FALKLAND ISLANDS. 309 



avowal of the act by which she was temporarily 

 dispossessed, after discussion, negotiation, and 

 solemn agreement, gave to the title of Great 

 Britain more stability and strength ; for it is a 

 virtual acknowledgment, on the part of Spain, 

 of its validity. Great Britain might then have 

 occupied and settled all the islands, and fortified 

 every harbour, without giving to Spain any just 

 cause of umbrage. 



With her rights again acknowledged, the 

 emblems of sovereignty again reared, and pos- 

 session resumed by a military and naval force, 

 Great Britain voluntarily abandoned these dis- 

 tant dominions, taking every possible precaution, 

 when she did so, to give evidence to the world 

 that though she abandoned she did not relin- 

 quish them. 



It is true that many years have elapsed since, 

 under these circumstances, she ceased to occupy 

 the Falkland Islands. But the lapse of time 

 cannot prevent her from resuming possession, 

 if her own maxim of law be well founded — Nul- 

 lum tempus occur r it regi — and that she persists 

 in her claim is evident, from the following pro- 

 test communicated to the undersigned, officially, 



