138 



NATIONS. 



the customs and institutions of the society, and the 

 habits, ami manners, and opinions of the people 

 generally, interpose some indirect checks, and com- 

 pel the sovereign to yield a practical obedience to 

 Koine limits prescribed to his prerogatives. If he 

 does not, there is often an ultimate resort of popular 

 or aristocratical power, which, by cutting him oft', 

 administers an effectual, though sanguinary remedy. 

 In free governments, this despotic sovereignty is a 

 mere residuary power in the people, if it can be said 

 to have any positive existence at all. It never is 

 confided to any public functionaries, except for 

 transitory purposes; and it is contrary to the theore- 

 tical principles of such governments that it should be 

 intrusted, as a permanent attribute, to the legislative, 

 executive, or judicial departments. Nations, there- 

 fore, in a just sense, are deemed sovereign, not so 

 much because they possess the absolute right to 

 exercise, in their actual organization, such transcen- 

 dent and despotic authority, but because whatever 

 they do exercise is independent of and uncontrollable 

 by any foreign nation. The sovereignty of many 

 nations is, in its actual organization, limited by their 

 own constitutions of government ; but, in relation to 

 all foreign states, the sovereignty is, nevertheless, 

 complete and perfect. And a nation may even have 

 a limited connexion with or dependence upon other 

 nations, and yet retain a general sovereignty, in all 

 other respects, and thus entitle itself to be deemed a 

 sovereign nation, if it still possesses the power to 

 govern itself by its own authority and laws. In 

 respect to eacli other, then, nations possessed of 

 sovereignty, in the limited sense above stated, are 

 deemed equals; and are entitled to the same general 

 rights and privileges. Relative strength is of no 

 consequence ; it neither confers nor abstracts any 

 sovereign power. Relative weakness creates no 

 dependence, and, in a just sense, compels to no sacri- 

 fice of national attributes. In respect to its own 

 internal concerns, every nation possesses general 

 and supreme authority. How that authority shall 

 be exercised, and by whom, depends upon the partic- 

 ular constitution of each state, and is subject to the 

 modification and control of the national will, ex- 

 pressed in such manner as the people prescribe. 

 The authority of the nation over all its members is, 

 by the very act of association, deemed, in all that 

 concerns the general welfare of the nation, complete 

 ami supreme. All the members are bound to obedi- 

 ence and allegiance ; and, in return, the nation is 

 bound to protect and preserve its members. 



It may be proper, however, to express the rights 

 and duties of a nation in a more exact form than 

 can be communicated in such general propositions. 

 1. Every nation possesses full jurisdiction to create, 

 alter, abolish, and regulate its own form of govern- 

 ment, in such a manner as to provide, from time to 

 time, for its own safety and happiness. 2. Every 

 nation possesses an exclusive jurisdiction, within its 

 territory, over all persons and things therein. 3. 

 Every nation possesses a right to demand the alle- 

 giance of all its own subjects, and to bind them by 

 its own laws, whether they are at home, or abroad. 

 4. Every nation has a right to the temporary alle- 

 giance and obedience of all persons who are stran- 

 gers and foreigners, so long as they reside within its 

 territorial limits. 5. Every nation has a right to 

 exercise jurisdiction, in common with every other 

 nation upon the high seas; and in all other places 

 not exclusively belonging to some other nation. 

 H. Every nation has a right to enforce its own regu- 

 lations upon its own subjects, and upon all other 

 persons sailing under its flag and protection upon the 

 high seas, and to govern its trade thereon, not inter- 

 fering with the common rights of other nations. 



7. Every nation has a right to hold all persons, Ixirn 

 within its limits, and not specially exempted by the 

 law of nations, to be its subjects, and bound thereto 

 by natural allegiance. 8. Every nation has a right 

 to naturalize foreigners residing within its territory, 

 at its own pleasure ; but such naturalization cannot 

 impair or destroy the rights of other nations, to whom 

 they may previously owe allegiance. 9. Every na- 

 tion possesses a supreme legislative, executive, and 

 judicial authority, and may confer such portion of 

 these powers upon its public functionaries, for the 

 purposes of its own safety, interest, and happiness, as 

 it may deem proper. 10. Every nation lias a right 

 to acquire and hold property, as its own public 

 domain, for public purposes. 11. The rights of 

 persons, and the rights of property, within its terri- 

 tory, are subject to the control and regulation of 

 every nation, according to its own constitution and 

 laws. 12. The territory within the limits of every 

 nation, not owned by any private persons, belongs 

 to the nation in its sovereign capacity. 13. Every 

 nation, in virtue of its eminent domain, has, in cases 

 of necessity, and for the public safety and happiness, 

 a right to dispose of any portion of the wealth or 

 property of its subjects. 14. Every nation possesses 

 the power, in virtue of its sovereignty, to punish all 

 crimes committed against it, and to enforce all civil 

 obligations due to it from the persons subjected to its 

 authority. Such are some of the more important 

 rights of sovereignty, belonging to nations. 



VVe may now enumerate some of their duties. 



1. Every nation is bound to protect the rights and 

 possessions of its subjects against all aggressions. 



2. Every nation is bound to prevent its subjects from 

 doing any wrong or injustice to the subjects of other 

 countries. 3. Every nation, in virtue of its obliga- 

 tion to preserve the peace, liberty, and happiness, of 

 its own subjects, is bound to provide for the enact- 

 ment of all good and wholesome laws for these pur- 

 poses-; and, especially, to provide for the necessities 

 of the nation itself; to promote agriculture, com- 

 merce, manufactures, and all lawful pursuits, which 

 are calculated to relieve the wants, promote the 

 prosperity, or encourage the just enterprise of its 

 subjects. 4. Every nation is bound to provide for 

 the due and regular administration of justice ; for the 

 redress of wrongs ; for the preservation of civil, 

 political, and religious liberty ; for the cultivation ot 

 piety and sound morals ; for the suppression of vice ; 

 for public education and instruction; and for all other 

 objects which are essential to the true interests and 

 happiness of the people. Such, in a general view, 

 are some of the more important duties of nations, in 

 respect to their internal concerns. It has been 

 already stated that every nation possesses a right to 

 all territory within its own limits, not belonging to 

 private persons; and it may be added, that, as all 

 such territory is held for the national benefit, it may 

 be alienated, and disposed of, according to the will of 

 the nation. All property, however acquired by the 

 nation, is subject to the like disposition. Thus all 

 the national revenues arising from taxation, or rents, 

 or other income, or resources, may be applied as the 

 nation deems proper for its own welfare. But there 

 are many things which a nation holds for the public 

 use and benefit, in respect to which all the subjects 

 possess, or may possess, a common right of enjoy- 

 ment. Thus rivers, lakes, and arms of the sea, 

 within the limits of the territory of a nation, are pos- 

 sessed and owned by the nation, in virtue of its occu- 

 pation of the adjacent country ; and, until alienated, 

 they are held for the common benefit of all the 

 people, and may be used by all the people for the 

 purpose of fishing and navigation. Of the like 

 nature are roads, and highways, and canals estab- 



