Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][merged small][merged small]

The UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE for SEPTEMBER, 1796. 153

MEMOIRS of the LIFE and WRITINGS of the celebrated Baron PUFENDORFF: With his Portrait, elegantly engraved by Baker, from an Original Painting by Vander Gucht.

[graphic]

AMUEL PUFENDORFF, a celebrated German writer, was born in the year 1631, at Fleb, a village near Chemnitz, in the margravate of. Meiffen and electorate of Saxony. His father, Elias Pufendorff, was defcended from a Lutheran family, and was the officiating minifter of Fleb. Difcovering in his fon an early attachment to letters, he fent him firft to the provincial fchool at Grimm, and, af. terward, to the univerfity of Leipfick. His own circumftances, indeed, were not equal to the expences of educating his fon at thefe places; but they were defrayed by the munificence of a Saxon nobleman, who had obferved with admiration the promifing talents young Pufendorff. In both thefe feats of literature the afpiring pupil made a furprifing progrefs in his ftudies. His father, intending him for the miniftry, had directed him to de> vote himself principally to the ftudy of theology: but the inclinations of our youthful ftudent were attached to a very different object-the study of the law of nations, and that of the Germanic conftitution, or the knowledge of the rights of the empire over the different fovereignties and ftates of which it is compofed, and of the rights of thofe fovereignties and ftates with refpect to each other. He confidered this ftudy as neceffary, in order to qualify himself, in time, for fome pofts of honour and emolument in one of the courts of Germany; for it is well known, that the feveral princes who compofe the Germanic body have no other minifters of ftate than men of letters, whom they ftyle counfellors, and whofe principal ftudy is that of the Germanic conftitution. He was encouraged, moreover, to afpire to fome fituations of this kind, as no moral proftitution, nor degradation of character, nor any recommendation but that of intrinfic and diftinguish VOL. XCIX,

ed worth, was requifite to obtain them. After a refidence of fome time at Leipfick, he went to the univerfity of Jena, where he united the ftudy of the mathematics, and of the philofophy of Defcartes, to that of the law of nations. In the year 1658, he returned to Leipfick, with a view to obtain fome employment there, worthy of his literary acquifitions. At this time, however, one of his brothers, Ifaac Pufendorff, who was then in the fervice of Charles X, king of Sweden, as chancellor of the duchies of Bremen and Verden, advifed him, in the courfe of their correfpondence, not to fettle in his native foil, but to imitate his example, by feeking his fortune in a foreign country. Purfuant to this advice, Pufendorff accepted the place of governor to the fun of Coyet, a Swedish nobleman, then ambaffador from the king of Sweden to the court of Denmark. He went accordingly to Copenhagen; but the war between the two courts, which had juft been terminated by the treaty of Rofchild, being rekindled foon af ter, he was fuddenly arrefted and con fined, together with the whole family of the ambaffador, who efcaped im prifonment himfelf by being engaged, at that period, in a tour through Swe den.

U

writers. Amufement was his only object, at first, in writing this work; but being at the Hague, about two years afterward, he fhewed the manufcript to a friend, who advised him to revife and publish it. This he did, at the Hague, in 1660, under the title of Elementorum Jurifprudentiæ Univerfalis Libri Duo;' and it gave rife, "in the fequel, to his celebrated work, De Jure Nature & Gentium.' He acquired fuch reputation by this his firft effay,, the Elements of univerfal Jurifprudence, that Charles-Lewis, elector palatine, not only wrote a letter of thanks to him immediately, but invited him to the univerfity of Heidelberg, which he was defirous of restoring to its priftine luftre; and he there founded, in his favour, a profefforship of the law of nature and nations, which was the firft of the kind in Germany; many having been fince established in imitation of it. The elector engaged him alfo to allot fome portion of his time to the inftruction of the electoral prince, his fon. Pufendorff continued at Heidelberg till the year 1670, when Charles XI, king of Sweden, having founded a univerfity at Lunden, fent for him to be profeffor there; and thither, to the great regret of the elector palatine, he went the fame year, and was inftalled profeffor of the law of nature and nations. From this period his reputation greatly increased, not only on account of the fuccefs of his lectures, but of the many valuable works he published. Some years after, the king of Sweden fent for him to Stockholm, and appointed him his hiftoriographer, and one of his counsellors. In 1678, the elector of Brandenburg obtained the permiffion of the king of Sweden, for Fufendorff to refide in Berlin, in order to write the hiftory of Frederic William, the great elector. He granted him the fame titles of hiftoriographer and privy-counsellor which he had in Sweden, with a canfiderable falary. The king of Sweden, moreover, continued to give him marks of his favour, and, in

1694, created him a baron: but he did not enjoy this honour long; for he died, the fame year, at Berlin, of a mortification in one of his toes, occafioned by cutting the nail.

This great and excellent man was as much diftinguished by the purity of his morals and the rectitude of his conduct, as he was by the fuperiority of his talents and the celebrity of his numerous writings. Befide the Elementa Jurifprudentiæ Univerfalis,' already mentioned, he published, in 1667, I. De Statu Germanici Imperii,' under the name of Severini di Mozambano, with a dedication to his brother Ifaac Pufendorff, whom he ftyles Lelio fignor di Trezolani. Pufendorff fent it, the year before, to his brother, then ambaffador from the court of Sweden to that of France, in order to have it printed in that kingdom. His brother offered it to a bookfeller, who fubmitted it to the judgment of Mezeray, the celebrated hiftorian. Mezeray thought it worth printing, yet refufed the formality of his approbation, on account of fome paffages contrary to the interefts of France, and of others in which the priefts and monks were feverely treat, ed. Ifaac Pufendorff, therefore, fent it to Geneva, where it was printed in duodecimo. The defign of the author was to prove, that Germany was a kind of republic, the constituent members of which being ill-proportioned, formed a monstrous whole. It met with great opposition; was condemned, feized, and prohibited in many parts of Germany; and written againit immediately by feveral learned civilians.

It went, however, through many editions, and was tranflated into feveral languages. II. De Jure Nature & Gentium, 4to. This is our author's greatest work; and it has met with univerfal approbation. It is, indeed, a well-digested body of the law of nature and nations, and, in the estimation of many good judges, preferable to Grotius' treatife De Jure Belli & Pacis ;' the fame fubjects being treated by Pufendorff, in a

more extenfive, as well as more methodical manner. It was printed for the first time, in Germa, at Leyden, in 1672. A fecond edition of it appeared, in 1684, at Francfort, aug mented by one fourth. In 1706, it was tranflated into French, by John Barbeyrac, who wrote large notes, and an introductory difcourfe to it. In 1708, it was trailated into English, with Barbeyrac's notes, by Dr. Bafil Kennet, and others. The fourth and fifth editions of the English tranflation have Barbeyrac's Introductory Difcourse, which are not in the three former. It was likewife reprinted in Latin, at Francfort, in 1744, in two volumes, 4to. This work, however, was not without many cenfurers, the moft furious of whom was Nicholas Beckman, his colleague in the univerfity of Lunden. Againt thefe he very ably defended himself in several publications. The reader may find an ample detail of this controversy, and of the violent proceedings it oc

[ocr errors]

cafioned, in the 18th volume of the Memoires du P. Niceron.' III. De Officio Hominis & Civis juxta Legem Naturalem,' 1673, 8vo. This is a very clear and methodical abridge. ment of the great work we have juft mentioned. IV. An Introduction to the Hiftory of Europe, 1682; with a Continuation, 1686; and an Addition, 1699; in High Dutch; afterward tranflated into Latin, French, and English. V. A Hiftory of Sweden, from the Expedition of Guftavus Adolphus into Germany to the Abdi- ' cation of Queen Chriflina; a very exact and curious work, in Latin. VI. The Hiftory of King Charles Guftavus, 2 vol. folio, in Latin; and VII. The History of the Elector Frederick William the Great, two vol, folio, in Latin. He likewife published An Historical Defcription of the Poli tics of the Papal Empire, in German, and a few other works of lefs importance.

A MODEST DEFENCE OF LEGACY-HUNTERS. To the Editor of the Univerfal Magazine.

Sir,

THE

HE poffeffion of riches, however it may be defpifed by philofophers, and railed at by poets, is attended at least with one advantage. If riches cannot procure real friendship, they procure fomething which fo nearly resembles it, as to answer most of the purposes of declining years, namely, respectful attention, watchful folicitude, anticipating kindnefs, and tender compattion. Thefe fenfibilities go a great way to foften the ils of age and decay, and are particularly eminent in a clafs of compaffionate people, known by the name of legacy-hunters.

Legacy-hunters have not been treated with juftice by writers in general; they have been reprefented as meanfpirited, hypocritical, and avaricious; vices fufficient to overwhelm any character, and to put us out of conceit with mankind in general. But I hum

bly prefume, if we confider the real character of legacy-hunters, we fall be able to make great allowances for them, and to place their skill and conduct in a more favourable point of view. My poor abilities may, perhaps, be unequal to the tak; but I have been induced to attempt it, with a view to ferve feveral very worthy perfons of my acquaintance, who have been, or are now purtuing this pofthumous road to riches.

And firit then, fir, let me advance, that legacy-hunters deserve great credit from having overcome the fears of death, even in their nearest relatives. They are not like the giddy and thoughtlefs part of mankind, afraid to look upon affliction, to view the faint glimmering of the lamp of life, or the mortal wound. They do not fly from the fick room to the haunts of pleasure and merriment, nor do they

[ocr errors]

turn off by a laugh the fufferings of the difeafed, or the groans of the dying. No: they look upon thefe ob jects, fo terrifying to the giddy and the gay, with a calm ferenity; they watch the last agony with a tender folicitude, and catch the last figh with anxious expectation. They go to the houfe of mourning rather than to the houfe of mirth, knowing that, in a little time, all tears will be wiped from the'r eyes, and that they fhall rejoice over the happy flate of their dear departed brother, who is gone to a better place, while they are left to ftruggle with the temptations he has left kehind.

Secondly, Sir, legccy-bunters derive great merit from having gained fo complete a maftery over their paffions and affections, as to be able to devote themfelves to the fervice of the aged and infirm, and with Job-like patience, to bear with all their unevennefs of temper, and that peevishinefs which is almoft infeparable from a ftate of fuffering. While others fly from the caprice of old age, and the murmurs of difeafe, they apply every alleviating comfort, pour forth the tender ftrains of fympathy, anticipate the smallest wifhes of the afflicted, and Jeffen his pain by refpectful attention. They seem to feel fo much themselves, as to divert the patient from his fufferings, and he thinks ficknefs rather a bleffing, fince it has called forth fuch tenderness even from thofe of whom he expected fo little, whom he had feen fo feldom, as to be little acquainted with them, and who had come fo many, perhaps, hundreds of miles, purely to watch with, fit up with, and nurfe a poor old, helpless, and dying man.

Thirdly, If it fhould be objected that this is but the fhow of compaffion and not the reality, which I grant in fome cafes may happen, yet we ought to confider that what we take, by this argument, from the fincerity of legacy-hunters, we grant to their genius. Is it an eafy matter for a man of a callous mind, and of a felf

[ocr errors]

ith difpofition, perhaps too of rude. and uncouth manners, all at once to put on the appearance of kindness, compaffion, and difinterested fympathy? To fome, indeed, the old difpofition may appear peeping through this new difguife; but if the afflicted are deceived, if they receive all the comfort from it they could with, if they are foothed and pleased, all the effect of the most fincere compaffion is obtained. There can be no merit in expreffing the pity we feel, because it is impoffible to conceal it, the heart will fwell and the eye be fuffufed with tears; but to exprefs the pity we do not feel, to pay the most tender attentions, without the fmalleft efteem or regard,, to mourn a pang only becaufe it is not the laft, and shed a tear from a dry eye, or heave a figh from a contented bofom, I think, fir, you will allow that this is merit indeed. It fhows that legacy-hunters are the greateft tragedians of the age, and indeed, I have often wondered that fome of any acquaintance have not taken to the ftage as a profeffion. Had they done fo, I fcruple not to fay that the laurels of a Garrick or a Siddons, would have withered, and their reputations have funk before performers of fo much more diftinguished merit in the affumption of the tender paffions.

In the fourth place, fir, the merit of legacy-hunters may be appreciated by the patience which they exercise often for a series of years. I have hitherto confidered them as having gained their point by a short attend. ance on the object of expectation, but fuck occurrences are not frequent. The more common cafe is that they linger out days, months, and years of conftant affiduity and perfevering attention, to be rewarded at laft for all their labours and fufferings. During this period of probation, how many untoward accidents have happened to alarm their fears, and diffipate their hopes! Is it an uncle? He may marry his maid, and blast all their expectations. Is it a maiden aunt? A regiment of dragoons may be quartered

« PreviousContinue »