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which the king had presented to general Gneisenau. Failing in his object, he went back to Paris, and, in order to refute a passage in the Memorial of count Las Cases, published a fragment from his Memoirs, (Sur la Catastrophe du Duc d'Enghien), denying his privity to the arrest and execution of the duke, and maintaining, on the contrary, that the whole was planned and carried into execution without the previous knowledge of Napoleon, by the minister who was then at the head of foreign affairs (Talleyrand). But Talleyrand justified himself before Louis XVIII; and other publications connected with this affair, particularly those of general Hullin and Dupin, bear so hard on the duke of Rovigo, that it is difficult to believe him not to have been privy to the hurried execution of the sentence. The duke of Rovigo was thereupon banished from the court; and from that time he lived in close retirement. His Mémoire sur la Mort de Pichegru,de Wright,de Bathurst, et sur quelques autres Circonstances de sa Vie (Paris, 1825), has weakened the force of the charges against Savary, although the occurrences with regard to Wright and Bathurst require a further explanation. He appears to be a man of courage and adroitness, but destined by nature to follow the lead of men of more decided talent and character. His Mémoires were published in 1828 (8 vols. 8vo.; in English, 4 vols.). He was appointed governor of Algiers in 1832.

SAVIGNY, Frederic Charles von, born in 1779, at Frankfort on the Maine, is one of the most distinguished professors of the civil law. After having finished his academic studies, in which Weis and Hugo were his chief guides, and having taken his degree, as doctor of laws, at Marburg, in 1800, he travelled, during several years, in Germany, France, and Upper Italy, to investigate unexplored or little known sources of the civil law, and, after his return, was appointed professor of law at Marburg. In 1803, he wrote, at this place, his Law of Possession (5th edition, Giessen, 1827). In 1808, he was appointed professor at Landshut, and, in 1810, in the university established a short time previous at Berlin, where he continues to teach. He is a member of the academy of sciences at Berlin, of the council of state, and of the court of revision, or cassation (q. v.) for the Prussian provinces on the Rhine, where the French code has remained in force. His lectures on the pandects, the Institutes and the history of the Roman law, are distinguished for clearness, pre

cision, and purity of language, and attract many students to Berlin. Savigny belongs to the historical school (so called) of German lawyers, though he cannot be termed its founder without injustice to Hugo and Schlosser. He was, however, the first to adopt this name for himself and his followers (Zeitschrift für die geschichtliche Rechtswissenschaft, edited by Savigny, Eichhorn, and Göschen, I, 2, Berlin, 1815), to distinguish his school from one which might, with equal reason, assume the title of the philosophical school, and call their opponents the unphilosophical, as they are far from disregarding the historical developement of law, though they endeavor to deduce law mainly from the higher principles of our nature. Savigny's views respecting the foundation of law-according to which it rests neither on positive legislation nor on the deductions of reason-are contained in a work published subsequently, in consequence of the wish expressed by other jurists, as Thibaut, Schmid, Gönner, for the introduction of a general penal and civil code, and a uniform course of procedure throughout Germany. In this work, entitled Vom Beruf unserer Zeit für Gesetzgebung und Rechtswissenschaft (Berlin, 1814, translated by a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, under the title, On the Aptitude of the present Age for Legislation and Jurisprudence, &c.), he endeavors to show that new codes are unnecessary and impracticable; that the codes of France, Austria and Prussia are not adapted for introduction into other countries; and that the German language is not even sufficiently matured for a code. Savigny's work, though replete with proofs of extensive erudition, and not devoid of sound views, exhibits also numerous traces of that disposition to exalt the past and the distant, at the expense of the present and the near, so often met with among the learned, who are disposed to value most highly what has cost them most labor. The fondness for ancient laws and political institutions is most common in those countries which have the least political liberty. How of ten does a German philologist assert that the greatest orators are those who were formed under the political institutions of antiquity, forgetting the great names who adorn the history of English eloquence! The work of Savigny cannot be called very philosophical, but it contains much matter for reflection. He has published a History of the Roman Law in the Middle Ages (4 vols., 1815-26; English, Edinb. 1829); other fruits of his

researches are contained in papers read before the academy of sciences, and in articles in the periodical mentioned above. Uncommon erudi ion, acuteness, and elegance in the exposition of his views, are allowed him, even by those who do not , belong to his school."

in the convention parliament, and contra
uted mainly to the elevation of Williamı
III to the throne. But, soon after the
revolution, he resigned the privy seal, and,
during the remainder of his lif, votes,
against the court. A mortification in the
bowels carried him off in 1695. He was
the author of Advice to a Daughter, and
of a variety of political tracts, the prities-
pal of which are, Maxims of State; the
Character of a Trimmer; Character o
King Charles II; Anatomy of an E. quiv2-
lent; Letter to a Dissenter, &c.
SAVIN. (See Juniper.)

SAVILE, Sir Henry, one of the most profound and elegant scholars of his age, was born in 1549, and, after graduating at Brazen-nose college, Oxford, removed on a fellowship to Merton college, in the same university. In his twenty-ninth year, he made a tour on the content, for the purpose of perfecting himself in elegant lit- SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS, or, as they ar erature, and, on his return, was appointed often called, SAVINGS BANKS, are an liest tutor in Greek and mathematics to queen_tution of recent origin, but have atre" Elizabeth. Seven years after, the wardenship of his college, which he held for about six-and-thirty years, the provostship of Eton being added to it in 1596, was conferred on him. In 1619, he founded two professorships, in geometry and as tronomy, at Oxford, besides conferring several other valuable benefactions, both in property and books, many of the latter forming sull a part of the Bodleian library. Among his works, the principal are his Commentaries on Roman Warfare; Rerum Anglicarum post Bedam Scriptores; Prælectiones in Elementa Euclidis; and his edition of the writings of St. Chrysos tom, in eight folio volumes, Sir Henry Savile was the correspondent of J. Scaliger, Meibomius, Isaac Casaubon, and most of the learned men of his day. His death took place in 1622.

accomplished much good. They atona
an opportunity for those who have aby
thing to spare, not only to deposit the
savings in safety, but to receive interest
for the sum so secured, against a time cť
sickness, or distress, or age. One of the
first attempts with which we are Dr.
quainted to realize such an inst.tr 1209
was made by Mrs. Priscilla Wake.
Tottenham, near London, in 1-6% u
which small sums were received, an i 18.
terest allowed on them. The first ite 5 ».
on a larger scale was made in Edinburg
in 1814; and soon after this example was
imitated in England. The Scotch b
allowing interest on mere deposits, the
managers of savings institutions in thst
country had no difficulty in investing the
funds; but in England, this not being true
case, it became necessary to vest the de-
posits in the public funds, in some m
stances paying a fixed interest, in otherma
leaving the depositors to take their chanser
in the fluctuations of the stocks.
was the extent of the operatious of th. →
institutions, that from 1×17 to 1×2 udara un
sive, the commissioners for the redueza
of the public debt received from the
directors of savings banks, meat
friendly societies, the sum of £13,7 4
for which government paid four per es
interest. By act of parliament of July
1828 (to consolidate and amend the laws
relating to savings banks, for the furt-r
regulation of savings banks, the rate of in-
terest was reduced to £3 Sid pr
cent. per annum. November 20, 1886
there were 379 savings banks in Engiami,
and since that time five others have been
established. The number of de posators in
3629 banks, from which returus were re-
ceived, was 367,12; the amount de p

SAVILE, George, marquis of Halifax, a statesman and writer, was born in 1630. On the death of Cromwell, he distinguish ed himself by his exertions in favor of the absent king, and on the restoration was raised to the peerage. He was removed from the council in 1675, through the influence of the duke of York (see James II), in consequence of his opposition to that prince's measures in fàvor of the Roman Catholic religion. But when the bill for excluding the duke from the succession was in agitation, his repugnance to that measure brought him into disgrace with the party with which he had hitherto acted. In 1682, he was created marquis of Halifax, keeper of the privy seal, and president of the council, which dignities he retained in the early part of the succeeding reign, till his opposition to the proposed repeal of the test acts caused his abrupt dismissal. From this moment lord Halifax continued in op-ed, £13,080,255; of the depositors, 157,70 position, till the flight of James II, when he deposited under twenty pounds, and was chosen speaker of the house of lords 102,621 under fifty pounds. In Wales, there

are twenty-five institutions of this kind, with 10,404 depositors, and an amount invested of £340,721. In Ireland, there are eightythree, returns from sixty-two of which give 34,638 depositors, and an amount invested of £945,991. (See Pratt's History of Savings Banks.) The first savings bank in America was opened in Philadelphia, in November, 1816. In Boston, an institution was incorporated in December of the same year; but its action did not begin until February following. Since that time, these societies have become quite numerous, and, with hardly an exception, have been exceedingly prosperous. That of New York has the largest funds: next in magnitude is the institution at Boston; then those of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Salem, New Bedford. Perhaps the number may amount to forty or fifty; for most of the northern maritime cities, and the larger manufacturing towns, afford strong encouragement to such projects. In Boston, the number of depositors exceeds ten thousand, and the amount of funds cannot be short of a million and a half of dollars. SAVONAROLA, Geronimo, an Italian monk, celebrated for his eloquence, and his melancholy fate, was born at Ferrara, September 21, 1452, and was designed for the medical profession. Religious enthusiasm led him, at the age of fourteen, to leave his father's house secretly, and enter the order of Dominicans. Several years later, he began to preach at Florence, but with so little success that he determined to abandon the pulpit; and, retiring to Bologna, he devoted himself to metaphysical and physical studies. The reputation of his calents and learning induced Lorenzo de' Medici to invite him to return to Florence. Here Savonarola began to preach again; and his discourses attracted such crowds that the church could not contain them. His extraordinary sanctity and his powerful eloquence gained him great influence over the minds of the Florentines, and he was emboldened to assume a prophetic tone, and to urge with vehemence, and in public, the necessity of a reform in the church. The multitude looked upon him as divinely inspired, while some ridiculed him as a fanatic, and others denounced him as an impostor. He soon broke off all connexon with his patron Lorenzo, whose character he assailed, with prophecies of his approaching fall. He refused to make the customary visit to that chief, which it was his duty to do as prior of St. Mark's, and, when Lorenzo went himself to St. Mark's, refused to see him. Although Lorenzo de' Medici was repeatedly urged to adopt 19

VOL. XI.

severe measures against him, he refused, either from lenity, or from his respect for the character of the preacher. When Lorenzo lay on his death-bed (1492), Savonarola obtained admission to him, and spoke to the dying man with the dignity of his office. After the death of Lorenzo, and the expulsion of his son Pietro, Savonarola took the most active part in the political affairs of Florence. He put himself at the head of those who demanded a more democratical form of government, asserted that God had commissioned him to declare that the legislative power must be extended to the citizens, that he himself had been the ambassador of the Florentines to heaven, and that Christ had consented to be their king. The newly elected magistrates accordingly laid down their offices, and the legislative functions were intrusted to a council of the citizens, which chose a committee from their own number for the discharge of the duty. Dissensions, however, distracted the new republic; the aristocratical and democratical parties persecuted each other with great fury, the former consisting of the friends of the old order of things, and the latter of the devout admirers of the monk. But the zeal of Savonarola was not content with revolutionizing Florence; he meditated the reform of the Roman court, and of the irregularities of the clergy. The pontificate of Alexander VI could not fail to supply causes of complaint on both heads. He accordingly wrote, as his eulogists assure us, to the Christian princes, declaring that the church was going to ruin, and that it was their duty to convoke a general council, before which he was ready to prove that the church was without a head, and that the reigning pope was not a true bishop, had never been worthy of the title, nor even of the name of a Christian. Alexander excommunicated him, and the bull of excommunication was read in the cathedral at Florence; but Savonarola despised the thunders of the Vatican, and continued to preach. His influence was still further increased by the failure of an attempt of Pietro de' Medici to restore his family authority. But another party had, meanwhile, arisen in opposition to him. His innovations in St. Mark's and other monasteries had excited the enmity of the monks, especially of the Franciscans of the strict observance, who denounced him from the pulpit as an excommunicated heretic. Fra Domenico da Rescia, a monk of his convent, offered, in the heat of his fanatical zeal, to prove the truth of his master's

doctrines, by passing through fire, if one of his opponents would undergo the same ordeal in defence of their opinions. The challenge was accepted by a Franciscan monk, and Savonarola, with his champion, appeared at the head of a large procession, chanting the Psalm Ixviii, “Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered." The Franciscan also presented himself, the fire was kindled, and Domenico was ready to enter the flames, bearing the host in his hands. But the crowd exclaimed against this sacrilege, as they termed it; and, as Domenico persisted in his determination, he thus happily escaped the ordeal for which he had offered himself. But this event was fatal to Savonarola. The people loaded him with insults, and he was finally thrown into prison. A spiritual court, under the direction of two papal commissioners, was held for his trial. His firmness and eloquence at first threw his judges into confusion, but, being examined on the rack, he confessed that he had falsely arrogated supernatural powers. He was condemned, with some of his adherents, to be first strangled, and then burnt, and the sentence was executed May 23, 1498, in presence of a large multitude, some of whom considered him as a martyr and a saint. This extraordinary man left, besides letters, a Treatise against Astrology, and several philosophical and ascetical works (Opera, Lyons, 1633-40, 6 vols.). His sermons (Prediche, Florence, 1496), though wanting in the characteristics of finished discourses, contain powerful and stirring passages. (See Reformation.) SAVOY (Savoia, Italian; Savoie, French); a duchy belonging to the Sardinian monarchy (see Sardinia), and bordering on France, Switzerland, and Piedmont, with a superficial extent of 3750 square miles, and a population of 501,165. The greatest part of the duchy consists of lofty mountains and forests, alternating with deep and narrow valleys. The Cottian and Pennine Alps belong in part to Savoy, and the Gray Alps separate it from Piedmom. (See Alps.) Mont Blanc (q. v.), the loftiest summit in Europe, is in Savoy. The Iseran, the Little St. Bernard, and mount Cenis, over which an artificial road leads from Savoy to Piedmont, are also in this duchy. (See Alps, Roads over.) Many of the summits are covered with perpetual snow and ice. Savoy is watered by the Rhone, the Isere, the Arve, which flows through the vale of Chamouni (q. v.), and the Arc. The lake of Geneva is on the borders. The smaller lakes are those of Bourget and Annecy. Near the lake

of Bourget is an intermittent spring, called the Miraculous Fountain, which ceases to flow during periods varying from twenty minutes to towards three hours. The climate is very changeable, and in the course of a day the severest cold is often succeeded by a great heat. The soil is mostly rocky, and far from fertile ; but where it is susceptible of being brought into cultivation, it yields corn, though insufficient to supply the inhabitants, potatoes, hemp, flax, wine, chestnuts, and orchard fruits. The forests are extensive, and the pastures good; grazing is therefore much attended to.-Game, the marmot, chamois, and ibex, are found in the mountains. Among the mineral productions are silver, copper, lead, iron, coal, and salt. The Savoyards speak a mixture of French and Italian. They are honest, faithful, frugal, and industrious, but poor. They are often compelled to quit their ungrateful soil for a subsistence (as porters, pedlars, &c.), but generally return with their earnings to their country. Chamberry, the capital, with 11,991 inhabitants, is the only considerable town. Savoy was anciently inhabited by the Allobroges. It was under the Roman dominion till 400, belonged to Burgundy till 530, to France till 879, to Arles till 1000, when it had its own counts, and, in 1416, was erected into a duchy. In 1792, it was conquered by the French, and incorporated with France, as the department of Mont Blanc. It was partly ceded to Sardinia by the first peace of Paris (1814), and by the second (1815), the remainder was given up to the Sardinian monarchy.-See Cribrario's Notizie sopra i Principi di Savoia (Turin, 1825).

SAW-FISH (pristis antiquorum); a fish of the family of sharks, remarkable for having the head prolonged in the form of a long, flat plate, having strong osseous spines implanted like teeth on each margin, the whole bearing some resemblance to a saw. This forms a powerful weapon, with which it attacks whales and other cetaceous animals, towards whom this fish seems to bear an inveterate hostility. The habits of the saw-fish are otherwise, as well as their organization, the same as those of the sharks. It grows to the length of twelve or fifteen feet. The flesh is hard, coriaceous, and ill-tasted. Several species of saw-fish are now known. They inhabit all seas, from the polar ice to the equatorial regions.

SAW-GIN. (See Cotton.)

SAXE, Maurice, count de, a celebrated military officer, was the natural son of Augustus, king of Poland, by the count

ess of Konigsmark. He was born at Dresden in 1696, and even in childhood displayed some presages of his warlike genius. At the age of twelve, he joined the allied army under the duke of Marlborough and the prince Eugene, and was present at the sieges of Lisle and Tournay, and at the battle of Malplaquet. His father then gave him a regiment of cavalry, with which he served in Sweden, and was at the taking of Stralsund. His mother procured his marriage with a German lady of rank, when he was but fifteen; but the inconstancy of his temper occasioned a divorce after a few years. He was with prince Eugene, in Hungary, in the war with the Turks; but, after the treaties of Utrecht and Passarowitz, he withdrew to France, and was permanently attached to the service of that country by a brevet of mareschal-de-camp, given him in 1720, by the regent duke of Orleans. He applied himself to study at Paris, and made himself intimately acquainted with professional tactics. In 1726, he was a candidate for the duchy of Courland; and he formed various other schemes of ambition at different periods. On the death of his father, he declined the command of the Saxon army, offered him by his brother Augustus III, and joined the French on the Rhine, under the duke of Berwick. He distinguished himself at Dettingen and Philipsburg, and, in 1744, was rewarded with the staff of a marshal of France. He was employed in the war that followed the death of the emperor Charles VI, and, in 1745,gained the famous battle of Fontenoy, which was followed by the capture of Brussels, and many other places in Flanders. In 1747, he was victorious at Lafeldt, and, in the following year, took Maestricht, soon after which the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was concluded. Marshal Saxe survived that event a little more than two years, dying November 30, 1750. He wrote a treatise entitled Mes Rêveries, on the art of war (2 vols., quarto). General Grimoard, in 1794, published Lettres et Mémoires choisis parmi les Papiers originaux du M. de Saxe, depuis 1733 jusqu'en 1750 (5 vols., 8vo.).

SAXE-COBURG, SAXE-GOTHA, SAXEMEININGEN, SAXE-WEIMAR, SAXE-ALTENBURG, SAXE-HILBURGHAUSEN. (See the articles Coburg, Gotha, Meiningen, Weimar, Altenburg, Hilburghausen, and Saxony.)

SAXIFRAGE. The species of saxifraga are small herbaceous plants, with leaves entire or divided, ordinarily crowded about the base of the stem; the small, delicate

flowers are usually disposed in a raceme or panicle. These plants are chiefly confined to cold climates and mountainous situations: many of them contribute largely to ornament the cold and desolate regions near the verge of perpetual snow, or within the arctic circle. The species of saxifraga are much more common in Europe than in the U. States. More than a hundred and fifty are known, of which we have two that are common in many parts of the Union; two others, that are peculiar to the summits of some of the Alleghanies; and a third, which has been lately discovered on the White mountains of New Hampshire; the last, however, is identical with one from the north of Europe. Many of the European species have been discovered in the northern parts of Canada, and on the North-west coast; and there are some peculiar to these parts of our continent. The name is supposed to be derived from growing in the clefts of rocks. Many are of easy cultivation, and have long been favorites in the gardens; but the majority are delicate, and are liable to injury from mild and humid weather during the winter months.

SAXO GRAMMATICUS; a learned historian, who flourished in the twelfth century. He is supposed to have been a native of Denmark, of which kingdom, and its dependencies, he compiled an elaborate history, under the auspices of Absalom, bishop of Roschild. This work, which is said to have occupied him twenty years in its composition, has gone through several editions, especially those of Paris, 1514, Basle, 1534, and Sora in Denmark, 1644, folio: of these the latter is by far the most perfect. Saxo was a priest in the cathedral of Roschild, and is said to have been deputed on a mission to Paris, in 1161, for the purpose of inducing some of the monks of that capital to visit his native country, and assist in reforming the discipline of the religious orders there. He died in 1208.

SAXONS, LAND OF THE. (See Transylvania.)

SAXONS, SAXONY. Although the Saxons are first mentioned by Ptolemy, yet it cannot be doubted that they belong to the great northern German races, whose inroads into the Roman territories rendered the name of Cimbrians and Teutones so formidable. In the third century of the Christian era, they were a numerous, warlike and piratical people, whose devastations on the British and Belgian coasts gave rise to the appointment of a particular officer (comes littoris Saxonici) to de

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