ther
Simon_, the oratorian, the father of the modern biblical school. Against
both Simon and Grotius, Bossuet wielded his powerful lance,--in his
"Pastoral Instruction on the Works of Father Simon," and his
"Dissertations upon Grotius." In these works he says that, during thirty
years,

"Grotius searched for truth in good faith, and at last was so near
it, that it is wonderful that he did not take the last step, to
which God called him. Shocked at Calvin's harsh doctrines, he
embraced Arminianism; then, abandoned it. More a lawyer than a
theologian, more a polite scholar than a philosopher, he throws the
doctrine of the immortality of the soul into obscurity. He
endeavours to weaken and steal from the church, her most powerful
proofs of the divinity of the Son of God, and strives to darken the
prophecies, which announce the arrival of the Messiah."

Bossuet proceeds to particularize some of the principal errors of
Grotius: Le Clerc replied to the prelate's criticism, by his _Sentimens
de quelques Theologiens de la Hollande_.--Grotius had also an able
advocate in Father Simon. His defence of Grotius against the charge of
_semi-Pelagianism_, in the _Bibliotheque de Sainjore_,[039] appears to
be satisfactory. He cites the note of Grotius, on the Acts of the
Apostles, (the celebrated ch. xiii. ver. 38), in which he says expressly
that he does not exclude preventive grace: this the semi-Pelagians
denied altogether. But in his defence of Grotius against the charge of
_Socinianism_, he is not equally successful. Bossuet sent his _Pastoral
Instruction_, and _Dissertations upon Grotius_, to the bishop of
Frejus, afterward Cardinal de Fleury: he accompanied them by a letter,
which closes with these remarkable words:

"The spirit of incredulity gains ground in the world every day: you
have often heard me make this remark. It is now worse than ever, as
the Gospel itself is used for the corruption of religion. I thank
God that at my age he blesses me with sufficient strength to resist
the torrent."

[Sidenote: CHAP. X. 1621--1634.]

Dom. Calmet[040] calls Grotius,

"one of the most able and moderate Protestant writers: one who
spreads throughout his notes a pleasing profusion of profane
literature, which causes his works to be sought for and read by
those, who have taste for that kind of literature. His high
reputation, great erudition, and rare mode