Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/347

Rh S A Y S A V 327 became a member of the supreme court of cassation and revision for the Rhine Provinces. In 1820 he was made a member of the commission for revising the Prussian code. In 1822 a serious nervous illness attacked Savigny, and compelled him to seek relief in travel. He always con- sidered that he had benefited much by the homoeopathic treatment of Dr Necker, and he remained a firm believer in homoeopathy. In 1835 he began his elaborate work on the modern system of Roman law. The eighth and last volume appeared in 1849. In March 1842 he ceased to perform his duties as professor in order to become " Grosskanzler " of Prussia ; and in that position he carried out several important law reforms in regard to bills of exchange and divorce (a subject on which he had meditated much). He held that office until 1848, when he resigned, not altogether to the regret of his friends, who had seen his energies with- drawn from jurisprudence without being able to flatter themselves that he was a great statesman. In 1850, on the occasion of the jubilee of his obtaining his doctor's degree, appeared in five volumes his Vermischte Schriften, consisting of a collection of his minor works published between 1800 and 1844. This event gave rise to much enthusiasm throughout Germany in honour of " the great master " and founder of modern jurisprudence. Professor Scheurl, in his Einige Worte uber Savigny, notes the fact that on the 31st of October Luther first revealed to the world the light of evangelical truth, and Savigny on that day began his work as a law reformer. In 1853 he pub- lished his treatise on Obligations, a supplement to his system of modern Roman law. Savigny died at Berlin on October 25, 1861. His son, Carl Friedrich von Savigny, born September 19, 1814, was Prussian minister of foreign affairs in 1849. He represented Prussia in important diplomatic transactions, especially in 1866, and died February 11, 1875. In the history of jurisprudence Savigny's great works are the Eecht des Besitzcs and the Beruf unserer Zcit fur Geselzgebung. The former marked an epoch in jurisprudence. Prof. Ihering says: "With the Eecht des Besitzcs -&s the juridical method of the Romans regained, and modern jurisprudence born." It marked a great advance both in results and method, and it "rendered obsolete a large literature. Savigny sought to prove that in Eoman law possession had always reference to usucapion or to interdicts, that it is not a right to continue in possession, but to immunity from violence, and that possession is based on the consciousness of unlimited power. These and other propositions were maintained with great acuteness and unequalled ingenuity in interpreting and harmonizing the Roman jurists. The book also seeks to solve the problem of general interest, common to almost every system of jurisprudence, why possession, rightful or wrongful, as distin- guished from property, should be protected. This general problem suffers by being almost solely discussed with reference to Roman law. His leading principle, that every " exercise of force " is illegal, is not incontestible, and, if true, it does not clear up the whole Eroblem. The attempt to treat the historical accidents of Roman iw as juridical necessities is the weak side of a work in other respects masterly ; and there is a difficulty in understanding Austin's eulogy that it was of all books he knew " the least alloyed with error and imperfection." The controversy which lias been carried on in Germany by Ihering, Baron, Gans, and Bruns shows that many of Savigny's conclusions have not been accepted. 1 The Beruf unserer Zeit expresses the idea, un- familiar in 1814, that law is part and parcel of national life, and combats the notion, too much assumed by French jurists, espe- cially in last century, and countenanced in practice by Bentham, that law might be arbitrarily imposed on a country irrespective of its state of civilization and past history. Of even greater value than his services in founding or consolidating "the historical school of jurisprudence " is the emphatic recognition in his works of the fact that the practice and theory of jurisprudence cannot be divorced without injury to both. "Writing at a time when the influence of Hegel was in the ascendant, and in a city where he was official philosopher, Savigny was not carried away by meta- physical theories. In all his writings there is not a word betraying acquaintance with the labours of his great contemporary, Bentham; nor had Bentham more than the most superficial knowledge of 1 See Windrcheid, Lehrluch des Pandektenrechts, i. 439. him (see Gans's Ruckblicke auf Pcrsonen). Perhaps a study of both would do more than anything else to aid in the construction of a true science of jurisprudence, consisting neither of platitudes and logomachies nor of a worthless catalogue of legal curiosities. (J. Mf. ) SAVILE. See HALIFAX, vol. xi. p. 386. SAVILE, SIR HENRY (1549-1622), a learned English- man, was the second son of Henry Savile, and was born at Over Bradley, near Halifax, Yorkshire, 30th November 1549. He entered Brasenose College, Oxford, whence he was elected to Merton College in 1561, where he took his degree in Arts and was chosen fellow. After graduating M.A. in 1570, he voluntarily read lectures on mathematics in the university. He was proctor in 1575 and 1576, travelled on the Continent collecting MSS. in 1578, and on his return was tutor to Elizabeth in Greek and mathe- matics. He was warden of Merton College from 1585 until his death, and in 1596 was chosen provost of Eton College. He was offered preferment by James I. after his accession in 1604, but would accept nothing more than the honour of knighthood. After the death of his son Henry he devoted his fortune to the promotion of learn- ing. In 1619 he founded lectures on mathematics and astronomy at Oxford, and he also made various other benefactions to the university, including the foundation of a mathematical library for the professors, and the gift of several rare MSS. and printed books to the Bodleian. He died at Eton College 19th February 1622, and was buried in the chapel there. In recognition of his great services to the university, a public speech and verses were made in his praise, which were soon afterwards published under the title Ultima Linea Savilii. Savile was held in the highest esteem by all the learned of his time. He published Four Books of the Histories of Cornelius Tacitus, and the Life of Agricola, with Notes, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth (1581) ; A View of Certain Military Matters, or Com- mentaries concerning Roman Warfare (1598) ; Rerum Anglicamm Scriptores post Bcdam (1596) ; an excellent edition of Chrysostom, 8 vols. (1613) ; Mathematical Lectures on Euclid's Elements (1621) ; and Oratio coram Elizabetha Regina Oxonise habita anno 1592 (1658). In 1618 he published, with a Life, Bradwardin's work DC Causa Dei contra Pelagium et de Virtute Causarum and he translated into Latin King James's Apology for the Oath of Alle- giance. He also left several manuscripts written by order of King James, all of which are in the Bodleian library. SAVINGS BANKS (Fr. caisses d'epargne; Germ. Spar- Tcassen) are institutions for the purpose of receiving small deposits of money and investing them for the benefit of the depositors at compound interest. They are, in general, managed by benevolent persons, who seek no remunera- tion for their services. They originated in the latter part of the 18th century a period marked by a great advance in the organization of provident habits in general (see FRIENDLY SOCIETIES). They had been, however, one of the many excellent projects suggested by Daniel Defoe in 1697. The earliest institution of the kind in Europe was one established at Brunswick in 1765 ; it was followed in 1778 by that of Hamburg, which still exists, in 1786 by one at Oldenburg, in 1790 by one at Loire, in 1792 by that of Basel, in 1794 by one. at Geneva, which had but a short existence, and in 1796 by one at Kiel in Holstein. In Great Britain, in 1797, Jeremy Bentham revived De- foe's suggestion under the name of "Frugality Banks," and in 1799 the Rev. Joseph Smith put it in action at Wendover. This was followed in 1801 by the addition of a savings bank to the friendly society which Mrs Priscilla Wakefield had established in 1798. Savings banks were shortly after established in London, Bath, Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire, Edinburgh, Kelso, Hawick, Southampton, and many other places. By 1817 they had become numerous enough to claim the attention of the legislature, and Acts of Parliament were passed for their management and control. Their progress in the United Kingdom since that date is shown by the following statement :