:[050]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

_That_ the Jesuits were learned men and good subjects. "I know many of
them," he says, in one of his writings against Rivetus, "who are very
desirous to see abuses abolished, and the church restored to its
primitive unity."--We shall hereafter see that Father Petau, an
illustrious member of the society, possessed the confidence of
Grotius:[051]

_That_, Grotius looked upon the abolition of episcopacy and of a visible
head of the church, as something very monstrous:[052]

_That_, he acknowledged that some change was made in the eucharistic
bread; that, when Jesus Christ, being sacramentally present, favours us
with his substance,--as the Council of Trent expresses its doctrine on
the Eucharist,--the appearances of bread and wine remain, and in their
place succeed the body and blood of Christ: [053]

[Sidenote: XII. 2. Grotius's Religious Sentiments.]

_That_, Grotius did not approve of the sentiments of the Calvinists
concerning the Eucharist, and reproached them with their contradiction.

"You will hear them state in their confessions," says Grotius,
"that they really, substantially and essentially partake of
Christ's body and his blood; but, in their disputes, they maintain
that Christ is received only spiritually, by faith. The antients
go much further: they admit a real incorporation of Jesus Christ
with us, and the reality of Christ's body, as Saint Hilarius
speaks."

It must however be remarked that, although Grotius thought that the term
_Transubstantiation_ adopted by the council of Trent, was capable of a
good interpretation, it is not clear, what was his precise opinion
respecting the Eucharist. He proposed the following formulary:

"We believe that, in the use of the supper, we truly, really, and
substantially,--that is to say,--in its proper substance,--receive
the true body and the true blood of Jesus Christ, in a spiritual
and ineffable manner: [054]"

_That_, Grotius justified the decision of the Council of Trent,
concerning the number of the sacraments:[055]

_That_, after the year 1640, he took no offence at the use of images in
churches, or at prayers for the dead:[056]

_That_, he thought the bishops of Rome may be in error, but cannot long
remain in it, if they adhere to the universal church;--this seems to
presuppose the church's infallibility:[057]

[Sidenote: CHAP. XII.]

_That_ in the opinion of Grotius;