296 APPENDIX TO BRITISH CASE. 



Thus Venice arrogated to herself the Adriatic ; Genoa, the Ligurian 

 Sea; the Portuguese and the Spanish, the Sea of the two Indies; 

 and, in the eighteenth century, England claimed to be the mistress 

 and sovereign of all the seas in communication with those surround- 

 ing her coast, which, of course was no less than to claim sovereignty 

 over all the seas in the world, as they all communicate with each 

 other. But these arrogant assumptions on the part of powerful 

 States, never were assented to by those whom they excluded from 

 the common domain. The history of England furnishes us with a 

 striking example of her own susceptibility, whenever such claims 

 were set up against her. At a time when, though powerful on the 

 ocean, she could not yet pretend to rule her rivals out of it, and when 

 Spain, in the palmiest days of her strength and glory, and aided by 

 the bulls of the Pope, was claiming titles to all the lands and seas 

 of the two Americas, this latter nation sent her Embassadors to the 

 English Court and loudly complained of the devastations which an 

 illustrious navigator, Sir Francis Drake, was committing on her 

 domains. Here is the answer which the supercilious and unbending 

 Elizabeth made to her complaints : 



The use of the sea and of the air is common to all. No people nor private 

 person can claim any power over the ocean ; for neither its nature nor its pub- 

 lic usage will allow its being occupied. 



We find, it is true, in all ages, nations who, being more especially 

 addicted to commerce and navigation, obtained, for a time, what 

 the writers on the Law of Nations would call a prepotency over the 

 sea ; but, even under that prepotency they never pretended to be the 

 sole tenants of it. Tyre, Rhodes, Athens, Laceda3mon, Carthage, 

 and Rome herself never claimed its absolute and exclusive enjoy- 

 ment, but suffered other nations to enjoy it with them. Though 

 it was said of the Carthagenians that they exercised such a power 

 over the sea as to render its navigation dangerous adeo potentes 

 mari, ut omnibus mortalibus navigatio periculosa esset yet they 

 but aimed at a nominal supremacy ; and therefore it is that, accorof- 

 ing to Strabo, 



they carried their commercial jealousy so far as to interdict the nations who 

 contested with her for that supremacy, from landing upon their coasts, and to 

 sink all vessels with which her own met, directing their course towards Sar- 

 dinia, or towards what was called afterwards Gibraltar. 



I read in a most lucid and interesting treatise on the right of 

 property, by Comte, that the shores of the sea which formed part of 

 the Roman Empire were considered the property of the Roman peo- 

 ple; the use of them was held to be common to all mankind for fish- 

 ing and navigable purposes; and though the authority of the Prsetor 

 was necessary to warrant the construction thereon of any buildings, 

 the want of such an authority did not involve the destruction of the 

 works, if not injurious to fishing or navigation, or the cause of 

 damage to others; and the sole object of the authority required, 

 seems to have been to ascertain and establish the sovereignty of 

 the Roman people over coasts which formed part of their territories. 



THE SEA AND ITS SHORES ARE AS COMMON AND FREE TO ALL MEN AS 

 THE AIR ITSELF/ AND NO PERSON CAN BE PROHIBITED FROM FlSHIN(i 



IN IT. So speaks the Roman Law; and therefore the Emperor An- 

 toninus, to whom remonstrances were made against the inhabitants 

 of the Cyclades who interrupted the navigation of their neighbours, 



