Since the time of Grotius, the science of international law has been in a state of almost constant progression. The impulse which he imparted, set in motion a series of improvements, which reaches down to the present time. He was followed by several writers, who explained his meaning, carried out his principles, and contributed much to give a moral sanction to the authority of this law. Tribunals have been erected, to which are referred for decision the multifarious questions arising out of commercial intercourse and maritime trade. Within the last thirty years, judgments have been pronounced by a single Judge of one of these courts, to which Mr. Justice Story declares, that, "in his deliberate opinion, the world is more indebted for a practical exposition of the law of nations, upon the eternal principles of justice and reason, than to all the jurists of all former ages."* Nations, in their intercourse with each other, can now appeal to established authorities upon almost any point, which may come into dispute, which, to disregard, would be consistent neither with their interests nor their honor. How much has thus been achieved, to diminish the causes and remove the barbarities of war, it is not difficult to perceive. It may be asked, what remains to be done? International Law is now a highly cultivated science. The mutual rights and reciprocal duties of nations are now pretty well defined and understood. What remains to be done? We answer, it remains to persuade mankind to reduce this science to a much more complete and universal practice. It remains to give to the world full and convincing illustrations of the meaning of the rules, which have been laid down, by which to determine the lawfulness or unlawfulness of declaring war. They are War may be declared when necessary for self-defence. Let this rule be made the subject of the strictest scrutiny. What is the import of the word, necessity? Does it mean a fear of future attack, or an alarming apprehension of the increasing strength of some foreign power, or an actual beginning, either two. * Story's Inaugural Discourse, p. 50. The Judge here referred to by Mr. Story, is Lord Stowell, late Sir William Scott, in preparation or in fact, of hostile operations? And besides, have we a right to create this necessity, by inviting or exciting aggression? Have we, by cultivating the arts of peace, in-creasing our resources, maintaining the strictest justice and good faith in our intercourse with other nations, done all that we could to place ourselves in an attitude of such moral power, as to intimidate aggression? And the other rule; War should never be declared, until all other means of redress have been faithfully tried; nor then, unless the conditions of peace are more rigorous and severe than war itself. Let this rule be made the subject of the most lucid exposition. Let it be fully shown. what it means to try faithfully all other means of redress, whether it means to pass minatory resolutions, to send threatening messages, to recall, by sudden despatches, ministers resident at the court of the offending nation, to endeavour to overreach by some diplomatic manœuvre; or in the most calm and dispassionate manner, and in a spirit of friendship and conciliation, to state frankly our grievances, and appeal to the honour and justice of the other party. Let it be also shown, what are all other means of redress. And the other clause of the rule; nor then unless the conditions of peace are more rigorous and severe than war itself; let it be most clearly shown, by a full exhibition of all the horrors of war, so far as it is in the power of the pen or the tongue of man to do it, what are the rigors of its conditions, that by contrasting them with the conditions of peace, it may be more readily decided whether or not the case falls within the rule. And again, is an appeal to arms for redress an appeal to the God of hosts, or an appeal to mere brutal force ?* *Offences against the law of nations, says Sir William Blackstone, can rarely be the object of the criminal law of any particular state. For offences against this law are principally incident to whole states or nations; in which case recourse can only be had to war; which is an appeal to the God of hosts, to punish such infractions of public faith, as are committed by one independent people against another: neither state having any superior jurisdiction to resort to upon earth for justice. Com. on the Laws of Eng. B. IV. ch. 5. War, to use the language of Lord Bacon, says Chancellor Kent, and he seems to appropriate the sentiment to himself, is one of the highest trials of right; Lastly, it remains to urge upon nations perpetually, in the words of Dr. Chalmers, quoted now not for the first time, but which never can be quoted too often, "with irresistible argument that the Christian ethics of a nation is as one with the Christian ethics of the humblest individual." The sketch which we have given of the progress of international law, shows that within the last two centuries, much has been gained. The history of the past is rich in omens for the future. Let it serve to encourage and direct us in a course of advancement. What has been accomplished, has been accomplished by a two-fold mode of operation. Christianity combined with other causes has exerted a general influence upon international intercourse, and direct means have been used for establishing and improving the rules of this intercourse. It has not been by the general influence of Christianity alone, nor by the general influence of any other causes. Doubtless there is an intimate relationship between all the great objects of Christian effort and enterprise. As in the entire circle of the sciences, so in the entire circle of the moral interests of mankind, no one department can be cultivated and improved without affecting more or less remotely all the others. Yet, each individually requires its own peculiar culture. No man would think of saying in regard to any one of the sciences, cultivate all the other sciences and this will take care of itself, or diffuse the principles of science generally, and you will have done all that needs to be done. No, it is not thus, that advancement is to be made. It is not thus that the condition of society is to be changed by the power of the Gospel. It must be made to bear directly and with irresistible force upon every department of human conduct. The voice of the past to the present is, use direct efforts for strengthen for, as princes and states acknowledge no superior upon earth, they put them. selves upon the justice of God by an appeal to arms. Kent's Com. on Am. Law, vol. I. Lec. 3. Quere, had these eminent jurists ever examined the grounds on which this opinion rests? Could they have shown the distinction between public war as a trial of right, and the famous modes of trial by or deal and by wager of battle? ing the bonds which unite together the great society of nations, that war may be abolished from the earth. Let us obey the voice of the past. But let not the work of promoting peace be confined to jurists, judges and statesmen. Let every Christian and every benevolent man, whose time and talents and influence are not entirely engrossed with other great interests of humanity, come in for a share of the blessing promised to those who shall be makers of peace. It is not a hopeless work in which we are engaged. For more than two hundred years, the slave trade was esteemed by the powers of Europe a legal commerce, and sustained as such by their legal tribunals. But did not the British Parliament, by a series of acts beginning at 1807 and terminating at 1824, raise their voice against it, and at each successive time louder than before, until at last they declared it piracy? Did not the British government, in the treaty of Paris in 1814, stipulate with the king of France that he should declare the trade illegal, decree its abolition, so far as his authority would go, and use his influence at the approaching congress of the European powers, to induce them also to decree its suppression? And in 1815, did not the chief powers of Europe, assembled by their ministers, at the Congress of Vienna, "solemnly declare in the face of Europe and the world, that the African slave trade had been regarded by just and enlightened men in all ages, as repugnant to the principles of humanity, and of universal morality, and that the public voice in all civilized countries demanded that it should be suppressed, and that the universal abolition of it was conformable to the spirit of the age, and to the generous principles of the allied powers?" The efforts of England did not stop here. In 1826, we find her stipulating with Brazil, that it should be piracy for any of the subjects of the latter power to engage in this trade after 1830.-We behold here an extraordinary spectacle, a nation exerting itself in its national capacity, in the great cause of humanity. Are not this waking up of Britain to the enormities of the slave trade, and the subsequent efforts made for its suppression, to be ascribed mainly to the zeal, and the action of British philanthropists, directed to wards the accomplishment of this one object? If similar efforts should be made, why may not the nations of Europe and America, be awakened to such a sense of the enormities of war, that at some future congress they shall solemnly declare in the face of Europe and the world, that the custom of public war has been regarded by just and enlightened men in all ages, as repugnant to the principles of humanity, and of universal morality, and that the public voice in all civilized countries demands that it shall be suppressed, and that the universal abolition of it is conformable to the spirit of the age, and to the generous principles of the powers in this congress assembled ? ARTICLE IV. CRITICAL NOTICES. BY THE EDITOR. 1.-Essays on the Principles of Morality, and on the Private and New THE author of this work was a member of the society of Friends, and a tradesman at Exeter, in the south western part of England, where he died at an early age, in the spring of 1828. He was already known to the public by an "Inquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity." The present work was published after his death, and has passed through two editions in England. We recollect to have read an interesting notice of it three years ago in the Quarterly Review; a recent examination of the work itself has confirmed and increased the favorable impression we then received of its merit and value. We rejoice that an American edition has been brought out. It is a work which deserves, and we trust will secure, an extensive circulation and a thorough perusal. We heartily agree with the judgment of the Quarterly Review, Jan. 1831, that "the present work is one which the society (the Friends) may well consider it an honor to have produced; it is, indeed, a book of such ability, and so excellently intended, as well as executed, that even those who differ most widely, as we must do, from some of its conclusions, must regard the writer with the greatest respect, and look upon his death as a public loss." |