In the discharge of his embassy, Grotius had to sustain other unpleasantnesses.  His pension was not regularly paid:  this often subjected him to great inconveniences.  He had disputes respecting rank and ceremonial, both with the French ministry and the ambassadors of other states.  It must surprise an English reader to find, that Grotius questioned the right of the English ambassador to precedence over him:  the French court often played one ambassador, against the other.

[Sidenote:  Embassy of Grotius to the Court of France.]

In the midst of these troubles, Grotius preserved the serenity of his mind; and his attachment to sacred and profane literature.  He cultivated the acquaintance of the learned and the good, of every communion; and possessed their esteem and regard.  His conduct as ambassador was always approved by the Chancellor Oxenstiern, while he lived, and after his decease, by his son and successor in his office.  The Queen of Sweden was equally favourable to Grotius; but she unadvisedly took an adventurer into her confidence, and sent him, in an ambiguous character, to Paris.  This disgusted Grotius:  and age and infirmities now thickened upon him.  He applied to the Queen for his recall.  She granted it in the most flattering terms, and desired him to repair immediately to Stockholm, to receive, from her, distinguished marks of her favour.  She wrote to the Queen of France, a letter, in which she expressed herself in a manner highly honourable to Grotius:  she acknowledged her obligations to him and protested that she never would forget them.  This was towards the month of March 1645.

[Sidenote:  CHAP.  XI. 1634-1645.]

About three years after this event, the war of thirty years was concluded by the peace of Westphalia.  France and the Protestant princes of Europe dictated the terms:  the Swedes were indemnified for their charges of the war, by Pomerania, Steten, Rugen, Wismar and Verden:  the house of Brandenburgh obtained Magdeburgh, Halberstad, Minden and Camin; Alsace was conquered, and retained by France; Lusatia, was ceded to Saxony.  The history of the treaty of Westphalia has been ably written by Father Bougeant, a French Jesuit:  some critics have pronounced it the best historical work in the French language.  Till the late revolution of France, it was the breviary of all French aspirants to political distinction.

CHAPTER XII.

THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF GROTIUS:—­SOME OTHER OF HIS WORKS.

1. Subsequent History of Arminianism. 2. Grotius’s Religious Sentiments. 3. His Projects of Religious Pacification.

XII. 1.

Subsequent History of Arminianism.