Ml 



POSTUMU& 



rofr, PERCIVALL. 



M 



of the public life, u being inconsbtent with and indeed destructive of 

 thmt small share of health which I have Mveral year* enjoyrd ; and it 

 will easily be believed that the itudiei I hire been engaged in hare 

 not mended it I therefore considered in what capacity I might prove 

 useful to society ; and accordingly betook myielf to the studious life, 

 experiencing that to be more consonant to my preservation than that 

 of the active and public one." In the previous paragraph he com- 

 plaint of the neglect with which hi* labours bad been rewarded, and 

 " he humbly hope* that some people will be candid and ingenuous 

 enough to think that he ha* a right to be treated upon a footing 

 ^mHtng different from that of an upstart idle achemist or projector, 

 who has never given proof of any talents that might deserve the public 

 regard and attention." This was published in 1757. The appeal doe* 

 not appear to have been responded to either by the government or 

 the public. He died September 13, 1767, suddenly, as he had often 

 wished, and was buried in Old-street churchyard. 



Hi- other works are: 1, 'Considerations on the Revival of the 

 Royal British Asaiento between His Catholic Majesty and the Hon. 

 the S. Sea Company,' 8vo, Lond., 1749 ; 2, ' The Merchants' Public 

 Connting-Hoiue,' 4to, Lond., 1760 ; 3, ' The Universal Dictionary of 

 Trade and Commerce, translated from the French of Savory, with 

 additions,' Ac., 2 vol*. foL, Lond., 1751-56, last edition 1774; 4, 'A 

 Short State of the Progress of the French Trade and Navigation,' 

 8vo, Lond., 1756; 5, ' Britain's Commercial Interest explained and 

 improved,' 3 vol*. 8vo, Lond., 1757 ; 6, ' The Importance of the African 

 Expedition considered,' 8vo, Lond., 1758; 7, 'The History of the 

 Public Revenue, from the Revolution in 1688 to Christmas 1753,' foL, 

 Lond , 1759. This last is by James Postlethwayt, probably the brother 

 of Malachi, though it U attributed to the latter by Watt in his 

 'Bibliotheca Britannica.' 



PO'STUMUS, a native of Oaul, distinguished himself in the Roman 

 service, and was appointed by Valerianus governor of the Hauls. 

 Under the weak reign of Gallienus he was saluted emperor by the 

 troop* in that part of the empire. Postumus ruled Qaul for ten years 

 with great ability and moderation, says Eutropius : he repulsed the 

 Germans, who had invaded the country, and restored peace ; but be 

 was at last killed in a mutiny of the soldiers headed by one Lollianus, 

 because he would not allow them to plunder Moguntiacum (Mainz), 

 which had revolted against him. He was succeeded in the command 

 of Oaul by Victorious, who was killed also two years after. 



Coin of Poetumus. 

 British Mufeum. Actual tiie. 



POTEMKI'N, GREGORY ALEXANDROVICH, PRINCE, born 

 near Smolensk of a noble though poor family, entered the army at 

 the age of eighteen, and obtained a cornetcy in the Russian guards. 

 When the revolution took place at St. Petersburg in 1762, by which 

 Peter III. wag dethroned and his wife Catbariua proclaimed empress, 

 Potemkin took the part of Catharina, and was very active in bringing 

 bis regiment over to her cause. He was duly noticed by Catharma, 

 and after some time he became her favourite. But be had better 

 claims to favour than mere personal attractions, for he had great 

 natural abilities, little principle, and great presence of mind : the 

 empress conceived an esteem for him, which survived tho loss of her 

 affection. Unlike her other favourites, Potemkin, when no longer her 

 personal favourite, continued to be the confidential minister of his 

 sovereign, and was for many years the most influential man in Russia. 

 Hi* views were turned towards tlie south, and be encouraged Cittharina 

 to extend her dominions in the direction of Turkey. He was a main 

 promoter of the war against the Porte iu 1771-72, in which the Crimea 

 and Kuban were diamembered from the Ottoman empire, and by 

 which Russia acquired a footing on the coast of the Euxine. He was 

 afterward* tbe means of inducing Heraclius, czar or prince of Georgia, 

 to do homage to the empress, and receive a Russian garrison at Titlis. 

 He also induced Solomon, the sultan of Imiretia, to do the lame. 

 Lastly, he took advantage of a dispute with the khan of the Crimea, 

 who had been acknowledged a* an independent sovereign, to reduce 

 that fine province under the subjection of Russia in the years 1784-85. 

 The countries dismembered from the Ottoman empire were formed 

 into a Ruwian government, which received the classical name of 

 Tauris. or Taurida ; and Catharina bestowed upon Potemkin for liis 

 services, both military and diplomatic, the surname of Tauriaachetky. 

 Conformably to this name, the magnificent palace which Cathariua had 

 built for him at St. Petersburg was styled tbe Taurian or Taurida 

 palace. 



In 1787, war having broken out again between the Porte and Russia, 

 Potemkin was made commiuider-iu-chief of the Russian armies, with 

 several experienced general* under his orders, among whom was 

 Suwarrow. In 1788 Oczakow was taken by the Russians, and Ismael 

 iu the following year. The Russian* occupied Moldavia, Bessarabia, 



Wallachia, and part of Bulgaria. In 1791 Potemkin left the army, 

 and returned to St. Petersburg to enjoy his triumph*. He gave a 

 magnificent entertainment to the empress and her court in the Taurida 

 palace, which U well described by Tooko and tho other historians of 

 C'ttharina. Shortly after, Potemkin quitted St. Petersburg to return 

 to the army. He attended the congress of Jaasy in 1792, but the 

 negociations had already begun, and were carried on between Prinoe 

 Repnin and the grand-vizir. Potemkin fell ill at Jassy of an epidemic 

 which was raging at that time. When Catharina heard of it she sent 

 two of her first physicians to attend on him ; but he would pay no 

 attention to their advice, and indulged even more than usual in hi* 

 intemperate manner of living. His disease gaining ground, he thought 

 of removing from Jassy to NicolaiefT, a town which lie had built at the 

 confluence of the Yekol with tbe Bog ; but he had scarcely travelled 

 ten miles when he felt himself dying. He was taken out of his 

 carriage, and laid down on the grass by the road-aide under a tree, 

 where he expired in the arms of his niece, the Princess Branicka, in 

 October 1792, at fifty-two year* of age. His remains were moved to 

 Kherson, where a mausoleum was raised to him by order of Catharina. 

 At the time of his death Potemkin was field-marshal of Russia, chief 

 general of the cavalry, great-adinirni of tbe Euxino and Caspian sea*, 

 governor-general of Taurida and Ekatorinoslaf, master of the ordnance, 

 inspector-general of the army, grand-hetman of the Cossaks, adjutant- 

 general and chamberlain to the empress, colonel of several regiment*, 

 and knight of many orders. 



POTHI'ER, ROBERT JOSEPH, was born at Orleans in 1699. 

 Having studied in his native town, and adopted the profession of tbe 

 law, he was made conseiller au chatelet (court) of Orleans, aud waa 

 afterwards appointed professor of French law iu the university of that 

 city. He was an intimate friend of the chancellor D'Agueeseau, and he 

 is considered one of the most distinguished civilians that France has 

 produced. Pothier wrote many professional works, but he chiefly 

 devoted his labours to extend the study of the Roman law. With 

 this view he published his edition of tho ' Digest*,' which is entitled 

 ' I 'underlie Justiniamc in Novuin Ordinom Digestic; cum Legibus 

 Codicis et Novell!* qua) Jus Pandectarum continuant, explicant, aut 

 abrogant,' 3 vol.*., foL, Paris, 1748-52. The work contains an intro- 

 duction on the history of the Roman law, a Commentary on the laws 

 of the Twelve Tables aud on Hadrian's perpetual Edict, and is accom- 

 panied by notes and tables of contents. After 1'othier's death, his 

 friend Guyot published a new edition of his ' Pandects,' in which he 

 inserted many corrections and additions that 1'otliier had made in 

 manuscript on a copy of the former edition, and also a biographical 

 notice of Pothier, 3 vols,, fol., Lyon, 1782. Other editions of Pothier'* 

 ' Pandects ' have since appeared ; among which there ia one with a 

 French translation by Breard Neuville and Moreau de Moutolin, 

 Paris, 1810. 



Pothier was the author of numerous treatises on various branches 

 of law : ' Traite" du Contrat de Manage ; ' ' Trait<S des Control* Alea- 

 toires;' 'Du Contrat de Vente;' 'Du Contrat de Change et Billets 

 de Commerce ; ' ' Du Contrat de Louage ; ' ' Du Contrat de Louage 

 Maritime et du Contrat de Socie'to' ; ' ' Trains des Obligations,' which 

 has been translated into English, with the following title, ' A Treatise 

 on the Law of Obligations or Contracts, translated from the French 

 by W. D. Evans,' 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1800; ' TraitiS du Domaine de 

 Proprie'to', do la Possession, et de la Prescription.' These and other 

 treatises of Pothier have been collected in one work under the title 

 ' Traitos sur Differentes Mati6ras de Droit Civil applique's* a 1' Usage 

 du Barreau et de la Jurisprudence Francaise,' 4 vols. 4to, Orleans, 1781. 



The compilers of the New French Civil Code under Napoleon L 

 made great use of Pothier's treatises, as is shown in a useful work by 

 M. Ledru, a French civilian, entitled ' Les Pothier des Notairen, ou 

 Abre'ge' de ses divers Traitcs, avec 1'Indication de ceux des Articles 

 du Code Civil dont on y retrouve les Dispositions,' 4 vols. 8vo, Paris, 

 1823. On this subject Savigny remarks, ' It is generally known that 

 Pothier is tbe polar star of Roman law to modern French jurists, and 

 that his writings had a most immediate influence on the code. I am 

 very far from depreciating Pothier : on the contrary, the jurisprudence 

 of a nation, in which he was one of many, would be very well directed. 

 But a juristical literature, in which he stands alone, and is honoured 

 and studied almost as an original authority, is an object of pity." 

 (' Vom Bumf,' <tc., p. 60.) The treatise ou Contracts, which is 

 perhaps the best known of Pothier's works to English lawyers, may 

 be comprehended within the same judgment It is a respectable and 

 useful work, but it should not be studied as an authority. Among 

 the other works of Pothier is the 'Coutume d'Orleans,' 1760, which is 

 one of the moat complete treatises on tbe old French law. 



Pothier died at Orleans in 1772. He left many works in manu- 

 script, which were published by his friend Guyot: '(EiivresPusthumes 

 de R. J. Pothier,' 3 vols. 4to, Paris, 1777, containing, among others, 

 treatises ' Des Successions,' ' Des Donations Testamentaires,' ' De* 

 Donation entre Vif*,' ' De* Cr u*,' ' Des Fiefs,' De la Procedure Civile 

 et do la Procedure Criiniiielle.' 



POTT, PERC1VALL, was born in London in 1713. He waa 

 intended for the Church, in which, under tbe patronage of his rela- 

 tion the bishop of Rochester, he bad good prosi>ects of preferment ; 

 but nothing could induce him to give up his inclination for surgery. 

 lie waa accordingly, in 1729, apprenticed to Mr. Nourse, one of the 



