For convenience in referring to the editor's notes, the numbering is continuous through the book.
It will not be expected, that this preface should furnish an extended biography of Mr. Wheaton; still less, that the editor should enter upon an analysis of his mind, or a eulogy of his merits and services. These have their appropriate places, in which all that his warmest admirers can wish has been said by those best qualified to speak of him.
Nothing more will be undertaken than it may be an assistance to the reader to have at hand,—a history of the work itself, and such a sketch of the author's life as will show his public relations, and in what circumstances and under what influences the book was written.
Henry Wheaton was born in Providence, Rhode Island, Nov. 27, 1785. His family was one of the most respectable and influential in that State. His father was a merchant of high standing and competent fortune, and was able to give his son the advantages not only of a liberal education, but, what was not so common then as now, of early travel and study in Europe. Mr. Wheaton was educated at Providence College (now Brown University), where he took his degree in 1802. During the next three years, he studied law, and, in 1805, went abroad to complete his studies, and especially to make himself familiar with the languages, history, and literature of Europe. While in France, he gave attention to the subject of the codes, then greatly discussed, and to the international questions that attracted the attention of both worlds; and his letters of introduction were such as to place him on intimate terms with the leading public men of his country then in Europe,—a position which he maintained by his own merits.
