Page:Marvin, Legal Bibliography, 1847.djvu/365

GRO lations are, fol., London, 1682, by W. Evats ; 3 vols., 8vo., London, 1715, done into English by several hands; and fol., London, 1738 and 1749, io which are added all ike Iar<re notes of Mr, J. Barbeyrac. The latest English edition is : The Rights of War and Peace, including the Law of Nature aitd of Nations; iranslntfd from the original Latin; with Notes and Illustrations from the best Political and Legal writers, both ancient and modern. By A. C. Campbell. 3 vols., 8vo., Ponttfract, 1814. "The whole has been newly arranged, and the mass of classical leai;n- ing, and numerous quotations, which so strongly mark the original, are omitted, but the notes and other improvements, make great amends." It was translated into Swecdish, by command of Gustavus ; and in all there are more than forty editions and translations, and twice that num- ber of Commentators upon tlie Rights of War and Peace. No legal work ever enjoyed a ntore widely extended reputation, and none ever exercised such a wonderful influence over the public morals of Europe. Professors were appointed to lecture upon it at several Uni- versities, Jurists of all countries were engaged in discussing its princi- ples and merits, and not a few discovered that it inculcated dangerous innovations that ought not to be tolerated. Grotius wrote in advance of his age, his book was forbidden to be read in Spain and Italy, and through the instrumentality of the clergy was placed in the Index Expurgatorius. The anathema of the Church did not prevent its being studied and admired, and Gustavus Adolphus, in the war which he waged in Ger- many for the liberties of Protestant Europe, slept with the Treatise under his pillow, as Alexander did with the Iliad, and Buonaparte with the Poems of Ossian. The title does not convey an idea of the full scope of the work, which is no less than an endeavor to digest a systematic Code, deeply imbued with morals and equity, for regulating the inter- course and reciprocal obligations of nations, in war and peace, and inci- dentally that of individuals. So vast an undertaking, said to have been suggested to the author by the perusal of Lord Bacon's writings, was without a precedent, and in executing his plan he drew copious illustra- tions from the Poets, Orators, and Historians of all preceding ages. This accumulation of authorities, which modern tastes disapprove as pedantic, was in accordance with the style of writing in the time of Grotius, and shows his anxiety to support his positions by the concur- rent testimony of his predecessors, which his great erudition and industry enabled him to adduce. Though subsequent writers have incorporated into their works most that is valuable from The Bights of War and Peace, the fountain of International Law, yet its perusal wall not be profitless, and " the more it is studied, the more will our admiration be excited at the consummate execution of the plan, and the genius and erudition of the author." Hoff. Leg. Stu. 123 ; Wheaton's Hist, of Law of N. 54 ; 1 Kent's Com. 17 ; 2 Dupin's Camus, 30 ; Mackintosh's Disc. 53 ; 2 Ward's L. of N. 23 353