Emmerle De Vattel, a Swiss publicist, born at Couvet, Neufchatel, Aug. 25, 1714, died in Neufchatel, Dec. 20, 1767. He was the son of a Protestant clergyman, and studied at Basel and Geneva. After residing some years in Geneva and Berlin, he received an office at Dresden in 1744; from 1746 to 1758 he represented Augustus of Saxony and Poland at Bern, and then became a privy councillor at Dresden, returning to Switzerland shortly before his death. He wrote in defence of the system of Leibnitz and on other subjects; but his principal work is Le droit des gens, on principes de la loi naturelle appliques d la conduite et aux affaires des nations et des souverains (2 vols. 4to, Neufchatel, 1758), which has passed through numerous editions and has been translated into several languages. The best known English translation is that of Joseph Chitty, "Law of Nations, or Principles of the Law of Nature applied to the Conduct and Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns" (London, 1797, many times edited and reprinted in England and the United States). Vattel's last production was Questions de droit naturel, et observations sur le traite du droit de la nature par M. le baron de Wolf (Bern, 1762).