BUXTORF. 



BYNKBRSHOEK, CORNELIUS VAN. 



IMt 



h WM xralotu and persevering, reiterating hi* attack* till hii object 

 was ntlalrmd or found to be fl-iMHnnH- He gave a liberal support 

 to man; benevolent aud philanthropic institution*, particularly to those 

 io the vicinity of hit residence, and in Spitalfields, the locality of his 



(.Vemoin of Sir Tkomai PovtU Burton, Bart., edited by his wo, 

 Charles lluxlon, Kq., 1S4S.) 



l.rXTOUK, a family celebrated for it* attainments in Hebrew 

 literature. 



JOHX BuxTpnr was born on Christmas-day 1501 at Camen in West- 

 phalia, of which place his father wai Calvinist minister. He was 

 educated at Marburg and Herborn under Piscator, and afterwards 

 received instructions at Basel and Geneva from Grynieus and Theodore 

 Beta. He occupied the Hebrew chair at Busel for thirty-eight years 

 of his life, and so attached was he to that university that he declined 

 many advantageous offers of a similar occupation both at Saumur and 

 at Leydeo. Besides maintaining a large correspondence with all who 

 were skilled ill the leading object of bis research, he lodged and sup- 

 ported in his house many learned Jews, with whom he familiarly 

 conversed during his leisure hours respecting their language. He died 

 September IStb, 1629, after having published, besides many separate 

 tract*, more than one grammar and lexicon of the Hebrew and Chaldee 

 tongues, a ' Concordance,' and a ' Hebrew Bible ' with the notes of the 

 Rabbins. 



JOHN BUXTORF, the younger, son of the preceding, was born at Basel, 

 August 13th, 1599, and exhibited precocity so remarkable that In his 

 fourth year it is said that he understood German, Latin, and Hebrew, 

 a statement doubtless greatly exaggerated. After cultivating Hebrew 

 in France, Germany, and Italy, he succeeded his father at Basel in 1630, 

 where he died, August 16th, 1664. Besides collecting, augmenting, and 

 i ditiin: many of his father's works, he waa the author of several original 

 treatises on Hebrew literature. 



JOHX JAMES, son of the preceding, like hU father and grandfather, wag 

 professor of Hebrew at Basel, where he was born September 4th 1645, 

 and died April 1st 1704. He travelled in Holland, France, and England, 

 and was received everywhere with honour, especially at Cambridge. 

 He printed nothing in his lifetime but a preface to his grandfather's 

 work entitled ' Tiberias,' which is on historical and critical vindication 

 of the Masorethic points, the origin of which he assigns to Esdras; 

 but he left behind him many manuscripts connected with Rabbinical 

 literature. Another JOHN, nephew to the above, was also professor of 

 the Oriental languages at Basel, and died in 1733, leaving a sou to 

 distinguish himself by similar learning. 



The works of the Buxtorfs greatly advanced the progress of Hebrew 

 literature, and the depth of their learning has never been disputed. 

 By the Romanists in general they have been regarded as too much 

 addicted to Rabbinical fancies, and in the controversy respecting the 

 Hebrew points, their espousal of them has been a frequent object of 

 attack. 



i;VXQ, GEORGE, VISCOUNT TORRINQTON, was the eldest 

 son of John Byng, Esq., of Wrotham in Kent, and wag born in 

 1603. He entered as a volunteer in the navy at fifteen years of 

 agf. From 1681 to 1684 be was engaged as a cadet in the laud 

 service with the garrison of Taugiers, where he received promotion 

 first as ensign, afterwards as lieutenant. In the following year, while 

 acting as lieutenant on board the ' Phoenix ' in the East Indies, he was 

 <l|KTtely wounded in an action with a Zingaueae pirate. In 1688 he 

 was particularly active in attaching the fleet to tbe interests of the 

 Prince of Orange, and he afterwards served with distinction under Sir 

 Q. Rooke and Admiral Russell. In 1 706 he waa. commissioned vice- 

 admiral of the red, and returned member of parliament for Plymouth, 

 which borough he represented till be was created a peer in 1721. His 

 services obtained for him tbe dignity of baronet in 1715. In 1718 he 

 totally defeated a Spanish fleet off Messina, and he was finally rewarded 

 with some of tbe highest professional honours, as Rear-Admiral of 

 England and treasurer of the navy ; he was also made a member of 

 the I'rivy Council, Baron Byng of Southhill in the county of Bedford, 

 Viscount Torrington in Devonshire, knight of the Bath, and first lord 

 of tbe Admiralty, in which exalted station he died on January 17, 

 1732-33. 



BYNO, JOHX, fourth son of the preceding, by Mary, daughter of 

 James Master, Esq., of Eot Langdou in the county of Kent, waa born 

 in 1704, and entered early into his father's profession, in which he 

 made the usual progress through subordinate stations. In 1756 he 

 was appointed to command a squadron of ten ships of the line in the 

 Mediterranean, destined for the relief of Minorca, at that time menaced 

 by the French, and hoisted his flag accordingly on board the Hamilics. 

 His equipments were inadequate to the service required, and on touching 

 at Gibraltar to take in provisions aud to refit, he learned that not less 

 than twelve sail of tbe line, numerous frigates, and a large flotilla of 

 transports from Toulon, had already landed 19,000 men in Minorca, 

 and that the whole of the island, excepting Fort St Philippe, was 

 reduced. A council of war declared, on the unanimous authority of 

 officer* well acquainted with the island, that relief under these circum- 

 stances wu impossible. Nevertheless Byng proceeded, and made an 

 unsuccessful attempt to establish a communication with the garrison 

 by his frigates. An engagement with the French squadron under the 

 Marquis de la Galinsonicre ensued, and the fleets separated after an 



indecisive action in which Byng took little part. The clamour raised 

 at home was directed as much against the ministry, who bad neglected 

 to fit out tbe fleet properly, as against the admiral, who had fought 

 languidly ; but the cabinet resolved to sacrifice Byng in the hope of 

 curing their own reputation. Such an object waa assisted by I 

 professional unpopularity: his habits were austere; he was u 

 disciplinarian ; and he had no brilliant former service to urge in his 

 favour. He wu accordingly superseded, and brought to a court-martial. 

 It appeared from the evidence that he had not been anxious to engage, 

 but ample testimony was borne to his courage. In his defence be 

 inveighed against the policy of the enterprise, showed the little chance 

 of victory which the crippled state of his ships permitted him to 

 entertain, and the calamitous results which must have followed defeat. 

 After a long trial he was found guilty of not having done his utmost, 

 sentenced to be shot, but unanimously recommended as a proper object 

 of mercy. Yet despite the recommendation of his judges, and the nmiiy 

 representations in his favour, the sentence was executed at Port- 

 on March 17, 1757. Byng met his fate with calmness and fortitude; 

 and posterity has done justice to his memory. 



KY X KERSHOEK, CORNELIUS VAN, was born at Middelburg, in 

 Zealand, on the 29th of May, 1073. His father, who was a merchant, 

 paid great attention to his education. He was sent when about seven- 

 teen years of age to the university of Franeker, at that time a seat of 

 learning of considerable reputation, where after two years' study ha 

 began to apply himself sedulously to jurisprudence, and in tbe course 

 of the two following years wrote three disputations, which g.iined him 

 great credit by the erudition and judgment displayed in them. After 

 taking the degree of Doctor in the year 1694, ho went to practise as 

 an advocate at tbe Hague, where was held tbe supreme court of justice 

 for the provinces of Holland, Zealand, and West Frieslaud. 



In 1703 he waa elected by the states-general a member of the 

 Supreme Court As such he was called upon to administer the com- 

 mon law of his own country, which, as he describes it, besides being 

 grossly defective, was vague, uncertain, and obscure. Bynkershoek 

 eaw aud pointed out the necessity of having some fixed standard to 

 appeal to. He had always admired the Hainan law for its manly 

 simplicity, and valued it highly as furnishing the soundest pn 

 of legal decision. Having now a practical object in view, he pursued 

 his studies with greater ardour. About 1710 he published his first 

 work of any great importance, the ' Observations Juris liomaui,' 

 consisting, as its title imports, of a collection of detached dissertations 

 and criticisms. In 171U appeared under the title of ' Opuscula varii 

 Argument!,' a collection of treatises, which he had written at ditleivnt 

 times. One of these, which he had before published in 1695, Boon 

 after his coming to the Hague, contained the substance of his three 

 academical disputations. On the 26th of Hay 1724 he was appointed 

 by the states-general president of the supreme court : but the activity 

 of his intellt ct was not slackened by promotion, nor confined to the 

 practical duties of his office. He published in 1730 another collection 

 of treatise*, under tbe title of ' Opera Minora,' all of which h.. 1 

 viously appeared separately at various times between I'U'T and ]~1>1. 



In 1733 appeared four more books of ' Observationcs Juris Roiuani,' 

 written in continuation of the former work of tbe same name, which 

 be hod published more than twenty-two years before. About ih>- 

 Eauie time he retired from the bench, of which he had been forty 

 yean a member. His retirement however was not a period of indo- 

 lence. "Having now more leisure tbon formerly, I will do my 

 utmost," he says, " to render a good account of it to the world." His 

 labours were however henceforth turned into a different channel He 

 gave up the study of the Human law, and applied himself for tbe last 

 years of his life to the task of laying before the world the learning 

 which in the course of his study and his practice he had acquit 

 two very important subjects international law, and the law of his 

 own country. On tbe former of these he had already written two 

 treatises, which are printed among his 'Opera Minors.' The one, 

 ' Do Domiuio Maris,' which originally appeared in 1702, as an appendix 

 to another dissertation, has always been appealed to with respect on 

 a difficult and still disputed question. Thu other, ' De foro Legato- 

 rum Competent!,' was first published in 1721, and was soon after 

 translated into French, by Barheync. In 1737 he produced a more 

 important work, ' Qunestioues Juris Public!,' in two books ; the first 

 of which treats of war and peace, and the second is on miscellaneous 

 subjects. The ' Quoostiones Juris Publici,' as well as the treatise ' Do 

 foro Legatorum,' though founded too exclusively on Dutch authorities, 

 and written with too exclusive a reference to Dutch institutions, so 

 that they appear to treat rather of the public law of Holland than of 

 international law in general, have nevertheless been regarded by the 

 publicist* of all nations as works of the highest authority and most 

 universal application. 



Tho next and hut labour undertaken by Bynkershoek was on tbe 

 laws of hU own country, ' Quxstionea Juris Privati,' He did not 

 live to complete the work, but as much of it as was prepared for 

 publication at the time of his death appeared soon afterwards. 



Besides bis published works, Uynki-rshoek had employed himself 

 during the whole of his professional lifo in the execution of two very 

 laborious undertakings. One of these, which he called 'Obserra- 

 tioue.s Turnultuaruc,' consisted of notes which ho bad taken of the 

 decisions and proceedings of the supreme court. The other, a work. 



