The Arbitration Treaty 189 



institutions. An example of what is meant was 

 furnished by the Congress of Paris in 1856, when 

 it dealt summarily with the whole group of vexed 

 questions relating to the rights and duties of neu- 

 trals and belligerents upon the ocean, and put an 

 end to the chaos of two centuries by establishing 

 an international code relating to piracy, blockades, 

 and seizures in times of naval war. This code has 

 been respected by maritime powers and enforced 

 by the world's public opinion, and its establish- 

 ment was a memorable incident in the advance of 

 civilization. Now, such work as the Congress 

 of Paris did can be done in future by other con- 

 gresses, but it is work of broader scope than has 

 hitherto been undertaken by courts of arbitration. 

 I am inclined to think that both these institutions 

 the International Congress and the Tribunal of 

 Arbitration are destined to survive, with very 

 considerable increase in power and dignity, in the 

 political society of the future, long after disarma- 

 ment has become an accomplished fact. 



About the time that a small party of English- 

 men at Jamestown were laying the first foundation 

 stones of the United States, one of the greatest 

 kings and one of the greatest ministers of modern 

 times were deeply engaged in what they called the 

 Great Design, a scheme for a European Conf edera- 



