1027 



THIELEN, JAN PHILIP VAN. 



THIERRY, JULIE. 



1028 



succession to such estates, the legal consequences of marriage inasmuch 

 as it effects complete communion of property, personal and real, 

 between husband and wife, further the remnants of feudal institu- 

 tions, and others ; while contracts, the common succession to personal 

 property and to land, except entailed estates either noble or villain, 

 testaments (in a great measure) and many other things are regulated 

 by the Roman law. In some parts of Germany the German and 

 Roman elements of the law are knitted together by modern legisla- 

 tion into a regular code, civil and criminal, as the Austrian code ; the 

 Prussian, which is in force in the greater portion of the kingdom of 

 Prussia; the Bavarian criminal code, the work of Feuerbach, in 

 Bavaria and Oldenburg. But the civil law in the latter two countries 

 and nearly the whole of Germany, except Austria and Prussia, is that 

 compound of Roman and German elements which has been mentioned 

 above. Besides the ' Common Law,' by which is meant the Roman- 

 German compound aforesaid, there is a variety of provincial and local 

 laws, among which the laws of the cities of Magdeburg, Hamburg, and 

 Liibeck deserve a particular attention, especially the law of Liibeck, 

 since it is not only shaped into the form of a code, but is the 

 common law of nearly all the towns of North-Eastern Germany as 

 well as those in the adjacent provinces of Eastern Prussia and the 

 so-called German provinces of Russia, Courland, Livonia, and Estho- 

 nia. To augment the difficulties, the French code became the common 

 law in the Rhenish provinces and in the grand-duchy of Baden. 



This sketch, however imperfect, may be sufficient to show that the 

 administration of the law in Germany is no easy matter ; und that 

 the difficulties increase in proportion to the extent of the jurisdiction 

 of the different courts ; and hence the strange, yet under such circum- 

 stances necessary fact, that the faculties of law in the various uni- 

 versities were, and partly still are, so many courts of justice before 

 which cases used to be brought which require more learning, especially 

 historical learning, than is generally possessed by the members of the 

 common courts of justice. Thibaut's proposal was to fashion this 

 legal chaos into a general code, as was done in France ; and although 

 he admitted that the task would be very difficult, he maintained that 

 what had been done in France would diminish the difficulty. His 

 plan soon became popular, but he also met with decided adversaries, 

 among whom Savigny took the lead, who contended that Germany 

 was not yet ripe " for a common legislation ; that the idea itself was 

 good, but that there were so many scientific (rather theoretical) diffe- 

 rences among the jurists concerning the most important points, that 

 every attempt would prove abortive till matters had previously been 

 settled scientifically." Savigny also could refer to an example, the 

 Prussian code (Landrecht), which, though only an experiment upon a 

 portion of Germany, is yet considered to be a failure : he avoided to 

 speak of the Austrian code. Thibaut has entered into many details 

 concerning the important question of a common code for Germany, in 

 several of his numerous essays, dissertations, and treatises in the 

 principal legal reviews of his country. He was the founder of the 

 ' Civilistiscb.es Archiv,' and the ' Heidelberg Jahrbucher.' 



(The Life of Thibaut, in Heidelberg Jahrbucher, year 1840.) 



THIELEN, JAN PHILIP VAN, was born at Mechlin in 1618. He 

 was of a noble family, and lord of Cowenburg. Though he received 

 an education suitable to his rank, and was instructed in every branch 

 of polite literature, his predilection for the art of painting induced 

 him to become a disciple of Daniel Segers. Having voluntarily 

 placed himself under so able an instructor, his improvement, as might 

 have been expected, was rapid. His subjects were usually in the taste 

 of Segers, garlands of flowers, with some historical design in the 

 centre, or festoons twining round vases enriched with representations 

 in bas-relief. He always copied from nature, and chose his flowers in 

 the entire perfection of their beauty, grouping them with great taste. 

 His pictures are very highly finished, with a light touch, perhaps less 

 spirited than the works of Segers; but it is sufficient praise to say 

 that his performances rivalled those of his master. He was much 

 employed by Philip IV., king of Spain, for whom most of his finest 

 performances were painted. Two of his capital pictures were at 

 Mechlin ; they represented garlands and flowers, and many insects of 

 different kinds on the leaves, all finished with exquisite delicacy. The 

 figure of St. Bernard is in the centre of the one, and that of St. Agatha 

 in the other. Weyermann also highly commends one, which has in the 

 centre a nymph sleeping, watched by a satyr, the figures being painted 

 by Pcelemburg. He died in 1667. Von Thielen seldom inscribed his 

 name on any of his works; he generally marked them J. or P. 

 Couwenburg. 



* THIERRY, AMED^E-SIMON-DOMINIQUE, was born at Blois, in 

 the department of Loir-et-Cher, on August 2, 1797. After receiving a 

 careful education, he at first devoted himself to teaching, and received 

 from Vatimesnil the appointment of Professor of History at Besangon, 

 where, notwithstanding his moderation, his opinions were disapproved 

 of by the government, and he experienced many official persecutions. 

 Under the ministry of Polignac his lectures were suspended by order. 

 After the revolution of July 1830, he was named prefect of the depart- 

 ment of Haute-Saone. In 1831 he was elected a member of the 

 Acade"mie des Sciences. During the last ten years of the reign of 

 Louis Philippe he filled the office of master of requests in the council 

 of state, and he has been continued in the office under the Empire. In 

 addition to the assistance afforded by him to his brother Augustin, he 



is the author of an exceedingly interesting ' Histoire de la Gaule sous 

 la domination romaine,' 1826 ; of a ' Resume" de 1'Histoire de la 

 Guienne,' 1828 ; of a ' Histoire d'Attila de ses fils et de ses successeurs 

 en Europe, suivi de legendes,' 1856; and a 'Histoire des Gaulois, 

 depuis des temps les plus recule*s jusqu'a la soumission de la Gaule,* 

 &c., 1857. He is also the author of a series of interesting essays upon 

 various characters and events connected with Gallia during the 

 Frankish domination, which have appeared within the last few years 

 in the ' Revue des deux mondes.' 



THIERRY, JACQUES-NICHOLAS- AUGUSTIN, the distinguished 

 historian, the elder brother of the preceding, was born at Blois on 

 May 19, 1795. In 1805 he commenced his studies in the college of 

 his native town; in 1811 he entered the normal school; and in 1813 

 he became a teacher in a provincial school. In 1814 he went to Paris, 

 enlisting himself as an adherent of the socialist principles of the Count 

 St. Simon, of whom he became the friend and assistant; and in 1816 

 published ' Des nations et de leurs rapports mutuels.' He however 

 shortly penetrated the fallacy and shallowness of his master's doctrines, 

 abjured them, and became with Comte and Dunoyer the editor, in 

 1817, of the 'Censeur europe"en," a liberal political journal. It was at 

 this time that he first formed the theory of the continued existence of 

 two classes in England the Norman masters and the Saxon servants, 

 whose successive struggles he traced down to the time of Charles I. 

 in an essay in this paper, and which, with much perverted ingenuity, 

 but with perfect honesty, and a rare and conscientious industry and 

 perseverance in historical investigations which he then commenced, he 

 has supported in all his subsequent works. On the suppression of 

 the ' Censeur europe*en ' in 1820 he proposed to the editors of the 

 ' Courrier Fran9ais ' a series of letters on the history of France, for he 

 says of himself that he had then found that history was his true 

 vocation, and he was accepted as a contributor. With the second 

 letter commenced the official attacks on his writings. Much was 

 erased, still he pursued his course; but on receiving several other 

 letters of disapproval, the editors wished him to vary his subjects. 

 This he -declined doing, and he ceased his contributions in January 

 1821. He then returned to his historical studies, which however he 

 had to pursue under increased difficulties as approaching blindness 

 rendered him unable to read, but he bore the deprivation with philo- 

 sophical calmness. In 1825 he published his 'Histoire de la conqu^te 

 de 1'Angleterre par les Normands,' a work which, despite his false 

 theory of the ever-enduring difference of classification of the two 

 races, is of a high merit, as displaying great power of acute discrimi- 

 nation, the result of vast labour digested by a well-regulated mind, 

 with pleasing and animated descriptions grouping the peculiarities of 

 the time, and an animated style. It has gone through many editions 

 and has been translated into English and German. In 1827 he issued 

 his letters from the ' Courrier Frangais ' in an extended and collected 

 form under the title of ' Lettres sur 1'histoire de France,' which have 

 also been translated into English. In 1828 a nervous disorder, added 

 to his now rapidly failing sight, occasioned his being sent by his 

 medical adviser to Hyeres, near Toulon, for the benefit of the sea-air 

 of the Mediterranean. While residing here for nearly two years, he 

 was elected a member of the Acade'mie des Inscriptions et Belles- 

 Lettres, and was created a member of the Legion of Honour, of 

 which subsequently he was made an officer. The years 1831 to 

 1835 he passed partly at the warm baths of Luxeuil and partly 

 at Vesoul in Haute-Saone, during which time, with the assistance 

 of his brother, he composed his 'Dix ans d'eHudes historiques,' 

 a series of excellent essays, the product of his previous investi- 

 gations, which was published in 1835. At this time, he was called 

 to Paris by Guizot, who was then minister of public instruction, 

 who confided to him the editing of a 'Recueil des documents ine'dits 

 de 1'histoire du tiera-e'tats,' which forms a part of the ' Collection des 

 documents ine'dits de 1'histoire de France.' In 1840 he published his 

 'Re'cits des temps Merovingiens, prdce'de's des considerations sur 

 1'histoire de France,' to which the Academy awarded their prize, and 

 of which also there is an English translation. A collected edition of 

 his works was published in 1853, and he died on May 21, 1856. 



As an historian Thierry takes rank with Michelet and Guizot. Less 

 profound in philosophical disquisition than Guizot, less eloquent and 

 imaginative than Michelet, he excels both in the power of grouping 

 large masses of detail, and of seizing and presenting every point of 

 interest or importance ; he combines picturesque effects with minute 

 knowledge ; and his style is earnest and lucid though not always 

 elegant. He had also the merit of remaining consistently devoted to 

 his vocation. While nearly every French writer of eminence looked 

 forward to political influence or employment as his reward and many 

 contrived to attain them, too often by a sacrifice of their previous prin- 

 ciples or opinions Thierry held on his way undeviatingly. His conso- 

 lation under various afflictions he has himself stated : "Blind and suffer- 

 ing, without hope and without intermission, I will give this testimony 

 which from me no one will disbelieve ; there is something in the world 

 better than physical enjoyments, better than property, better even 

 than health ; it is a devoted attachment to a science." 



JULIE THIERRY, whose maiden name was Que"rangal, became 

 the wife of the subject of the preceding notice in 1831, and was of 

 the most essential service to him in his then state of total blindness. 

 In 1836 she published ' Scones de rnceurs aux 18me et 19me siecles,' 



