LAW. 



S'Vf : 



sovereign sends a person of confidence, to treat in se- 

 cret of some affairs of importance, or that require dis- 

 patch, without giving him the quality of minister ; or 

 at least without permitting him to assume it openly 

 till the object of his mission be out of danger. If the 



627 



ty due to him as minister ; it' not, he may be treated 

 as a private person. Such persons can demand no part 

 of the ceremonial due to them as ministers while they 

 forbear to discover their quality as such ; and, in gene- 

 ral, they are looked upon by all the other ministers as 

 private persons. 



CHAT. III. Of Stale Mettengert. 



feet obligations by refusing to permit or to do what Law 

 equity and humanity dictate, and by doing what in ri- of Nations. 

 gour he has a right to do, but which humanity and ^"""Y""' 

 equity forbid. Particularly, Jirst, In refusing to ob- 

 serve a point of simple custom ; second, In introducing 



court to which he is sent, be informed of the object of into his dominions some partial right or law, to the pre- 



his mission, he ought to be granted all the inviolabili- judice of foreigners. 



From the nature of imperfect rights and obligations, 

 it is clear that no violation of them can authorize the 

 use of forcible means, or the infraction of perfect obli- 

 gations, in the pursuit of redress; but it is no less 

 clear that in order to obtain such redress a sovereign 

 may make use of retaliation. He may, for instance, 

 refuse to comply with the same custom with respect to 

 another sovereign, that that sovereign has refused to 

 acknowledge with respect to him ; or he may refuse to 

 comply with some other custom which is equivalent to 

 it. He may introduce a partial right or law to the pre- 

 judice of such foreigners as have done the same with 

 respect to him or his subjects. By these means he re- 

 establishes reciprocity, or obliges unfriendly powers to 

 change their conduct. 



3. A sovereign v.olates his perfect obligations in in- Of repri- 

 fringing the natural or perfect rights of another. It mat- s" 1 *- 

 ters not whether these rights are original and inherent, 



or whether they have been acquired by express or tacit 

 covenant, or otherwise. 



In case of such violation, the injured sovereign may 

 refuge to fulfil his perfect obligations towards the sove- 

 reign by whom he is injured, or towards the subjects of 

 such sovereign. He may also have recourse to more 

 violent means till he has obliged the offending party to 

 yield him satisfaction, or till he has taken such satisfac- 

 tion himself, and guarded himself against the like inju- 

 ries in future. 



Whether the state or its subjects be the offending 

 party, if the state refuse to make satisfaction, the pro. 

 perty of each of its subjects coming within the reach 

 of the injured state, is liable to seizure, (in which case 

 such subjects have a right to be indemnified by the 

 state to which they belong;) and even the persons of 

 such subjects may be seized ; but the life of an inno- 

 cent person cannot be taken, unless in extraordinary 

 cases where there are no other means of obtaining sa- 

 tisfaction, and of preventing future violations. 



There are many acts by which a sovereign refuses 

 to do or to suffer what he is perfectly obliged to do or 

 to suffer, or by which he does what he is ordinarily 

 perfectly obliged to omit, in order to obtain satisfaction 

 for a real injury sustained : all these acts are called re- 

 prisals. 



4. One species of reprisal the most frequently em- Seizure. 

 ployed, is the seizure of the property and persons 



of the subjects belonging to the state from whom an 

 injury has been received. This is done with a view of 

 obtaining satisfaction by the confiscation of the proper- 

 ty seized, if all endeavours should fail of obtaining it 

 otherwise from the offending state. 



5. Whatever difference there may be in the different Approxima- 

 species of reprisals, they resemble one another in this, tio . n { "' 

 that they are all determinate acts of violence, and that ^"uli* state 

 they are exercised separately ; but when all these spe- O j war . 



gree by which be can obtain due satisfaction. Above cies of reprisals are exercised at once, they form a sort 

 all, be ought to distinguish carefully the means of re- of warfare ; indeed they no longer differ from actual war. 



are the bearers between sovereigns and 

 minister* of whatever they wish to convey with dis- 

 patch. Every sovereign grants, in time of peace, a 

 full and entire inviolability to the persons of messen- 

 gers, as well as to the dispatches of which they are the 

 bearers, whether they are sent to his own court, or are 

 on the road to some other court ; but in order to this, 

 they must announce themselves as such, and produce, 

 if required, the necessary passports, &c. This invi- 

 olability has often been confirmed by treaty ; and to 

 commit an act of violence against a messenger u now 

 looked upon as an enormous offence. 



They are further granted an exemption from imposts 

 and from being searched as long as they do not abuse 

 this favour. 



In time of war, this inviolability is not so much re- 

 spected. Belligerent powers take the liberty of seiz- 

 ing the messengers of their enemies, or of the allies of 

 their enemies, when there are no treaties to the con- 

 trary. Sometimes it is agreed to grant them passports 

 ami this very often is one of the first objects of a nego 



vi-ry 



ciation fur pcc. 



. nt-go- 



BOOK VI. 



Op FORCIBLE MEANS EMPLOYED BY A NATION IN THE 



DEFENCE OR Pi- RSI-IT or ITS RIGHTS. 

 CHAP. I. (>i Ilttaliatio* and Repritalt. 



1. In case of a difference between two sovereigns, he 

 who complains of a violation of bis natural or positive 

 rights ought, unless his pretension* be of an indispu- 

 table nature, to begin by sufficiently proving those 

 right", as well as the violation of them complained of. 

 Tnis done, if he cannot obtain due satisfaction by ami- 

 cable means, or if be foresees that it would be useless 

 to try such means, he may, if he does not choose to 

 renounce satisfaction altogether, have recourse to for- 

 cible means, whether it be in the defence or pursuit of 

 his right*. Forcible means are, indeed, in such cases, 

 the only ones that are left to sovereigns who acknow- 



ledge no Judge or superior. 

 Forcible mea 



means are of several degrees, which differ 

 widely from each other, and every sovereign is obliged 

 to TVT'*TT himself to the employment of the lowest de- 

 i by which be can obtain due satisfaction. Above 

 j be ought to distinguish carefully the means of re- 

 dress proper to be made use of in case of a violation of 

 nperfect obligation, from those which would be jus- 



an im 



(N 



tifiable in case of a violation of a perfect obligation. 

 2. There arc many ways of violating an imperfect 

 In general, a sovereign violates his iuiper- 



CIIAP. II. Of the Commencement of War. 



1. National u-ar, as distinguished from civil, is a con- 

 flict between nation and nation. It never can be un- War > * hat? 



