom I extol in higher terms than Helmichius himself, as he owned * Ex Epist. Arm. ad Dims. 300 THE LIFE OF to me, ever did. For I affirm that in the inter- pretation of the Scriptures Calvin is incomparable, and that Iris Commentaries are more to be valued than any thing that is handed down to us in the Bibliotlieca, of the Fathers; so much so, that I concede to him a certain spirit of prophecy [inter- pretation] in which he stands distinguished above others, above most, yea, above all. His Institutes, so far as respects Commonplaces, I give out to be read after the Catechism, as a more extended explanation. But here I add — with discrimination; -as the writings of all men ought to be read. Of this -my mode of advice I could produce innumerable witnesses: they, cannot produce as much as one whom I advised to study Coornhert and the fol- lowers of Loyola. Let them produce one, and the he will stand revealed. So that here from no- thing springs a. history, or rather a fiction. What other things are * there done, I know; ay, and what busy things have been done elsewhere, I think you do not know. If you did know, you would be astonished at the perverse effrontery of men. As an antidote to all these I oppose integ- rity and patience, and sustain myself with the hope of a happy exit which the just Judge will grant unto me, who knows what I seek and what I do. I know that my earnest aims are pleasing to him, as being solely devoted to the JAMES ARM INIUS. 301 establishment among Christians of truth, piety, and peace."* With no less confidence of mind did he under- take, in the year following, (1608,) the vindication of his own cause in the presence of that most noble man, Iiippolytus a Collibus, the ambassador to the States of the United Provinces of the illustrious Prince Palatine, Frederick the Fourth. E.umors being already rife at Heidelberg that, on several articles of the Christian faith, Arminius dissented from the received opinion, this noble- man, thinking he ought not to rest in these, but hear the other side also, invited Arminius, in a very courteous manner, to visit him at the Hague. Admitted, accordingly, to an interview with him, Hippolytus, in a manner singularly courteous, stated the reasons for the sinister suspicions respecting him, and on what heads it was that Sybranclus Lubberti had impeached him by letter to the distinguished Parreus ; on all which Armin- ius candidly and ingenuously explained his own opinions, in particular, concerning the Divinity of the Son of God, concerning Providence and Divine Predestination, concerning Grace and Free Will, and also on the subject of Justification. So satis- factory to that nobleman was his explanation on * Vid. Arm. Epist, ad Seb. Egb. inter Ep. Eccles. p 1.185. 302 THE LIFE OP these points, that he thought fit earnestly to solicit Arminius to give it to him in writing, in order that, on the one hand, after due consideration of these points, he might judge with more certainty and decisiveness respecting them, and, on the other, be in a condition, in conferring with any on the subject, to confute the calumnies referred to, and to vindicate his innocence. Arminius accordingly drew up at the time (on the 5th April, 1608) that most erudite and elaborate epistle to the ambassa- dor of the Prince Palatine, which still exists among his published works, and comprises a suc- cinct defence of his doctrine, as well as of his life. It is with pleasure w T e here subjoin the golden words with which he closes this epistle — words every w r ay worthy of a noble-minded man: "Would to God," he writes, "that I could ob- tain this from my brethren by profession of the same religious fellowship with me in the Lord, that they would at least give me credit for some susceptibility of conscience toward God ! which, surely, the love of Christ ought readily to obtain from them, if indeed they would meditate on his spirit and mind. What profit can accrue to me from dissension undertaken from the mere lust of dissension, from stirring schism in the Church of Christ, Of which, by the grace of God and of Christ, I profess myself a member? If they JAMES ABMINIUS. 303 imaging I am instigated to this by ambition or avarice, I declare sincerely in the Lord they do not know me. So free from avarice can I affirm myself to be, that it has never happened to allure me with its blandishments, although pretexts are not wanting by which I might palliate or excuse it. Ambition I have none, except the honorable ambition which impels me to this — to investigate Divine truth from the Sacred Scriptures with all my might; to hold it forth when found, calmly and without contention, so as not to dictate to any, or strive to extort assent, much less to seek to lord it over another's faith ; and to hold it forth for this end, that I may gain more souls to Christ, and that I may be a good savor to him, and that mine may be an approved name in the Church of the saints. This, after a long time's patience, I hope through grace to attain; although at present I am a reproach to my brethren ; an offscouring and outcast to those who, in the same faith with me, worship and invoke the one God, the Father, the one Lord Jesus Christ, in the one Spirit, and who cherish the one hope with me, of obtaining the heavenly inheritance through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will grant me, I hope, (and that the light of that holy and happy day may smile upon me !) that we may peacefully, in the name of the Lord, meet among 304 THE LIFE OP ourselves, and institute a Christian conference on things pertaining to religion; in which I promise through the grace of God to exhibit that modera- tion of spirit, and love for the truth and peace, which may fairly be exacted and expected of the servant of Christ. Meanwhile, let my brethren be quiet, and allow me to be quiet; as quiet indeed I am, giving no trouble or molestation to them. If they think otherwise of me, let them institute proceedings : I will not shrink from the authority of any competent tribunal : I will not fail to appear. If they are of opinion that the minds of those who listen to me are artfully preoccupied as from a distance, and the affair managed with such policy that they neither deem it advisable to f;ice me in judgment, nor think it sufficiently safe that studious youth should be intrusted to me, and that therefore a black mark, as what I have deserved, ought to be daubed upon my name, in order that these same youth may be scared away — otherwise certain risk would be incurred from the delay of the conference; lo, here I present myself, that along with them I may address, solicit, and supplicate those whose prerogative it is to call, or grant, conventions of this kind, that they would not suffer us any longer to be agitated by such vexation and dis- quietude of spirit, but either themselves apply a JAMES AEMIXIUS. 305 very speedy remedy, or permit it to be applied — but still, by their decree, and under their direc- tion. I will not refuse to appear before any convention, whether of all the ministers of our United Netherlands or of some of them, to be summoned from the several provinces; or even of all the ministers of Holland and Westfriesland, (to which province our Leyden Academy belongs,) or of some to be nominated from their number, provided the whole affair be transacted under the cognizance of our rightful rulers: nay, further, I neither shrink from nor dread the presence of learned men to be summoned from other places, provided they take part in the conference on equitable terms, and subject to the same rules to which I myself shall have to submit. Permit me to say, in one word, let a convention be held, be it of many or of few, if it only present some glimmering hope of success — such a hope as I shall not be able, on solid grounds, to prove decep- tive — here I am, prepared and ready at this very day, at this very hour; for it teases and vexes me to be daubed every day with fresh - calumnious aspersions, and to have the annoying necessity imposed upon me of wiping them away. In this respect, surely, I little resemble heretics, who either shrink from ecclesiastical conventions, or shape matters so that they can trust to the num- 306 THE LIFE OP ber of then adherents, and calculate on certain victory." On the clay following that on which Arminius drew up this epistle — or rather epistolary disser- tation on religious affairs — to the Palatine ambas- sador, he gave forth the same indications of an intrepid and upright spirit in a letter to that man of consummate integrity, already knit to him for many years, at once by the bonds of close inti- macy and of high esteem — John Drusius. After some preliminary reference to the very shameful acts of calumny of which he was the victim, and to the calmness of spirit by which he eluded them, he goes on to address that most attached friend in the following terms: "This very peace of con- science makes me judge that even the advices of my friends, by which they urge me to refute these calumnies, need not be acted on by me with pre- cipitate haste. Nor do I apprehend that the minds either of the rulers or of learned men will be so far preoccupied with prejudice against me as not to be easily disabused even by the mere explanation of my sentiments and aims. Nay, verily, such mighty and over-hasty plotting on the part of my brethren against me, is to me a most certain sign that they are distrustful of their own cause. For he that trusteth doth not make haste, confiding in Jehovah, in whom alone is all JAMES ARMINIUS. 307 his help; and mine truly lies in his Word only, for the truth, perfection, and perspicuity of which alone I will not cease to contend against the tradi- tions of all men, of what rank soever they be, as long as the benignant Grod thinks fit to lengthen out my life; nor will I ever suffer to be imposed on the Church of Christ, whether under the name of secondary, or under any other name, any authoritative rule whatsoever, other than that one only Rule which is contained in the books of the Old and New Testament. And there is a neces- sity, I perceive, for a strenuous agitation of the subject, even among us who not so long ago were foremost to urge this first principle in opposition to Papists; but now, as if fleeing from court, we do not blush to prescribe to the churches and to their ministers, as traditions by the standard of which the Scriptures are to be explained, even Confessions and Catechisms, because, forsooth, they- were drawn up by learned men, sanctioned by various decisions, confirmed by length of time, (for they are beginning to plead a prescription of forty years,) and sealed with the blood of martyrs !" 308 THE LIFE OP CHAPTER XI. CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE IN MAY, 1608 — ARMINIUS REPLIES TO THIRTY-ONE DEFAMATORY ARTICLES, FALSE- LY ASCRIBED TO HIM AND ADRIAN BORRIUS. — A. D. 1608. Rightly judging, however, that private com- plaints, like the foregoing, among his confidential friends, served no end of self-protection, and that unfavorable reports respecting him and Uitenbo- gaert were notoriously increasing every day; con- sidering how little, moreover, he could calculate, as matters then stood, on obtaining satisfaction through the medium of the ordinary ecclesiastical assemblies, Arminius decided on pursuing another course. He and Uitenbogaert, accordingly, pre- sented a petition to the States of Holland, in which " they not only complained that by their discrepant judgments as to the holding of the Synod, they had incurred, without cause, the odium of many ; but further declared, that though they regarded the judgments in question as being at once in strict harmony with reason and Scrip- JAMES AEMINIUS. 309 ture, and in the highest degree adapted to the present state of ecclesiastical affairs, they by no means wished to press them to the obstruction of a National Synod : nay, rather, they would cheer- fully suffer that Synod — so long earnestly desired, and which they themselves, too, thought neces- sary — to be held in any other way, provided that in it due regard were had to the Sacred Scriptures, and care taken that no one lord it over another's faith. For their part, they utterly disclaimed all desire to bring about a new state of things, and with God's help would adhere till their last breath to the Reformed Church and doctrine. Further, they humbly begged and implored the illustrious States that by their gracious influence with the States -General a National Synod might be at length convoked, and an end be put at once and for ever to these most grievous contentions."* But further, as he perceived that, owing to the public and grave deliberations of the States re- specting the armistice, little attention was paid to this petition on its being presented and read; and as, in the mean time, his students were treated in a most rigorous manner, and the usual academic certificates with which he furnished them were unfairly disparaged, Arminius felt constrained to •*■ Vid. scriptuni hoc supplic. integrum in Hist. Uitenbog. p. 425. 310 THE LIFE OF draw up an additional petition, in his own individ- ual name, most urgently praying these supreme rulers of his country that they would not refuse to institute a legal inquiry into his cause, and with that wisdom by which they were di • guished, determine the method, either in the fo 1 - of a conference^ or of an ecclesiastical corn 7 ' to be held under their auspices, ];; whir- 1 . . die very first opportunity, the way might . opened to him to clear himself from so : ... . v injurious aspersions.'" Reverting to thip ; Ion, he Rulers of Holland and West Friesh die view of foreclosing a greater evil, . d that Goma- tus and Arminius be sun . :o the Hague — the four ministers who . ~ ■ :• i the last confer- ence at the Hague, : ' ate- March ?006