The Life of Hugo Grotius Part 23

The word Transubstantiation, he seemed willing to give up, if the Roman Catholic doctrine, intended to be expressed by it, were retained. He proposed, that communion under both kinds, or under bread alone, should be left, to the discretion of the different churches, and consented, that persons in holy orders should retain their state, with such provisions, as would place the validity of their ordination, beyond exception. The marriage of priests, in the countries, in which such marriages were allowed, and the recitation of the divine service in the vulgar tongue, he allowed; and intimated that no difficulty would be found in the ultimate settlement of the doctrine, respecting purgatory, indulgences, the veneration of saints, relics, or images. He seems to have thought, that the Pope can exercise, no immediate jurisdiction, within the dioceses of bishops, and that his primacy invested him, with no more than a general conservation, of the deposit of the faith, a right to enforce, the observance of the sacred canons, and the general maintenance of discipline. He allowed, in general terms, that there was little substantially wrong, in the discipline of the Church of England; he deprecated all discussion, on the original merit of reformation, and he professed to see no use in the Pope's intervention, till the basis of the negotiation, should be settled.

The answer of the archbishop, was not very explicit. It is evident from it, that he thought, the quarrels on Jansenism, had alienated the Jansenists and their adherents, from the Pope, much more, than they had done, in reality. He was willing to concede, to the Pope, a primacy of rank and honour, but would by no means allow him, a primacy of jurisdiction, or any primacy, by divine right. On the other points, he seemed to have thought, that they might come to an agreement, on what they should declare, to be the fundamental doctrine of the churches, and adopt, on every other point of doctrine, a general system, of christian toleration.

The correspondence, which is very interesting, may be seen, in the last volume of the English translation, of Doctor Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History. To facilitate, the accomplishment of the object of it, Doctor Courayer, published his celebrated treatise, on _the Validity of English Ordinations_.

Both Dr. Wake, and Dr. Dupin. were censured, by the members of their respective communions, for the parts, which they had taken, in this business. Several rigid members of the English Church, and even some foreign protestants, blamed Dr. Wake, for what they termed, his too great concessions. In France, the worst of motives, were imputed to Dr.

Dupin, and his a.s.sociates; they were accused, of making unjustifiable sacrifices, in order to form an union, between the Jansenists, and the members of the English Church. Even the regent, took the alarm: he ordered Dr. Dupin, to discontinue the correspondence, and to leave all the papers, respecting it, with the minister. This was done, but the most important of them, have been printed, in the interesting and extensively circulated publication, which has been mentioned.

V.

_Miscellaneous Remarks on the Reunion of Christians._

It does not appear, that subsequently to the communications, between Archbishop Wake, and Dr. Dupin, any attempts for a general, or partial reunion of christians, were made in the last century: but, early in the present, _Napoleon_, conceived the project, of effecting, such a reunion. He is said, to have particularly had in view, the catholicizing, as it was termed, the northern part, of Germany. To forward his design, many works were published: one of them, the _Essai sur l'Unite des Cultes_, of M. Bonald, is written, with great ingenuity.

That Essay, and several others by the same author, were inserted in the _Ambigu_ of Peltier, and deserve the attention, of every reader. Though they contain some things, to which a Roman Catholic writer, would object, they are evidently written, by a Roman Catholic pen.

The first point to be considered, by those, who meditate the project of reunion, is, its practicability--those, who are disposed, to contend for the affirmative, will observe, the number of important articles, of Christian Faith, in which, all Christians, are agreed, and the proportionally small number of those, in which, any Christians disagree.

All Christians believe,

1st. That there is one G.o.d;

2d. That he is a Being, of infinite perfection;

3d. That he directs all things, by his providence;

4th. That it is our duty to love him, with all our hearts, and our neighbour, as ourselves;

5th. That it is our duty, to repent, of the sins we commit;

6th. That G.o.d, pardons the truly penitent;

7th. That there is a future state, of rewards, and punishments, when all mankind shall be judged, according to their works;

8th. That G.o.d, sent his Son, into the world, to be its saviour, the author of eternal salvation, to all, that obey him;

9th. That he is the true Messiah;

10th. That he taught, worked miracles, suffered, died, and rose again, as is related in the four gospels;

11th. That he will hereafter, make a second appearance on the earth, raise all mankind from the dead, judge the world in righteousness, bestow eternal life on the virtuous, and punish the workers of iniquity.

In the belief of these articles, all Christians, the Roman Catholic, all the Oriental churches, all the members of the Church of England, all Lutherans, Calvinists, Socinians, and Unitarians, are agreed. In addition to these, each division, and subdivision of Christians, has its own tenets. Now, let each settle among its own members, what are the articles of belief, peculiar to them, which, in their cool deliberate judgment, they consider as _absolutely necessary_ that a person should believe, to be a member of the church of Christ; let these articles be divested of all foreign matter, and expressed in perspicuous, exact, and unequivocal terms; and, above all, let each distinction of Christians, earnestly wish, to find an agreement, between themselves and their fellow Christians:--the result of a discussion conducted on this plan, would most a.s.suredly be, to convince all Christians, that the essential articles of religious credence, in which there is, a real difference among Christians, are not so numerous, as the verbal disputes, and extraneous matter, in which controversy is too often involved, make them generally thought.

Still,--some articles will remain, the belief of which, one denomination of Christians, will consider to be the obligation of every Christian, and which other Christian denominations, will condemn. On some of those, a _speedy_ reunion of Christians is not to be expected: but, to use the language of Mr. _Vansittart_, in His excellent letter to the reverend Dr. Marsh and John c.o.ker, Esq.,

"There is an inferior degree of Reunion, more within our prospect, and yet perhaps as perfect as human infirmity allows us to hope for; wherein, though all differences of opinion, should not be extinguished, yet they may be refined, from all party prejudices, and interested views, so softened by the spirit of charity, and mutual concession, and so controuled by agreement, on the leading principles, and zeal, for the general interests of christianity, that no sect, or persuasion, should be tempted to make religion, subservient to secular views, or to employ political power, to the prejudice of others.--The existence of Dissent, will, perhaps, be inseparable from religious freedom, so long, as the mind of man, is liable to error: but it is not unreasonable to hope, that hostility, may cease, though perfect agreement, cannot be established.

IF WE CANNOT RECONCILE ALL OPINIONS, LET US RECONCILE ALL HEARTS."

These pages, cannot be closed better, than by these golden words!!!

FINIS.

FOOTNOTES.

[Footnote 001: Tom. xi. p. 1. 200.]

[Footnote 002: De Inst.i.tutiones Clericorum, L. iii. c. xviii. &c.]

[Footnote 003: In his "Recueil des Ecrits pour servir d'eclairciss.e.m.e.nt de l'histoire de France, 2 vol. Paris 1798."]

[Footnote 004: "Roswede, or Aroswethe, a nun in the monastery of Gardersheim, lived in the reigns of Otho II. and III. towards the end of the tenth century. She composed many works in prose and verse. In 1501, some of her poems, on the Martyrdom of St. Denys, the Blessed Virgin, St. Ann, &c. were printed at Nuremburgh. Her verses in praise of Otto II. would be tolerable, if they were not Leonines: there are in them some errors of prosody." Bib. Univers. et Histor. Vol. ii. p. 46.]

[Footnote 005: For a fuller account of Feudal and Civil Jurisprudence, the writer of these pages begs leave to refer to his work, ent.i.tled, "HORae JURIDICae SUBSECIVae, being a connected series of Notes respecting the Geography, Chronology, and Literary History of the princ.i.p.al Codes and original Doc.u.ments of the Grecian, Roman, Feudal, and Canon Law." 1 vol. 8vo.]

[Footnote 006: It is ent.i.tled, "_Martiani Minei Felicis Capellae Carthaginiensis, Viri Procunsularis, Satyricon, in quo de Nuptiis Philologiae et Mecurii libri duo, & de septem artibus liberalibus libri singulares. Omnes, et emendati et Notis sive Februis Hug. Grotii ill.u.s.trati. Ex Officina Plantiniana, Apud Christophorum Raphelingium Academiae Lugduno-Bat. Typographum_ M. D. C." [Transcriber's note: Apostrophic date 1600] The Dedication to the Prince of Conde follows: then, Encomiastic Verses by Scaliger, and Tiliabrogus. The two works are then inserted, with an address to the reader, Errata, and Various Readings. Afterwards, _Hugeiani Grotii Februa[007] in Satyricon Martiani Capellae:_ this contains his notes. They are preceded by an Engraving of Grotius. Round it, is written, "_Anno_ M. D. C." [Transcriber's note: Apostrophic date 1600] Hora Ruit.[008] aet.xv. Under the engraving the following verses are printed,

"_Quem sibi quindenis_ ASTRaeA _sacravit ab annis, Talis,_ HUGEIANI GROTII _ora fero_."]

[Footnote 007: "Corrections"--or more literarily, "Purifications".]

[Footnote 008: These words were used by Grotius for his motto.]

[Footnote 009: Fabricii Bibliotheca Latina, Lib iii. c. 15. In 1794, John Adam Goez published the "Treatise on the Marriage of Philology and Mercury" separately, in a duodecimo volume: he mentions, in the preface, an edition of it by Walthard. It is on the authority of Goez that we have a.s.signed the age of Capella to the third century: others place him in a much later period.]

[Footnote 010: Montucla. Histoire des Mathematiques, Vol.ii. p.657.]

[Footnote 011: Vol. 9. p. 147. ii. 1.]

[Footnote 012: A similar exclusive claim in respect to the Indian seas, under the grant of Pope Alexander VI., was set up by the Portuguese; similar claims to the Ligustic and Adriatic seas, have been and still continue to be made by the Genoese and Venetians. Those, who seek for information on the subject, should consult the _Dissertation of Bynkershook de Dominio Maris_, and note 61 to the recent edition of Sir Edward c.o.ke's Commentary upon Littleton.]

[Footnote 013: "Mais, dites vous, dans ce tems meme, le jeune Pison pouvolt avoir dix ans: Grotius faisoit bien des vers a cet age. Je le scais, mais les Grotius sont ils bien commune! combien d'enfans trouveres vous de dix ans, qui ayent nonseulement a.s.sez du feu pour faire des vers, mais encore a.s.sez de jugement pour en juger sainement."