AUSTIN, John, the most distinguished of English writers on jurisprudence: b. Creeling Mill, Suffolk, 3 March 1790; d. Weybridge, Surrey, 1 Dec. 1859. He entered the army in 1806 and served as a subaltern in Sicily and elsewhere until 1811, when he resigned his com mission, returned to London, and took up the study of law. In 1818 he was called to the bar and in 1820 married Miss Sarah Taylor Norwich, orwich, a talented woman, to whose devo tion and purpose Austin's success is in great part due. He removed to Westminster, where he became the intimate of some of the greatest minds of England, among others, of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. His weak con stitution coupled with a lack of courage hindered his success at the bar despite his great natural gifts and ado:pate legal knowledge. He retired from practice in 1825 and in the following year was appointed to the chair of jurisprudence in the newly-founded University of London. Jurisprudence had not yet received its due share of scientific study and as a science was neglected; hence Austin's efforts in this direction received scant recognition and his work may be classed a failure. The better to qualify himself for his task he spent some time at Bonn in reading and study under Niebuhr, Brandis, Arndt, Weicker and others who at that time made Bonn the chief seat of juristic learn ing in Europe. Austin returned to his class room early in 1828 but his earnestness coupled with his precise and accurate definitions and classifications evoked scant enthusiasm among his students, whose number gradually dwindled until in 1832 he was obliged to resign his post. In this same year he published 'The Province of Jurisprudence Determined,' a work that placed its author in the foremost rank of writers on this subject. It was little appreciated by the public, however, and Austin was not en couraged to undertake other works of the kind.
In the course of the following years he served on several royal commissions, one of which in 1836 took him to Malta. But here his health broke down, and on returning to England he was ordered abroad by his physicians. He re mained on the continent until the troubles of 1848 in Europe drove him back to England, where he settled at Weybridgc, residing there until his death. His widoW issued a second edition of 'The Province of Jurisprudence) in 1861, and in her introductions gives a pathetic account of Austin's life struggle. In 1863 she collected and arranged for publication his lectures on the principles of jurisprtrdence, which were issued under the title 'Lectures on Jurisprudence, Being the Sequel to The Province of Jurisprudence Determined.' Austin's fame rests on these lectures, which are remarkable for the clearness and penetration of their analysis of legal conceptions. Austin is the first systematic writer on law in the Eng lish language. His work revolutionized the science of jurisprudence and exerted a wide influence on the legal thought of the last half of the 19th century. In the 20th century this influence appears to be on the wane owing to the larger conception of human society now possible and the historical spirit which has so moulded the thought of our day. For a defense of Austin's theories consult Holland, Thomas E., 'Elements of Jurisprudence' (1900) and Brown, W. Jethro, 'The Austinian of Law' (Boston 1910). For the opposite view consult the works of Sir Henry S. Main, es pecially 'Early Law and Custom' (London 1883); and 'Early History of Institutions' (ib. 1875). Consult also Mill, John Stuart 'Dissertations and Discussions' (4 vols., Lon don 1875). See JURISPRUDENCE; LAW.