EMERIC

See also:

• EMERIC VATTEL (EMER) DE (1714-1767)

VATTEL (EMER) DE (1714-1767)  Swiss jurist, the son of a Protestant minister, was born at Couvet, in the principality of Neuchatel, on the 25th of April 1714 . He studied at Basel and Geneva . During his early years his favourite pursuit was philosophy; and, having carefully examined the works of G . W . Leibnitz and C . Wolff, he published in 1741 a defence of Leibnitz's system against J . P. de Crousaz . In the same year Vattel, who was born a subject of the king of Prussia, repaired to Berlin in the hope of obtaining some public employment from Frederick IT., but was disappointed in his expectation . Two years later he proceeded to Dresden, where he experienced a very favourable reception from Count &U hl, the minister of Saxony . In 1746 he obtained from the elector, Augustus III., the title of councillor of embassy, accompanied with a pension, and was sent to Bern in the capacity of the elector's minister . His diplomatic functions did not occupy his whole time, and much of his leisure was devoted to literature and jurisprudence . Among other works he published Loisirs philosophiques (1747) and Melanges de litterature, de morale, et de politique (1757) .

But his reputation chiefly rests on his

Droit des gens, ou Frincipes de la loi naturelle appliques a la conduite et aux afaires des nations et des souverains (Neuchatel, 1758) . During the same year he was recalled from Switzerland, to be employed in the cabinet of Dresden, and was soon afterwards honoured with, the title of privy councillor . His labours now became so intense as to exhaust his strength, and his health broke down . After a period of rest he returned to Dresden in 1766; but his renewed exertions soon produced a relapse, and he made another excursion to Neuchatel, where he died on the 28th of December 1767 . His last work was entitled Questions de droll naturel; ou Observations sur le trite du droll de la nature, par Wolf (Bern, 1762) . Vattel's Droit des gens, which is founded on the works of Wolff, had in its day a great success, in truth, greater than it deserved . His principal and only merit consists in his having rendered the ideas of that author accessible to the political and diplomatic world . The Droit des gens passed through many editions, and was translated into various languages (English in 176o) .