pices of the most illustrious the Prince of Orange. As soon as Arminius had heard, in Hessia, of its completion, and that it had been opened for the reception of students, he instantly began to make active preparations for returning to the land of his birth. In consequence of this resolution, he came to Rotterdam, which was then a place of refuge for the few that had escaped from the destruction at Oudewater, "The scattered remnant who from pitiless Achilles and the Grecians fled," and a resort for many of the faithful who were exiles from Amsterdam.+ At that period, my excellent father, Peter Bertius, discharged the duties of the pastoral office to the Church of Christ in Rotterdam; and John Taffinus was at the same time French preacher to the Prince and one of his Council: Both of them were wonderfully pleased with the fine disposition of young Arminius, with his sprightliness, prompt and ready wit, and his great genius. My father had not entered on the study of the Latin language till after he had attained to the age of thirty years: Being himself a student from that advanced period of life, he readily acceded to the wishes of the friends of Arminius, who had requested that the youth might be received into my father's house, where he This University was founded on the 6th of February, 1575, by WILLIAM I., the Prince of Orange, as a reward for the courage and constancy displayed by the inhabitants of Leyden. This city had early in the preceding year been invested by the Spanish troops, who were compelled to raise the siege by the opportune arrival of a great body of mariners from Zealand, who, on their march into Holland, decorated their hats with silver crescents, on which was inscribed the significant sentence, RATHER TURKS THAN PAPISTS!-The first Divinity Lectures in this University, were delivered by Jasper KOOLHAES, a m'nister of the city, who acted as locum tenens till the arrival of William FEUGUEREUS, the first Professor of Divinity. The persecuted Arminians after wards remembered with gratitude, that this amiable man published, in the year 1570, a small tract, which he dedicated to the Prince of Orange, in whose commendation he declared, that, "in propagating the Reformed Religion, the Prince had neither employed all kinds of men nor all kinds of measures; but believing that religion ought to be planted and cultivated, he adopted such methods for this purpose as were neither destructive to the country nor injurious to religion itself; for he was convinced, that on the subject of religion men may be drawn, but not driven." + Amsterdam had then been for some years in the hands of the Duke of Alva, a name celebrated in the Low Countries only for cruelty. Several of the other cities and towns in Holland had broken the yoke of the proud conquerors and regained their freedom; but Amsterdam was doomed still louger to endure the iron rod of tyranny. All the principal Protestants had fled to places of safety; some to Rotterdam, at that time in the hands of the Prince of Orange, and others to Embden. The Duke of Alva cited many of the Refugees to return, but without effect; and subsequently banished many more of their Protestant brethren. Some conception may be formed of the persecutions which these pious sufferers were called to endure in a righteous cause, from the narrative given in Appendix 1. 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 Palæmon, 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 uoble 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 city, 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 handwriting, 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, in 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 he received the greatest tokens of ill-will from the Professor of Philosophy, who was by birth a Spaniard and a violent champion for the Aristotelian system. It was by the efforts 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 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 |