In 1814 Savigny wrote the pamphlet ' (Of the Vocation of our Age for Legislation and Legal Science). In an earlier pamphlet Thibaut had argued for the creation of a unified legal code for Germany, independent of the influence of foreign legal systems. Savigny argued that such a codification of the law would have an adverse effect. In his view, the damage that had been caused by the neglect of former generations of jurists could not be quickly repaired, and more time was required to set the house in order. Moreover, a unified legal code would almost certainly be influenced by natural law, with its "infinite arrogance" and its "shallow philosophy". It was Savigny's opinion that legal science should be saved from the "hollow abstractions" of such a work as Christian Wolff's '. Savigny opposed this conception of legal science to the "historical study of positive law", which according to him is "a condition precedent to right understanding of the science of all law". Savigny did not oppose the introduction of new laws or of a new system of laws, but considered that the laws of any nation should reflect the "national spirit ("Volksgeist")".