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It is needless to give an account of his descendants, or their prosperous or adverse fortunes: they are noticed at length by Burigni. In Mr. Boswell's Life of Johnson, mention is made of one who was then in a state of want. Dr. Johnson, in a letter to Dr. Vyse, "requests him to recommend, an old friend, to his grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. His name," says the Doctor, "is De Groot.
"The Count d'Estrades has given us," says Burigni, "some anecdotes on this subject, which we shall relate on his authority. He assures us, that, being one day tête a tête with Prince Henry Frederick in his coach, he heard him say, that he had much to do to keep well with his brother Maurice, who suspected him of secretly favouring Barneveldt and the Arminians.
Burigni has collected, in the last chapter of his Life of Grotius, a multitude of passages, which shew his gradual leaning to the Roman Catholic faith. He produces several passages from his works, which prove,
"Perhaps, by writing to reconcile such as entertain very opposite sentiments, I shall," says Grotius, "offend both parties: but, if that should so happen, I shall comfort myself with the example of him, who said, If I please men, I am not the servant of Christ." "Grotius," says Burigni, "content with gratifying his pacific desires, expected his reward from posterity.
Burigni informs us that Grotius had a very agreeable person, a good complexion, an aquiline nose, sparkling eyes, a serene and smiling countenance; that he was not tall, but very strong, and well built. The engraving of him prefixed to the Hugonis Grotii Manes answers this description.
He received the notification of it with great firmness; he inquired whether Grotius and Hoogerbetz were to suffer: being answered in the negative, he expressed much satisfaction, observing that "they were of an age to be still able to serve the republic." "The scaffold for his execution," says Burigni, "was erected in the Court of the Castle at the Hague, facing the Prince of Orange's apartments.
He himself acknowledged that, in the ardour of his literary pursuits, he often forgot his calamities, and that the hours passed unheeded, if not in joy, at least without pain. His Edition of Stobæus. Being ourselves unacquainted with this work, we cannot do better than present our readers with the account given of it by Burigni.
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