LAWRENCE, WILLIAM B. 



tnatic ability and established liis reputation as 

 an expounder of international law. While in 

 London ho was intimate with members of the 

 Political Economy Club, including McCulloch, 

 (in-t.- tlu- historian, Jeremy Bciitham, and Sir 

 John Bowring, who became both his friend and 

 physician, and ho was a frequent contributor 

 to the " Westmin.-U r Review." From England 

 be went to Paris, and while, pursuing his favor- 

 ite studios, translated into English the " History 

 of Louisiana," by Marbois (which was published 

 in 1880), and made the acquaintance of Cousin, 

 (Mii/ot, Villenmin, and many other men of 

 eminence. On his return to New York after 

 an absence of four years, he formed a law part- 

 nership with Hamilton Fish, and displayed 

 great powers in prosecuting claims for indem- 

 nity under the treaty of 1831, called the Rives 

 Treaty, in which the Lawrence family were 

 largely interested, the claims being for spolia- 

 tions under the decrees of Napoleon in viola- 

 tion of the law of nations. His arguments were 

 commended by Webster, with whom he was 

 associated in some of the most important cases. 



The lectures on political economy before the 

 senior class of Columbia College were repeated 

 by Mr. Lawrence before the Mercantile Library 

 Association, and were afterward published. 

 These able lectures were in defense of free 

 trade, of which he was always a warm advo- 

 cate. He was an active member of the New 

 York Historical Society, and from 1836 to 1845 

 vice-president of the society, Gallatin being 

 president. In the latter year, Mr. Lawrence, 

 by his able argument before the Court of Er- 

 rors, obtained a reversal of the Chancellor's 

 decision (Miller TS. Gable, 4 Denio, 570). At 

 this period ho purchased a large estate known 

 as Ochre Point, at Newport, Rhode Island, where 

 he erected a commodious summer residence, 

 and in 1850 he removed his permanent home 

 to that place, where he continued to reside 

 until his death, with the exception of an oc- 

 casional visit to Europe, or a winter spent in 

 Washington. Soon after his settlement in New- 

 port he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, and 

 in a short time, by a provision of the State Con- 

 stitution, he became Governor of Rhode Island. 

 While acting as such, he was instrumental in 

 abolishing the law for imprisonment for debt, 

 in procuring a reform in the management of 

 the jails, and in advancing various other re- 

 forms. 



After the death of his friend Henry Wheaton, 

 Mr. Lawrence prepared an edition of his " Ele- 

 ments of International Law," which was pub- 

 lished in 1855, for the benefit of Mr. Wheaton'a 

 destitute family. This work, which was more 

 than doubled in size by the addition of Law- 

 rence's original matter, made the name of 

 Wheaton well known throughout the United 

 States and Europe. It immediately met with 

 almost universal adoption in courts and con- 

 sular offices, and in colleges and universities, at 

 home and abroad. A second edition, bringing 

 the text down to date, was issued by Governor 



Lawrence in 1863. Lawrence's Wheaton has 

 ever since been the accepted text- book among 

 diplomatists, and as such is always referred to 

 in the United States Senate, to which body, in 

 connection with the President, the whole trea- 

 ty-making power is confided. It is the stand- 

 ard work in the English language upon the sub- 

 ject of international law, and it has appeared 

 in many of the European tongues. It has even 

 been translated into the languages of China and 

 Japan, and was the first English work that ap- 

 peared in Japanese. A rival edition by Rich- 

 ard Henry Dana, purporting to be original, 

 and covering exactly the same ground as Law- 

 rence's Wheaton, led to long litigation in the 

 United States Circuit Court for Massachu^c tt s. 

 Judge Clifford fully confirmed the claims of 

 Governor Lawrence, declaring Dana's work to 

 be an infringement of the American copyright 

 law, and said, " Such a comprehensive collec- 

 tion of authorities, explanations, and well-con- 

 sidered suggestions, is nowhere, in the judg- 

 ment of the court, to be found in our language," 

 as in Lawrence's Wheaton. 



In 1868 there was published at Leipsic the 

 first volume of Lawrence's great original work 

 on " International Law." The fifth volume of 

 this important treatise appeared in 1880, and 

 the sixth and concluding volume, now in manu- 

 script and almost complete, will soon be fin- 

 ished by another hand, and published byBrock- 

 haus. This magnum opus, which was written 

 and published in French, occupied a large por- 

 tion of the author's time during the last twelve- 

 years of his long and busy life. Among his 

 many other publications may bo mentioned, 

 '' The History of the Negotiations in Reference 

 to the Eastern and Northeastern Bonndaries of 

 the United States "(New York, 1841); "The 

 Treaty of Washington" (Providence, 1871); 

 " Disabilities of American Women Abroad " 

 (New York, 1871) ; and " Administration of 

 Equity Jurisprudence " (Boston, 1874). 



While in Europe, Brown University con- 

 ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws, 

 and he was distinguished as the first recipient 

 of the title of Doctor of Civil Law granted in 

 the United States, by a degree conferred by the 

 Regents of the University of the State of New 

 York. As an international counselor he was 

 unsurpassed perhaps either in Europe or Amer- 

 ica. He achieved great professional distinc- 

 tion in appearing before the British and Amer- 

 ican International Tribunal at Washington, in 

 1873, in the case of the Circassian, involving 

 more than half a million dollars. He won the 

 suit, obtaining for his clients the reversal of 

 a decision of the United States Supreme Court, 

 the only instance of that character which has 

 occurred in the country's history. Lawrence's 

 argument in the case, on which the decision 

 was rendered, is now regarded, both here and 

 in Europe, as an authoritative exposition of 

 several most important points of international 

 law. He was one of the original members of 

 the " Institute of the Law of Nations," com- 



