L A W. 



631 



ifeuelimtut 



r the i 



issue them have treaties of commerce in which the 

 matter is settled. 



3. When a prize has been made, the captor cannot 

 appropriate it to his own use till it has been con- 

 demned as a lawful prize in a court of admiralty. 



The customary, as well as conventional law, au- 

 thorizes every sovereign in Europe to institute courts 

 of admiralty and other superior tribunals vested with 

 full power to determine on the legality or illegality of 

 all prize* made by his subjects. 



In trials of this kind the original proprietors of the 

 prize, or those who claim in their stead, are required 

 to prove that the prize is not a lawful one. In other 

 repect, it is not the laws of the country where the 

 court is held, but existing treaties and the universal 

 law of nations that ought to be the basis on which all 

 decisions of this sort should be founded. 



4. During the latter wars of the late century, the 

 neutral powers complained that the belligerent powers, 

 and Great Britain in particular, had encroached on 

 their right* of neutrality, either in swelling out be- 

 yond jut bounds the list of contraband merchandises, 

 or in giving the notion of a blockaded place a too ex- 

 tensive construction; or in vexatious examinations of 

 their vessel*, anil particularly in deviating from the 

 principle established by the customs and treaties of 

 the seventeenth century, according to which (as was 

 alleged) neutral vessels save neutral goods. In con- 

 sequence of these imputed encroachments, the Empress 

 of Russia drew up in 1780, at which time she was 

 among the neutral powers, certain principle* relative 

 to neutral commerce, which she communicated to the 



Cerent powers, accompanied with declaration 

 that she would maintain them by force of arms. Hence 

 the system of armed neutrality 



5 The principles of the system of armed neutrality 

 ire,Jirit, That neutral power* have a right to enjoy a 

 free trade with the ports and roads of the belligerent 

 power* ; trrun-1, That neutral vessels make neutral 

 good*, that is, that rnem\ ' goods found in neutral vet- 

 eb ought not to be confiscated ; third, That no merchan- 

 dises shall be reputed contraband which have not been 

 declared so in treaties made with the belligerent pow- 

 ers, or one of them ; fourth. That n place shall not be 

 looked upon as blockaded except when surrounded by 

 the enemy's veseli in such a manner as to render all 

 entrance manifestly dangerous ; and, ffth, That these 

 principles shall serve as the basis of all decisions touch- 

 ing the legality of prizes. 



\ I most all the powers that remained neutral at 



the time when this system was formed successively 



' acceded to it ; and, among the belligerent powers, 



France and Spain did not oppose it Great Britain 



has neveracknowledg-d it. 



It" tlii ^yitem was adopted in 1780 for the then 

 present war only, the declarations of the parties suffi- 

 ciently prove their intention to have been that it should 



serve as a basis for a like system in future wars ; and Law 

 experience has fully confirmed the conjecture. * of Nations^ 



CHAP. VII. Of Making Peace. 



1. The enemy ought, strictly speaking, to put an Of the first 

 end to the war as soon as he has obtained or can ob- overtures 

 tain the satisfaction demanded, a compensation for the for P eace - 

 expences of the war, and security for the future. But 



it is policy that usually determines the duration of a 

 war. Sometimes the demanded satisfaction is never ob- 

 tained, and sometimes the war is carried on for ven- 

 geance or conquest's sake, after satisfaction is or may 

 be obtained. 



The first overtures for peace are sometimes made by 

 one of the belligerent powers, and sometimes by a neu- 

 tral power, their common friend. The negociations 

 also are sometimes opened by the belligerent powers 

 themselves, and sometimes by a neutral power that 

 interposes its good offices, or becomes mediator. These 

 negociations are carried on at the court of one of the 

 belligerent powers, at that of a mediator, or at any 

 other place named by the parties as the place of as- 

 sembly for the congress. 



2. When the negotiators have come to an agree- 

 ment on the points which are to serve as the basis of 

 a treaty of peace, and certain difficulties remain to be 

 done away which are not of importance enough to in- 

 duce the parties to continue or renew the war, prelimi- 

 nary treaties are generally agreed upon. These treaties 

 differ as to their form ; sometimes they are mere mi- 

 nutes, and sometimes they have all the clauses usually 

 found in formal treaties. In general, when signed and 

 ratified, they are obligatory, even before the definitive 

 treaty is concluded, and remain so if the definitive 

 treaty should not be concluded, unless stipulated other- 

 wise. 



When the preliminary treaty is concluded, the par- 

 ties continue to negotiate on the points that remain un- 

 settled, in order to the conclusion and ratification of the 

 defini:ive treaty. 



3. In a treaty of peace, we may distinguish the ge- 

 neral articles, which bear a strong resemblance to each 

 other in all treaties of peace, from the particular ar- 

 ticles, which being proper to the treaties in which 

 they are inserted are not susceptible of comparison. 



After the introduction usually follow the general ar- 

 ticles, respecting the re-establishment of peace and 

 friendship, the cessation of hostilities and contributions, 

 the exchange or release of prisoners of war, and the 

 general amnesty. 



Then follow the principal particular articles, which 

 after having specified and renewed the treaties that are 

 to serve as the basis of the peace, treat of the matters 

 which occasioned the war, and particularly of what 

 concerns possession, whether there are concessions or 



Of prelimi- 

 nary trea- 

 ties of 

 peace. 



Of defini- 

 tive trea- 

 ties of 

 peace. 



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 af Anntd Ncutniiij. Loodon, IHO1. Id, I>ord Ijverpool'i Treatiie on the conduct of Great Britain with respect to Neutral Na- 

 I . M, A TreMrit of the relative rights and duties of Belligerent and Neutral Powers in Maritime Affaire, by Ko- 

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tart Ward. Kao. ; and a Tr. 

 tat Veaatb win Convoy, * 

 MOL irt. Report of the J 



