t A W. 
What is applicable .to lakes and rivers will alfo hold 
with refpeft to (traits, which are not in genera! wider than 
the great rivers; viz. fuch as thofe, the middle of which 
may be reached by a cannon-fhot fired from the fhore. 
So alfo all thofe parts of the fea which are near land, may 
be looked on as lawfully acquired and maintained, as the 
property and under the dominion of the nation that is 
mailer of the coaft. 
A cuflom, generally acknowledged, extends the autho¬ 
rity of the Hate poffeffing the coaft to a cannon-fhot from 
the fhore, which is underftood to be three leagues ; and this 
diftance is the leaft that a nation ought now to claim as 
the extent of its dominion on the feas. And there are, 
in fome inflances, arbitrary diltances eflablifhed by na¬ 
tions, to protect their commerce againft fmuggling, and a 
contraband traffic ; which is the cafe of Great Britain, 
by various a£ts of interior legislation. 
A nation may alfo occupy, and extend its dominion, 
beyond fuch diftance as aforefaid, either on rivers, lakes, 
bays, flraits, or the ocean ; and fuch dominion may, if the 
national fecurity requires it, be maintained by a fleet of 
armed vefl'els. The empire of a nation on the feas may ex¬ 
tend as far as it has been acknowledged to extend by the 
common confent of other nations, and beyond the boun¬ 
dary of its territorial pofleffions. Among the bays, flraits, 
and gulfs, there are fome that are generally acknowledged 
to be free: there are others which are confidered as un¬ 
der the dominion, and in part even the property, of the 
matters of the coaft j and there are others, the property 
and dominion of which are (till difputed. 
The following are acknowledged as free : theSpanifh Sea, 
the Aquitain Sea, the North Sea, the White Sea, the Medi¬ 
terranean Sea, and the Straits of Gibraltar. The three flraits 
between Denmark and Sweden are under the dominion, and 
confidered as the property, of the king of Denmark. St. 
George’s Channel, between Scotland and Ireland, is under 
the dominion of Great Britain ; the Straits of Sicily are 
under the dominion of the king of Sicily ; the Gulf of 
Bothnia is under the dominion of the king of Sweden 5 
the Black Sea, the JEgean Sea, the Bofphorus of Thrace, 
the Propontis, and the Hellefpont, are all under the do¬ 
minion of the Turkifli empire. Other nations have dif¬ 
puted with England her claim to the dominion, and in 
part to the property, of the four feas that lurround her, 
particularly the Britifn Channel and the Straits of Dover; 
but x\\t fovereignty of the Britifli feas hath been ably proved 
by records, and otherwife by Selden in his Mare Claufum. 
See t\lfo in this work the article Government, vol. viii. 
p.816. 
As to the vaft and immeafurable ocean, and the feas of 
which it is compofed, and particularly that of the Indian 
Sea, about which the molt dreadful conflicts have arifen, 
it is clear, from the enormous extent of each of thofe feas, 
that it is not only extremely difficult, but abfolutely out 
of the power of any flate, even Great Britain with all 
her tranfcendent maritime ftrength, to occupy, and main¬ 
tain and defend the pofieffion of, it. The ocean, therefore, 
is free ; and all the powers of Europe now acknowledge 
it to be exempt from all property and dominion, and to 
be the common pofieffion of all nations. A nation may 
however by treaty renounce the liberty of navigating in 
the Indian or any other fea; ar.d of this there are Several 
examples given by Bouchard. 
Rivers and lakes are ufeful for navigation, fifhing, and 
other emoluments arifing from their pofTeflion ; and there¬ 
fore the powers that command the banks have a right to 
appropriate the ufe of them exclufively to themfelves. 
In general they prohibit foreigners from fifhing in them ; 
but, with refpebt to navigation, as fuch an interdiction 
would produce retaliations, and as it is contrary to the 
commercial liberty generally introduced in Europe, fo¬ 
reigners are now permitted, in time of peace, to navigate 
freely and without restraint. This liberty is founded in 
■part on treaties, and in fome inferior flutes on law : but, 
in every cafe where it is only founded upon cuftom, that 
Vol. XII. No. 833. 
A25 
cuftom does not prevent a nation from making whatever 
regulations or reftriftions it thinks fit, or from exercifing 
over fuch parts of its territory all the rights of fovereign 
dominion. 
The fea furrounding the coaft, as well as thofe parts of 
it which are land-locked, fuch as the roads, bays, gulfs, 
and the like, fituate within cannon-fhot, that is, within 
three leagues of the fhore, are fo entirely the property, 
and fubjebt to the dominion, of the fovereign of the coail , 
that, iff, He hath the exciufive right to all the produce 
of it, whether ordinary or incidental, as far as relates to 
things unclaimed by any other lawful proprietor, zdly, 
He can prohibit or reftridt the navigation of foreigners in 
his roads, and their entry into his ports; yet in time of 
peace this liberty is permitted to merdhant-fhips, and even 
to fliips of war to a certain number. 3diy, He lias a 
right to impofe duties of cuftoms, tonnage, fees of entry 
and of clearance, and alfo to inftitute tolls for the fup- 
port of light-houfes, and other things beneficial to him. 
4thly, He may require the maritime honours that cuftom 
allows to thofe who have dominion over any part of the 
feas. In fa< 5 t, all thofe parts of the fea which furround 
the coaft ought to be looked upon as forming a part of 
the territory of the fovereign who is mailer of the fhore. 
In refpeft to wrecks of the fea, the fovereign, who is the 
matter of the fhore, cannot be confidered to have a right to 
appropriate to his own ufe the wreck of any foreign vef- 
fel call away on his coaft, nor the goods that in a moment 
of danger have heen thrown over-board, unlefs the owner 
thereof be wholly unknown. This pretended Jirand-rig/it 
againft the claims of the owners, contrary rnoft certainly 
to the laws of nature and the principles of humanity, was 
formerly exercifed pretty generally ; but it has been re- 
ftrained from time to time, particularly fince the thirteenth 
century, by privileges, laws, and a number of treaties ; fo 
that, at prelent, it may be confidered as generally abolifhed, 
except in cafes where no trace of ownerfnip, in the pro¬ 
perty wrecked, can by any means be difcovered. 
The fovereign, who is matter of the fhore, or, as is ge¬ 
nerally the cafe, his vaflal, as grantee of tbefe droits, in 
engaging to take up and preferve the fnipvvrecked pro¬ 
perty that may come within his reach, or to afiift veflels 
in danger, has a ir.ott unqueftionable right to demand a 
compenfation for the expences he may incur in fo doing, 
and even to detain a part of the property by way of in¬ 
demnification. This light is every-where now exercifed 
before restitution is made, even to thofe who appear in the 
appointed time, and who can prove themfelves to be the 
lawful owners: the time allowed by law or cuftom for re¬ 
claiming fnipwrecked property, is generally a year, com¬ 
puted from the day on which the proprietor had notice 
of the accident. 
The rights exercifed on the fea near the coaft, are ex¬ 
ercifed alfo in thofe (traits which do not exceed two 
cannon (hots in width; and, upon this ground, the king of 
Denmark, by pofieffing the property and dominion of the 
navigable part of the Sound, claims there not only the 
maritime honour's due to him as fovereign, but certain 
payments for the liberty of patting it; which payments 
are now fixed by treaties between that ttate and other 
nations. 
With refpeft to the rights exercifed in the feas adjacent 
to the landed territory of the different powers ; thefe are 
rights which, according to the divifion of the great States, 
from their local Situation, into the northern, Southern, 
eafiern, and weftern, powers of Europe, can only be exer¬ 
cifed by fuch of them as are termed maritime powers, in con- 
tradifliinftion to thofe that are not maritime. 
It is common enough to call every flate maritime 
that is Situated on the borders of the fea, and is capa¬ 
ble of carrying on commerce on that element; but a ma¬ 
ritime power, properly fpeaking, is a power that keeps up 
a fleet of it dps of war; for neither fleets of merchantmen, 
nor a few (hip's of war, nor even a fleet of galleys, can 
ever be looked upon as conftituting a maritime power. 
4 O In 
