, professor of Arabic at Leyden, descended from a considerable family in
, professor of Arabic at Leyden, descended from a considerable family in that city, was born
at the Hague, in 1596. At Leyden he made himself
master of all the learned languages, and proceeded to
physic, divinity, and the mathematics. His education
being finished, he took a journey to France with the
duchess de la Tremouille; and was invited to teach the
Greek language at Rochelle, which he continued to do,
until that city was in the following year reduced again to
the dominion of the French king, after which he resolved
to return to Holland. He had early taken a liking to Erpenius, the Arabic professor at Leyden; by the help of
whose lectures he made a great progress in the Arabic
tongue, and having in 1622 an opportunity of attending
the Dutch ambassador to the court of Morocco, he consulted with Erpenius, who directed him to observe carefully every production, either of nature, art, or custom,
which were unknown in Europe; and to describe them,
setting down the proper name of each, and the derivation
of it, if known. He also gave him a letter directed to that
prince, together with a present of a grand atlas, and a
New Testament in Arabic. These procured him a very
gracious reception from Muley Zidan, then king of Morocco, who expressed great satisfaction in the present, and
afterwards read them frequently.
In the mean time Golius made so good use of Erpenius’ s
advice, that tie attained a perfect skill in the Arabic
tongue; and in indulging his curiosity respecting the
customs and learning of that country, contrived to make
himself very agreeable to the doctors and courtiers. By
this means he became particularly serviceable to the ambassador, who growing uneasy because his affairs were not
dispatched, was advised to present to his majesty a petition
written by Golius in the Arabic character and language,
and in the Christian style, both circumstances rather novel
in that country. The king was astonished at the beauty of
the petition, both as to writing and style; and having
learned from the ambassador that it was done by Golius,
desired to see him. At the audience, the king spoke to
him in Arabic, and Golius said in Spanish, that he understood his majesty very well, but could not keep up a conversation in Arabic, by reason of its guttural pronunciation,
to'which his throat was not sufficiently inured. This excuse was accepted by the king, who granted the ambassador’s request, and dispatched him immediately. Before
his departure, Golius had an opportunity of examining the
curiosities of Fez, and took a plan of the royal palace,
which was afterwards communicated to Mr. Windus, and
inserted in his “Journey to Mequinez,
” The Annals of the Ancient
Kingdom of Fez and Morocco,
” which he resolved to
translate. He communicated every thing to Erpenius,
who well knew the value of them, but did not live long
enough to enjoy the treasure; that professor dying in Nov.
1624, after recommending this his best beloved scholar to the
curators of the university for his successor. The request
was complied with, and Golius saw himself immediately
in the Arabic chair, which he filled so ably as to lessen
their sense of the loss of Erpenius. Being, however, still
desirous of cultivating oriental languages and antiquities,
he applied to his superiors for leave to take a journey to
the Levant; and obtained letters patent from the prince of
Orange, dated Nov. 25, 1625. He set out immediately
for Aleppo, where he continued fifteen months; after
which, making excursions into Arabia, towards Mesopotamia, he went by land to Constantinople, in company
with Cornelius Hago, ambassador from Holland to the
Porte. Here the governor of the coast of Propontis gave
him the use of his pleasant gardens and curious library in
which retirement he applied himself wholly to the reading
of the Arabic historians and geographers, whose writings
were till then either unknown to, or had not been perused
by him. Upon his return to the city, discovering occasionally in conversation with the great men there a prodigious memory of what he had read, he excited such admiration, that a principal officer of the empire made him an
offer of a commission from the grand signor to take a survey of the whole empire, in order to describe the situation
of places with more exactness than was done in such maps
as they then had; but he pretended that this would interfere with the oath which he had taken to the States,
although his real fear arose from the danger of such an
undertaking. In this place also he found his skill in physic
of infinite service in procuring him the favour and respect
of the grandees; from whom, as he would take no fees, he
received many valuable and rich presents, and every liberal
offer to induce him to settle among them. But after a residence of four years, having in a great measure satisfied
his thirst of eastern learning, and made himself master of
the Turkish, Persian, and Arabic tongues, he returned in
1629, laden with curious Mss. which have ever since been
valued among the richest treasures of the university library
at Leyden. As soon as he was settled at home, he began
to think of making the best use of some of these manuscripts
by communicating them to the public; but first printed an
“Arabic Lexicon,
” Erpenius’s Grammar, enlarged with notes and additions;
”
to which also he subjoined several pieces of poetry, extracted from the Arabian writers, particularly Tograi and
Ababella. One purpose on which he employed his knowledge and influence cannot be too highly commended. He
had been an eye-witness of the wretched state of Christianity in the Mahometan countries, and with the compassion of a Christian, resolved, therefore, to make his
tfkill in their language serviceable to them. With this
laudable view he procured an edition of the “New Testament
” in the original language, with a translation into
the vulgar Greek by an Archimandrite, which he prevailed
with the States to present to the Greek church, groaning
under the Mahometan tyranny; and, as some of these
Christians use the Arabic tongm? in divine service, he took
care to have dispersed among them an Arabic translation
of the confession of the reformed protestants, together
with the catechism and liturgy .
ly he went to Holland in 1635, and having attended for some time the lectures of Goliusj the learned professor of Arabic at Leyden, he proceeded to Paris, where he conversed
At this time he had not only read the writings of Copernicus, Regiomoritanus, Purbach, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler, with other celebrated astronomers of that and the preceding age, but had made 1 the ancient Greek, Arabian, and Persian authors familiar to him, having before gained an accurate skill in the oriental languages; but the acquisitions he had already made serving to create a thirst for more, he determined to travel for farther improvement. Accordingly he went to Holland in 1635, and having attended for some time the lectures of Goliusj the learned professor of Arabic at Leyden, he proceeded to Paris, where he conversed with the celebrated Claudius Hardy, about the Persian language; but finding very scanty aid in that country, he continued his journey to Rome, in order to view the antiquities of that cily. He also visited other parts of Italy; and before his departure, meeting with the earl of Arundel, was offered 200l. a year to live with his lordship, and attend him as a companion in his travels to Greece; the earl also promising every other act of friendship that might lie in his power. A proposal so advantageous would have been eagerly accepted by Mr. Greaves, but he had now projected a voyage to Egypt, and was About to return to England, in order to furnish himself with every thing proper to complete the execution of his design.