Notes and Documents

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS The ^Autobiography of "Peter Stephen T)u Ponceau It is probable that Peter Stephen Du Ponceau, native of the Isle of Re, would have attained a larger space in the history of the United States had he not desired to live quietly and unobtrusively. His life and achievements, in the usual sense of the word, are far from spec- tacular, but his contributions to the cultural and literary life of this country, when more widely known, should guarantee him a perma- nent position among the great. At present, very few people are ac- quainted with his career, and there are scarcely any published sources from which information can be gained.1 Du Ponceau is an interesting figure, not only because of his role as a brilliant lawyer, as a learned scholar of the arts and sciences, and as an eminent philologist, but also as one of the many Frenchmen who, during the early years of the American republic, added to the distinction of Philadelphia and the whole nation. There is no necessity for reviewing his early life 5 that is too well done in his own words. But it is well to take particular notice of the fact that he was born of a rather distinguished French family and had the opportunities of a competent education in French and classical culture, as well as his much-loved English literature. His real place in American life cannot be ade- quately determined without this background in mind. Although in many ways more American than the Americans, he could not leave be- hind him his French antecedents and training. He was undoubtedly one of the most effective agents for the diffusion both of French culture in the United States and of American culture in France. Du Ponceau's long span of life covered the period from 1760 to 1 Among the articles on Du Ponceau are the following: "A Public Discourse in Com- memoration of Peter S. Du Ponceau" by Robley Dunglison delivered before the American Philosophical Society, October 25, 1844, an(* printed by that body in that same year (also appears in American Law Magazine, April, 1845) > an obituary notice in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, I (1849) \ a brief description in Life and Letters of Joseph Story (Boston, 1851) ; A Eulogium on Chief Justice Tilghman by Du Ponceau himself which contains much on his own life; and a brief but excellent article by Richard H. Heindel, "Some Letters of Peter Stephen Du Ponceau," Pennsylvania History, July, 1936. 189 190 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS April 1844. His autobiography printed here and in the following issues of this magazine extends only to 1783. A brief review of his accomplish- ments, therefore, from 1783 to 1844 will be useful in placing the autobiography in its proper perspective. After his short career from I78itoi783asa public servant under Robert Livingston, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Du Ponceau began the study of law under William Lewis, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer. Admitted to the bar in 1785 he rapidly became one of the nation's most respected lawyers. In view of the fact that he was one of the few lawyers in the country at that time who knew anything of foreign and international law his services before the Supreme Court of the United States were in frequent demand. The legal problems created by the embargo, non-intercourse, British orders-in-council, and the various decrees of Napoleon opened up a field in which he played a very learned and capable role. His foreign clients were many and distinguished, and he made every effort through correspondence and exchange of books to increase the knowledge of legal practice and theory on both sides of the Atlantic.2 Not the least of his achievements as a lawyer was his important part in establishing in 1821 the Law Academy of Philadelphia. His flourishing practice as a lawyer did not prevent Du Ponceau from spending much of his time in the study of languages, a subject which had fascinated him since childhood. He read and spoke fluently a number of European languages, but his outstanding philological studies were in the American Indian, the Berber, and the Chinese languages. He corresponded frequently with Albert Gallatin, James Madison, Baron William von Humboldt, and others in regard to the languages of Mexican as well as more northerly Indian nations. In 1835 he received the Volney prize of the French Institute for his memoir on the grammatical character of certain Indian languages of North America. Over a period of five or six years he corresponded with William Shaler and W. B. Hodgson in Algeria, editing and pub- lishing in 1824 a series of letters from Shaler on the language, manners, and customs of the Berbers. In 1838 appeared his Dissertation on the Stature and Character of the Chinese System of Writing . ., a book which aroused considerable controversy among international 2 See the articles by Heindel and Dunglison for more detailed discussions of his im- portance as an international lawyer. i939 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 191 scholars and won the distinction of a forty-three page review in the Journal zAsiatique. The literary efforts of Du Ponceau, however, were not wholly con- fined to philological studies. He found time to write many articles and pamphlets on American history, constitutional law, and scientific subjects, and to translate foreign works on international and French law.3 His interests were so widespread and his prominence in the scholarly world so great that by the time of his death he had been granted membership in twenty-three American and nineteen foreign learned societies. Those he valued most, probably, were the American 3 An excellent list of his writings can be found in the work by Dunglison. Among the more important ones are: A Treatise on the Law of War, translated front the Latin of Cornelius Van Bynkershoek, being the First Book of his Quaestiones Jurispublici, with Notes. Philadelphia, 1810. "The Penal Code of the French Empire," in The American Review of History and Politics, II (1811), no. 1, appendix, 1—69. "The Commercial Code of the French Empire," ibid., II. no. 2, appendix, 91-203. A Discourse on the Early History of Pennsylvania; . delivered before the American Philosophical Society . (Philadelphia, 1821). "On the Language, Manners, and Customs of the Berbers of Africa; in a Series of Letters from W. Shaler to P. S. Du Ponceau, with an Introduction and Additions by the latter." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. II. New Series (1824). A Dissertation on the Nature and Extent of the Jurisdiction of the Courts of the United States .. (Philadelphia, 1824). "On the Reciprocal Rights of Belligerents and Neutrals, written in Italian by the Abbe Ferdinando Galiani. Translated from the German Translation of Professor Caesar." MS. in 2 octavo volumes. "A Free Translation, with Additions, of M. Rayneval's Works on the same subject." MS. in 2 octavo volumes. A Brief View of the Constitution of the United States . (Philadelphia, 1834). Memoire a Veffet de determiner le caractcre grammaticale des langues de VAmerique Septentrionale, connues sous les noms Lenni Lenape, Mohegan Chippeway, qui a obtenu le prix de linguistique a Vlnstitut de France, fonde par M. de Volney (Paris, 1836). A Dissertation on the Nature and Character of the Chinese System of Writing, in a Letter to John Vaughan, Esq. By Peter S. Du Ponceau, &c. &c; to which are subjoined, a Vocabulary of the Cochin-Chinese Language, By Father Joseph Morrone, &c. &c, with references to Plates containing the Characters belonging to each Word, and with Notes, showing the degree of affinity existing between the Chinese and Cochin-Chinese Lan- guages, and the use they respectively make of their common system of Writing, by M. de la Palun, late Consul of France at Richmond, in Virginia; and a Cochin-Chinese and Latin Dictionary in use among the R. C. Missions in Cochin-China. Published by the His- torical and Literary Committee, by order of the American Philosophical Society (Phila- delphia, 1838). "An Historical Account of the Origin and Formation of the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge. Read before the Society on the 19th of June, 1840." MS. I92 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS April Philosophical Society and The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He was President of the former from 1827 and of the latter from 1837 to his death. It was always a great satisfaction to Du Ponceau that his adopted country had seen fit to honor him so well and so often. Almost as soon as he arrived in this country, he considered himself not French but American, and to the end of his life he was jealous for the cultural advancement of the United States. Such was his enthusiasm for Amer- ica that he often questioned whether an American should seek fame outside his own country. He was half-apologetic for the honors heaped on him by foreign nations and was never so proud of them as of the slightest recognition by his fellow citizens. Yet he never sought polit- ical office and very seldom wrote of politics. His greatest single am- bition seemed to be to force Europe to recognize the worth of Amer- ican literature, science, and scholarship. He grasped every opportunity to call attention to such matters in letters to his European correspon- dents and did what he could to have American books reviewed in foreign publications. His anger at English condescension towards Amer- ican literature was especially great. He accused England of desiring to hold America in a state of mental dependence4 and scoffed at the contention that America had no literature.

Load more