It was, in some measure, corrected by _Patru_ and _Le
Maitre_; but it did not reach its best state, till the end of the reign
of Lewis XIV. The rhetorical march and laboured amplifications allowed
at the French bar, are offensive to English ears. Has any nation
produced a more perfect style of forensic or judicial eloquence, than
that of _Sir William Grant_? The wisdom and justice of _Lord Stowell's_
decisions, and the admirable arguments by which he explains or
illustrates them, are known and acknowledged by every Court.
[Sidenote: CHAP. IX. 1621--1634]
Grotius's love of his native country continued unabated; all his views,
all his hopes, were directed thither. With these feelings he wrote his
_Apology_. He composed it in the Dutch language, and translated it
afterwards into Latin: it was published in 1622. He dedicated it to the
people of Holland and West Friesland. It is divided into twenty
chapters; in the first, he argues the important point, that each of the
United Provinces is sovereign and independent of the States General, and
that the authority of these is confined to the defence of the provinces
against their enemies.
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