Publicist; born in
Berlin, Germany, March 18, 1800; joined the Prussian army in 1815 as a volunteer; fought in the battles of
Ligny and
Waterloo, and was severely wounded in the assault on
Namur.
He studied at the
University of Jena, was persecuted for his republicanism, and in 1821 went to
Greece
[
389]
to take part in the struggle of its people for independence.
He suffered much there.
Retiring to
Italy, he passed nearly two years in the family of
Niebuhr, then Prussian ambassador at
Rome.
Returning to
Germany in 1824, he was imprisoned, and while confined he wrote a collection of poems, which, on his release, were published at
Berlin under the name of
Franz Arnold.
After spending about two years in
England, he came to the
United States in 1827, settling in
Boston.
He edited the
Encyclopaedia Americana, in 13 volumes, published in
Philadelphia between 1829 and 1833.
He lectured on history and politics in the larger cities of the
Union.
In New York his facile pen was busy translating from the
French and
German.
In 1832 he translated
De Beaumont and
De Tocqueville on the penitentiary system in the
United States, and soon afterwards, on invitation of the trustees of Girard College, furnished a plan of instruction for that institution, which was published at
Philadelphia in 1834.
In 1835 he published
Recollections of Niebuhr and
Letters to a gentleman in Germany, and the same year was appointed
Professor of History and Political
Economy in the
South Carolina College at
Columbia, S. C., where he remained until 1856.
He was appointed to the same professorship in Columbia College, New York City, in 1857, and afterwards accepted the chair of Political Science in the law school of that institution, which he filled till his death, Oct. 2, 1872.
Dr. Lieber had a very versatile mind, and whatever subject he grasped he handled it skilfully as a trained philosopher.
In 1838 he published
A manual of political Ethics, which was adopted as a textbook in the higher institutions of learning; and he wrote several essays on legal subjects.
Special branches of civil polity and civil administration engaged his attention, and on these subjects he wrote earnestly and wisely, especially on penal legislation.
He wrote some valuable papers in the
Smithsonian contributions to knowledge, and his addresses (published) on anniversary and other special occasions were numerous.
While in the
South he had warmly combated the doctrine of State supremacy, and when the
Civil War broke out he was one of the most earnest and persistent supporters of the government.
In 1863 he was one of the founders of the “Loyal publication Society.”
More than 100 pamphlets were published under his supervision, of which ten were written by himself.
He wrote, at the request of the
general-in-chief (
Halleck),
Guerilla parties, considered with reference to the law and usages of War, which was often quoted in
Europe during the
Franco-German War, and his
Instructions for the government of the armies of the United States in the field was directed by the
President to be promulgated in a
general order (No. 100) of the War Department.
Numerous essays on public subjects followed.
He was an advocate for free-trade, and wrote vigorously on the subject.
In 1865 he was appointed superintendent of a bureau at
Washington for the preservation of the records of the Confederate government, and in 1870 was chosen by the governments of the
United States and
Mexico as arbitrator in important cases pending between the two countries.
This work was unfinished at his death.
