SAVIGNY, FRIEDRICH CARL VON. 



SAV1LE, SIR HENRY. 



290 



contained few new facts the description of the pyramids Laving been 

 taken from Maillet, the account of Upper Egypt from the P&re Sicard, 

 aud other parts from Joinville, &c. 



Savary was afterwards severely commented upon by Michaelis, in 

 his ' Journal of Arabic Literature,' who affirmed that in making use of 

 Abu'l Feda he has always had recourse to Michaelis's Latin translation, 

 and has not even understood that correctly, and that he was ignorant 

 even of the pronunciation of the vernacular Arabic. The publication 

 of Volney's ' Travels iu Egypt' about the same time, which contains 

 numerous contradictions of Savary, added to the annoyance arising 

 from the criticisms of Michaelis, and the decline of his reputation is 

 said to have affected his health, which was naturally delicate. He 

 died at Paris February 4, 1788, at the age of thirty-eight. 



A few months after Savary's death, his 'Lettres sur la Grece,' a 

 work which he was engaged upon during his illness, was published at 

 Paris in Svo. It is incomplete, the author having worked up only a 

 part of his materials at the time of his death. A tale translated from 

 the Arabic, ' Les Amours d'Anas Eloujond et de Ouardi,' was published 

 in 1789, ]8mo. Savary had composed while iu Egypt a 'Grammaire 

 de la Langue Arabe Vulgaire et Litte"rale,' which he had presented to 

 the French government in 1784, and it was ordered to be printed, but 

 for want of Arabic type it lay in the royal printing-office till it was 

 claimed on behalf of Savary's brother, by whom it was again presented 

 to the government, and it was again ordered to be printed in 1796, 

 but the publication was not completed till 1813 (4to, Paris), and in the 

 meantime the Arabic grammars of D'Herbin and Silvestre de Sacy had 

 already appeared. It is in French and Latin, with many familiar 

 dialogues and Arabic tales and songs, which in some degree compensate 

 for the brevity of the syntax. This grammar however will not bear 

 comparison with that of De Sacy. Savary was also engaged upon an 

 Arabic Dictionary, but none of it has ever been printed. 



* SAVIGNY, FRIEDRICH CARL VON, one of the most distin- 

 guished jurists of modern times, was born February 21, 1779, in the 

 city of Frankfurt-on-the-Main. The family was of French origin, but 

 Savigny's father was born at Trabens in Germany, a small town on the 

 Moselle, and he occupied a situation of importance in the government 

 of Frankfurt. He died in 1791, and his wife in 1792. All their 

 children had died at an early age except Friedrich Carl, who was thus 

 left, at the age of thirteen, without parents and without any near 

 relations. Herr Von Neurath, however, who had been on terms of 

 intimacy with his father, took him under his charge, and placed him, 

 together with his own son, who was about the same age, under suitable 

 teachers for completing his education. He was intended for the legal 

 profession ; and German law being founded on Roman law, during the 

 summer half of the year 1795 he attended a course of lectures by 

 Erxleben on the ' Pandects,' and during the winter half a similar 

 course by Weis, and from the latter he also received private lessons, 

 together with four other pupils. In October 1796 Savigny proceeded 

 to the University of Gottiugen, but in the spring of 1797 his studies 

 were interrupted by illness, and he retired into the country till the 

 autumn of that year, when he went to the University of Marburg, in 

 Upper Hesse, where he took his degree of Doctor of Law, October 31, 

 1800. He then began to teach as a privat-docent in the university, 

 that is, as a professor, but without other emolument than the fees of 

 his axiditors. 



During the period from 1800 to 1804 Savigny delivered, as professor 

 extraordinary, courses of lectures on the ' Pandects,' on Ulpian, on the 

 laws of succession, of obligations, &c., and on Hugo's ' History of 

 Roman Law,' a work which had greatly interested him. In 1803 he 

 published his first work, ' Das Recht des Besitzes,' which has been 

 translated into English under the following title, 'Von Savigny's 

 Treatise on Possession, or the Jus Possessionis of the Civil Law, trans- 

 lated from the German by Sir Erskine Perry, Chief Justice of the 

 Supreme Court of Bombay,' 8vo, Cth edition, 1848. 



In 1804 Savigny married Miss Brentano, the daughter of a banker 

 at Frankfurt. Soon after his marriage he quitted the University of 

 Marburg in order to make a journey in Germany, Northern Italy, and 

 France. He inspected the libraries of Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Tubingen, 

 Strasbourg, and others, making minute researches, and taking copious 

 extracts, aud returned with a rich supply of materials on matters con- 

 nected with legal history and practice. In 1808 he became professor 

 of law in the University of Landshut in Bavaria; and in 1810, on the 

 establishment of the University of Berlin, he was appointed to a similar 

 professorship there, and was also made a member of the Royal 

 Academy of Sciences. Not long afterwards, when the thoughts of 

 persons connected with the law were much occupied by a project for 

 a revised code of laws for all Germany, he published his views on the 

 subject, ' Vom Beruf unserer Zeit fur Gesetzgebung und Rechts- 

 wisseuschaft," Svo, 1814. He soon afterwards commenced the publica- 

 tion of his ' History of the Roman Law in the Middle Ages' ('Geschichte 

 des Romischen Rechts im Mittelalter '), 6 vols., Svo, Heidelberg, 1815- 

 1831. This work contains a large amount of valuable information on 

 the introduction of Roman Law into Germany, and other Continental 

 countries. 



In 1816 Savigny was appointed a Privy Counsellor of Justice (Ge- 

 heim Justizrath), and in 1817 a Member of the Council of State 

 (Mitglied des Staatsraths). He was also made a Member of the Court 

 of Revision (Revisionshofes). In 1836 he published a 'Contribution 



BIOQ. DIV. VOL. V. 



to the Legal History of Nobility in Modern Europe ' (' Beitrag zur 

 Rechtegeschichte dee Adels in Neuern Europa'), 4to, Berlin, 1836. The 

 last and most important of his works, the ' System of Modern Roman 

 Law ' (' System des Heutigen Romischen Rechts ') is not yet completed. 

 The first four volumes were published at Berlin, in Svo, in 1840, and 

 the fifth in 1841. The sixth volume, owing to the pressure of other 

 occupations, as he states in.the preface, was not published till 1847. 

 The seventh volume was published in 1848, and the eighth in 1849. 

 This completes the Third Book, and may, as he informs his readers, be 

 considered as completing the general part of the work. The plan of 

 the whole work is laid down at the commencement of the first volume 

 as follows : Book I. ' Rechtsquellen ' (' Sources of Law '). Book II. 

 1 Rechtsverhiiltnisse ' (' Legal Relations '). Book III. ' Anwendung des 

 Rechtsregeln auf die Rechtsverhaltnissen ' {' Application of the Rules 

 of Law to Legal Relations '). Book IV. ' Sachenrecht' ( ' The Law of 

 Things,' that is, Ownership). Book V. ' Obligationenrecht' ('The Law 

 of Obligations,' that is, Contracts, &c.). Book VI. ' Familienrecht ' 

 (' The Law of Family,' or the Law of Marriage and the relations that 

 arise out of it). Book VII. 'Erbrecht' ('The Law of Succession,' 

 testamentary and intestate). Books IV., V., VI., and VII., are to be 

 published as separate works, but will be written in accordance with 

 the original plan. A portion of this latter part has since been pub- 

 lished ' Das Obligationenrecht, als Theil des Heutigen Romischen 

 Rechts,' 2 vols. Svo, 1851. It is much to be desired that the author 

 may live to complete this important work, which is characterised by 

 a depth and subtlety of thought, a soundness of knowledge, perspicuity 

 of arrangement, and clearness of expression, which have seldom been 

 equalled, and perhaps never surpassed. 



In 1842 Savigny was made a Privy Minister of State (Geheim 

 Staatsminister), and also Minister of Justice for the Revision of the 

 Law (Justizminister fiir die Gesetzrevision). In 1850 he published his 

 Miscellaneous Works ('Vermischte Schriften,' 5 vols. Svo, Berlin), 

 consisting of the writings, which, with the exception of those before 

 mentioned, he had published in the course of half a century in 

 periodical works. He was also joint editor, with Eichhorn, Goschen, 

 Klenze, and Rudorff, of the 'Zeitschrift fur Geschichtliche Rechts- 

 wissenschaft,' which was completed in 15 vols. between 1815-50. 



SAVILE, GEORGE, MARQUIS OF HALIFAX, was born in 1630. 

 He was the son of Sir William Savile, a Yorkshire baronet, of ancient 

 family, and of Anne, daughter of the lord keeper Coventry. Being 

 hereditarily attached to the Stuarts, ambitious, and endowed with 

 brilliant talents, he played an active and a successful part in the in- 

 triguing reigns of Charles II. and James II. In 1668 he was raised to 

 the peerage, by the titles of Lord Savile of Eland and Viscount 

 Halifax; he was created earl in 1679, and marquis in 1682. He died 

 in 1695, and the title became extinct in 1700, by the death of his son. 

 The witty Lord Chesterfield was his grandson by the mother's side. 



It is hard to state shortly his political history or principles, except 

 by saying that he was the chief of the body to which the expressive 

 name of Trimmers was given. So far however as he was attached to 

 any principle, it seems to have been to the cause of civil liberty as 

 then understood. He opposed the Non-resisting Test Bill in 1675, as 

 well as, both in those times and after the accession of James, the 

 relaxation of the tests enacted against the papists. He opposed the 

 scheme for excluding the Duke of York from the succession, prefer- 

 ring to limit his authority when the crown should devolve on him. 

 He declined to take part in bringing over the Prince of Orange ; but 

 was president of the convention parliament, and strongly supported 

 the motion for declaring the throne vacant. On the accession of 

 William and Mary he was made privy seal ; but he soon retired from 

 the administration, upon inquiry being proposed to be made as to the 

 authors of the prosecutions of Lord Russell, Sidney, &c., in which he, 

 as a member of the then existing government, had concurred : and he 

 continued in opposition thenceforward till his death, which happened 

 in 1695. 



" He was," says Burnet, " a man of great and ready wit, full of life, 

 and very pleasant, much turned to satire. . . . He was punctual in his 

 payments and just in all private dealings; but with relation to the 

 public, he went backward and forward, and changed sides so often, that 

 in the conclusion no side trusted him ; he seemed full of commonwealth 

 notions, yet he went into the worst part of King Charles's reign. The 

 liveliness of his imagination was always too hard for his judgment. 

 His severe jest was preferred by him to all arguments whatever : and 

 he was endless in council, for when after much discourse a point was 

 settled, if he could find a new jest, whereby he could make that which 

 was digested by himself seem ridiculous, he could not hold, but would 

 study to raise the credit of his wit, though it made others call his 

 judgment into question,' &c. 



His works are lively and elegant. The chief of them are these : 

 ' Character of a Trimmer,' ' Anatomy of an Equivalent,' ' Letters to 

 a Dissenter,' 'Miscellanies,' and 'Maxims of State.' He left two 

 manuscript copies of his memoirs, both of which were destroyed 

 unpublished, one by the Earl of Nottingham, the other by his grand- 

 daughter Lady Burlington. Horace Walpole says that this was done 

 at Pope's suggestion, because the papists were represented in an 

 unfavourable light. The loss is to be regretted, considering the 

 strong satirical talent and position of the author. 



SAVILE, SIR HENRY, an eminent scholar and mathematician, was 



u 



