experienced a most hearty welcome and was treated with paternal regard. Those who had provided for him that temporary asylum, intended to place him as a student in this new University; and my father, thinking it an opportunity not to be neglected, recalled me from England, where I then resided for the purpose of pursuing my studies. We were therefore sent off in company to Leyden; and from the moment when, together, we first entered within the walls of this University, the greatest unanimity subsisted between us, and we were most intimately connected in our tempers, studies, pursuits and desires. But I will not attempt in this place to relate how pleasantly that important æra in our lives passed along. I will only state, that the contention was so strong between the students, in regard to their progress in literature and wisdom, so profound was the reverence which they evinced towards their teachers, and the zeal and impulse of true piety were so great in them, as scarcely to be exceeded. But the only one of our order who meritoriously distinguished himself above the rest of his companions, was Arminius. If any of us had a particular theme or essay to compose, or a speech to recite, the first step which we took in it, was, to ask for Arminius. If any friendly discussion arose among us, the decision of which required the sound judgment of a Palemon, we went in search of Arminius, who was always consulted. I well recollect the time when Doctor Lambert Danæus,* our learned Professor, paid him a public compliment and eulogized him for the endowments of his genius, and his proficiency in learning and virtue; he also urged us who were Divinity students, to imitate the example of Arminius, by the same cheerful and diligent attention to the study of sacred Theology. Why should I here recount his talents for poetry, in which he particularly excelled? Or why should I advert to his skill in the Mathe

• Lambert DanEUS was a man as highly celebrated for his proficiency in Philosophy as in Theology. His acquaintance with the writings of the Christian Fathers and with Scholastic Divinity was most profound. In the latter species of learning he is said not to have had an equal. That honour to polite literature, and the noble ornament of the University of Leyden, the elder DoUSA, recorded the praises of Danæus in a Latin poem composed in lambic metre, and styled him" the Father of the Sciences and of eloquence, and the Architect of the new University."

+ Our author was early in life captivated with a passion for poetry; and not only at that period, but to the very close of life, he was accustomed to call in the sweet and powerful aid of the Muses to soothe his spirits, whenever they were distracted by weighty cares or oppressed by sorrow. His various epigrams and poems of every description, remain as evidence of his powers in this spe

matics, and other branches of philosophy* in which his attainments were solid and profound? There was no study of that description into which his genius had not penetrated; and he never engaged in any literary undertaking which he did not happily complete.†

Thus prosperously did he proceed from one learned triumph to another, till the year 1582, when the honourable Senate of Amsterdam took upon themselves the expence of sending him to the University of Geneva, for the purpose of his further improvement in sound learning. When he had reached that eity, he went to hear THEODORE BEZA, that venerable old man of blessed memory, who was then expounding the Epistle to the Romans, to the great and deserved admiration of the multitudes who heard him. For Beza, beyond all men living, possessed a persuasive method of speaking that could incline the mind to almost any purpose; his oratory also was free and fluent, his language perspicuous, and his voice sweet and mellifluous: But it was in his doctrines, in which, according to the judgment of all the learned, lay his chief excellence. Arminius therefore chose him out, in preference to every other, as a model which he might profitably copy and safely

cies of composition. Many playful and elegant specimens of his wit and genius, in his own hand-writing, were preserved by some of his surviving literary friends among their choicest treasures. The chief companions of his studies in polite literature at that period, were three young men of uncommon talents, whose intimate friendship he continued to enjoy,-J. Gruterus, R. Hogerbetius, and G. Benedicti of Haerlem, whose epigrams and other highly finished poetic productions were afterwards published by the very learned P. Scriverius.

* See Appendix C.

+ While yet an under-graduate at Leyden, ARMINIUS acquired a competent knowledge of Hebrew learning: His preceptor was HERMAN Rennecherus, a Westphalian.

Arminius was in his twenty-first year, had been six years a student at Leyden, and had afforded to all the University most flattering hopes of his becoming a great man and a useful teacher in the Christian Church, when he was recommended by the honourable the Burgomasters of Amsterdam, and by the resident ministers, to the master and officers of the Guild of Merchants in that city. This recommendation was received with such complacency, that the members of that corporation immediately took the young man uuder their patronage, and promised with cheerful and pious minds that they would appropriate a part of the annual revenues of their company, to pay for his education during a few more years, till he had completed his academic studies in some foreign University. On his part, Arminius, by a bond in his own haud -writing, which he sealed and delivered into the hands of the Magistrates, promised to consider himself engaged, during the rest of his life, exclusively in the service of that city; and to devote himself, after being admitted into holy orders, to no other church in any city or town whatever, unless by the special consent of those who for the time being might execute the office of Burgomasters.

imitate.+ But, after a short time, he was compelled to repair to the University of Basle, because he could not secure the favour and regard of some of the principal men in Geneva. I state the real cause, when I say, that he removed solely on account of his invincible attachment to the philosophy of Peter Ramus, which he publicly defended in the warmest manner, and which he taught in private to such auditors as were admirers of that logical system.‡ Those who were the companions of his journey to Basle, can bear witness to the great honours which were conferred on the young man in that city, and the deference which was paid to his abilities and integrity. They are also well qualified to relate the nature of those numerous predictions, from men of all ranks, concerning the future success of that virtue which had even then displayed a masculine growth and was still in a course of increase and expansion. But Arminius received all these acclamations and flattering opinions with a marked diffidence, that kept his mind from any undue elevation or the least appearance of arrogant feeling. On such occasions, he in reality shewed, that he would on no account endeavour by ambitious intrigues to attain to that honourable station to which, by the Divine Benignity, he had been destined, but would try to reach it by the exercise of true virtue.

It is a custom at Basle, during the Autumnal recess, for some of the under-graduates, who are the greatest proficients in learning, to deliver public lectures on Theological subjects, out of the ordinary college course, for the sake of salutary mental exercise. That gratuitous duty Arminius undertook without the least reluctance; and for the able manner in

+ Our author likewise frequently attended the sermons and lectures of ANTHONY FAYE, CHARLES PERROT, and other learned men of that Church and University. At Geneva was laid the foundation of that close and uninterrupted friendship which throughout life subsisted between Arminius and John UITENBOGARDT of Utrecht. They both studied under the same Professors of Divinity, and became greatly attached to each other.

At first he only defended Ramus and his Dialectics, while he impugned Aristotle, în private; but, after some time, at the request and earnest intreaties of many students, of whom Uitenbogardt was one, he was induced to give lessons on the Logic of that great master in his chambers,-by which act he gave serious offence to some of the chief directors of the University of Geneva. But be received the greatest tokens of ill-will from the Professor of Philosophy, who was by birth a Spaniard and a violeut champion for the Aristotelian system. It was by the cfforts of this man that a public edict was passed, interdicting Arminius from teaching the Philosophical system of Ramus.

The subject which Arminius chose for his public exercise on this occasion, was an exposition on a few chapters of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which he expounded in such a judicious manner as was creditable to his talents and obtained applause from all the learned.

which he acquitted himself, he received the thanks of the Rev. James Grynæus, who also occasionally honoured him by his personal attendance at the lectures. When the same pious man perceived a serious difficulty to have been raised against any of the arguments in his own public disputations, or when a knotty point occurred which required the aid of an adept to unravel it, he was not afraid, on account of the imaginary infringement of his own reputation, to call out Arminius from the seat which he occupied in the midst of his numerous fellow students, and to say aloud, "Let my Dutchman answer for me!" In the motives for such a frank and encouraging address as this, every one must admire the candour of Grynæus. While Arminius was While Arminius was a resident in Basle, he was held in such high estimation, and was so celebrated for erudition, that the faculty of Theology in that University offered, on the eve of his departure to Geneva, to confer upon him at the public expence the title of DOCTOR. For the proposed honour he thanked the reverend and learned faculty, but with the greatest modesty begged to decline the acceptance of it,-alleging as a reason, that to bestow a Doctor's degree on a person so youthful in appearance as he was, would tend to diminish the dignity and respect which should always attach to that sacred title.

On his return to Geneva, in the year 1583, the minds of his friends, that had been inflamed against the philosophy of Ramus, were found to be in a more tranquil state on that point. On his part, therefore, he judged it proper to curb

+ The following is an extract of a letter which BEZA wrote on the third day of June, 1583, in answer to one which he had received from the Rev. MARTIN LYDIUS, a very learned Divine belonging to the Church of Amsterdam, who had, in the name of his brethren in the ministry and of the magistrates, requested Beza's opinion of Arminius, (their adopted son,) and his attainments. Beza writes thus, in the name of the Theological College at Geneva:

"Dearest Brother,

"Your letter was some time since delivered to us, in which, both on account of the determination of your church assembly and at the desire of their honours the Magistrates, you ask our opinion of James Arminius, the young man whom you have taken under your patronage. Although we returned an answer to that letter soon after we had received it, yet since in these perilous times that answer may never have reached you, and a favourable opportunity now offering itself for transmitting another copy by a safe courier, we have thought proper to write you a second answer, that no detriment may accrue to the studies of Arminius through our further delay.

"To describe all in a few words, he pleased to take notice, that from the period when Arminius returned from Basle to us at Geneva, both his acquirements in learning and his manner of life have been so approved by us, that we form the highest hopes respecting him, if he proceed in the same course as

his former impetuosity; and his subsequent deportment was so unexceptionable as to afford a proof to every one, that when piety is united with transcendent talents in young people, it becomes their greatest and most distinguished.ornament.t The sons of the principal noble, and honourable

that which he is now pursuing, and in which, we think, by the favour of God, he will continue, For the Lord has conferred on him, among other endowments, a happy genius for clearly perceiving the nature of things and forming a correct judgment upon them, which, if it be hereafter brought under the governance of piety, of which he shews himself most studious, will undoubtedly cause his powerful genius, after it has been matured by years and confirmed by his acquaintance with things, to produce a rich and most abundant harvest. These are our sentiments concerning Arminius, a young man, as far as we have been able to form a judgment of him, in no respect unworthy of your benevolence and liberality."

How mysterious are the ways of Divine Providence! Little did the aged Beza suppose, at the time when he wrote this letter commendatory, that the subject of it, then a mere stripling, would afterwards become the founder of a scriptural system, which would gradually overturn all those frightful theories of fate and restricted grace that Beza had laboured to invent and perfect, with a zeal second only to that of Calvin. Yet such has been the result; and the triumphs of Arminianism are every succeeding year becoming more numerous. It is long since the zealots of Calvinism abandoned the doctrine of reprobation, though always reckoned by the Fathers of that system collateral with election; and it is now their commendable endeavour to soften down some of the other asperities which deform their code, and to suffer their peculiarities to merge into a doctrinal scheme that bears a greater outward resemblance to the pacificatory plan of Baxter than to the rigid scheme of Calvin. ? A similar tribute to the talents and piety of Arminius was tendered, about the same time, by GRYNÆUS :

"GRYNEUS TO ALL PIOUS READERS SENDETH GREETING. "Since we ought to refuse, to no learned and pious man, such testimonials as are worthy of obtaining credit for learning and piety in behalf of those to whom they are granted,-such testimonials are on no account to be denied to JAMES ARMINIUS, of Amsterdam. For he lived in the University of Basle a life of piety, temperance and study; and in our Theological disputations he very often proved to all of us that he possessed the gift of the spirit of discernment, in such a measure as to elicit from us our sincere congratulations. Lectures were likewise lately delivered out of the ordinary course, at the request and by command of the Faculty of Theology; on which occasion he publicly expounded some chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, and excited within us the greatest hopes of his soon becoming qualified to undertake and sustain the province lawfully assigned to him of communicating instruction, with great profit to the Church, provided he continues to stir up the gift of God which is in him.-I commend him therefore to all pious persons, and especially to the Church of God which is collected together in the famous city of Amsterdam; and 1 reverently ask it as a favour, that some regard may be paid to this learned and pious youth, and that he may never be compelled to experience any interruption in his Theological studies which have been happily commenced and continued to the present time. Fare you well. "Basle, 3d Sept. 1583. JOHN JAMES GRYNÆUS,

" Professor of Sacred Literature, and Deacon of the Theological Order, having written these testimonials with my own hand.”

After having had such high commendations bestowed on him, he pursued his studies in Divinity, three years longer, in the University of Geneva, and sedulously applied himself to obtain a deeper and more accurate acquaintance with the sacred writings.