Victoria, Soto, Suarez, Ayala, Bolaños, Bodinus, Brunus, and Gentilis. Nicolo Macchiavelli was born at Florence, in 1469, and died in 1527. He filled various political offices, as Chancellor, Secretary, etc. His principal work, entitled 'Il Principe,' was probably not intended as a mere scientific treatise, but was written for a particular person, and for the purpose of effecting, at the time, a certain definite object. Its character has, therefore, often been misconceived by commentators. Macchiavelli was a man of learning and talents, and his writings on history and politics had no inconsiderable influence upon his own and succeeding ages. Francisco de Victoria was a professor at the University of Salamanca. His 'Relectiones' were first published at Lyons, in 1557; they were thirteen in number, but only the fifth and sixth related to subjects of international law. He died in 1633. Dominico Soto, born in 1494, was a pupil of Victoria, and his successor at Salamanca. His elaborate treatise, entitled 'De Justitia et de Jure,' was published about 1560. Francisco Suarez was a Spanish Jesuit, and the most acute casuist of his age. He was the first to point out, in his treatise 'De Legibus et Deo Legislatore,' the distinction between natural and consuetudinary law, and to show that international law rested not only on the principles of justice, but also on the usages of nations. He was born at Granada, in 1548, and died in 1617. Strange to say, his work is neither mentioned nor referred to by Grotius. Balthazar Ayala was judge advocate of the Spanish army in the Netherlands under the Prince of Parma, to whom, in 1581, he dedicated his treatise 'De Jure et Officiis Bellicis.' Juan de Hevia Bolaños was a native of Oviedo, in the Asturias, but his celebrated work, entitled Curia Philippica,' was written in Peru, and, as he informs us, finished at the city of Los Reyes, on Christmas eve, in 1615. It is a work of great learning, and is often referred to on questions of commercial and maritime law. Jean Bodin, or Johannes Bodinus, as he is usually called, was born at Angers, in France, in 1530, and died at Laon, in 1596. His great work, entitled 'De la République,' was the first attempt at a scientific treatise on politics. Conrad Brunus was a German civilian. His elaborate treatise, entitled 'De Legationibus,' was first published at Mainz, in 1548. Albericus Gentilis was born in the March of Ancona, in 1550, and died in London in 1608. He first studied in Germany, and afterwards went to England, where he filled the chair of jurisprudence in the University of Oxford. His treatise, entitled 'De Jure Belli,' was published in 1589, the titles to the chapters of which run almost parallel to those of the first and third books of Grotius. He has the credit of having first mapped off the subject, afterwards so ably treated by that eminent founder of international jurisprudence. To the above list we may add the names of Peckius, a Belgian, who published his 'Ad Rem Nauticam,' in 1556, but whose writings were not collected and published together till 1646; of Straccha, an Italian, and Santerna, a Portuguese, whose writings were published in the 'De Mercatura' at Cologne, in 1623. § 15. Hugo Grotius, justly regarded as the founder of modern international law, was the most remarkable man of the age in which he lived,-an age distinguished for men of genius and learning. He was born in 1583 at Delft, Holland. Being involved in the persecution of the pensionary Barnevelt and the other Arminians, he was imprisoned in the fortress of Louvestein, from which he escaped, through the devotion of his heroic wife, and took refuge in France. His great work, 'De Jure Belli ac Pacis,' was published at Paris in 1625. He died at Rostock in 1645. This work has been translated into all languages, and has elicited the admiration of all nations and of all succeeding ages. Its author is universally regarded as the great master-builder of the science of international jurisprudence. In addition to his reputation as a writer on public law, he was almost equally distinguished as a statesman, diplomatist, historian, and theologian, and as a practical lawyer and eloquent advocate. His works on international law have been objected to for the profusion of classical quotations and historical illustrations, but these defects were necessarily incident to the particular period at which he wrote. These objections were answered by himself during his lifetime, and subsequently by the able and eloquent pen of Sir James Mackintosh. A more serious and well-founded objection has been made to his work, 'De Jure Belli ac Pacis,' for its want of systematic arrangement, and the introduction of questions and discussions which do not properly belong to the subject. It is characterized by profound thought, great perspicuity, and the most liberal and enlightened sentiment. Strange, however, as it may appear, the early opponents of his work charged him with attempting to annihilate the three great principles of the Roman law, Honeste vivere; Neminem lædere; Suum cuique tribuere. But such prejudice and puny opposition were soon overcome when the real character of his writings were understood. Although Grotius had dedicated his great work on international law to Louis XIII. of France, it was strangely neglected by that king, who gave no reward to the author. Charles Louis, Elector Palatine, was the first prince to appreciate its utility, and ordered it to be publicly taught in his university of Heidelberg. The great Gustavus is said to have found the same pleasure in reading it as did Alexander in perusing the poems of Homer, and honoured the author by calling him to a public employment in Sweden. In 1656, it was taught as public law in the university of Wittemberg, and before the close of the century, was universally established as the true fountain-head of European international law. Grotius wrote during the Thirty Years' War,'—that fierce struggle for religious and political liberty, which was terminated a short time after his death by an honourable peace, based upon the principles which he had so ably and earnestly advocated. Fifth Period-From the Peace of Westphalia to that of Utrecht, 1648-1713. § 16. The peace of Westphalia, 1648, terminated the long series of wars growing out of the Reformation, and that memorable struggle against the political preponderance of the house of Austria, which, for thirty years, had devastated Germany and the north of Europe. The peace that was at last brought about by necessity,' says Schlegel, 'constituted an epoch in European history. It was a great religious pacification—it was a recognition that to terminate by arms the dispute between the ancient faith and the new doctrines was an impossibility, and it was a settlement of legal relations between the adherents of the one creed and of the other.' It not only gave greater religious tolerance and political liberty to the people of the older States, but also brought into existence new political communities which assumed the position of independent States. It was constantly referred to in subsequent treaties, and continued to form the basis of the conventional law of Europe until the French Revolution. Although the treaty of Westphalia concluded the war in Germany, it continued to rage in other parts of Europe. The contest between France and Spain was terminated by the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659; this was followed by the treaties of Oliva and Copenhagen in 1660; that of Aix-laChapelle in 1668; that of Nimeguen in 1678; that of Ryswick in 1677; and by that of Utrecht in 1713, which virtually restored the peace of Europe.' § 17. The long and bloody wars which intervened between the peace of Westphalia, 1648, and that of Utrecht, 1713, and the conventions and treaties by which they were severally suspended or terminated, gave rise to numerous questions of international law, some of which were entirely new in the history of that science. Of the questions particularly discussed we may mention those relating to the independence and sovereignty of States, the liberty of the seas, the interpretation of treaties, the rights of conquest and of preemption, the theory of maritime prize, the law of sieges and blockades, the belligerent right of visitation and search, and the treatment due to prisoners of war. In many of these subjects a considerable advance was made from the restricted rules of the jus gentium of the Romans, and even from the more liberal principles established by Grotius; but in others the progress of this branch of jurisprudence scarcely kept pace with the increasing civilisation of nations.2 § 18. The principal writers on constitutional law immediately following Grotius were Selden, Hobbes, Puffendorf, Spinoza, Zouch, Loccenius, Molloy, Jenkins, Cumberland, Wicquefort, Rachel and Leibnitz. John Selden was born in Sussex, England, in 1584, and died in 1634. He wrote a most able work on the law of nations, as derived from the institutions of the ancient Jews; but he is better known by his work entitled Mare Clausum,' 1 Schlegel, Lectures on Mod. Hist., lec. xvii., xviii. published in 1635 as an answer to the 'Mare Liberum' of Grotius. Thomas Hobbes was born in Malmesbury, England, in 1588, and died in 1679. His work entitled 'De Cive' was published in 1647. He adopted the absurd theory that a state of nature is one of perpetual war in which brute force supersedes law and every other principle of action. Samuel Puffendorf was born in Saxony in 1632, and died at Berlin in 1694. He was Professor of Natural Law at Laud and afterwards Secretary of State at Stockholm. His principal work on public law, entitled 'De Jure Naturæ et Gentium,' was published in 1672. This treatise is far superior to that of Grotius in its plan and the mode of reasoning, but is less practical and original, and his style is too diffuse to be attractive. Baruch Spinoza was of a Jewish-Portuguese family, but born at Amsterdam in 1632; he died in 1677. He published a number of political and theological essays called Tracts, in some of which he treated of questions of international law. He agreed with Hobbes that the natural state of man is one of war, and avowed the detestable maxims that nations are not bound to observe their treaties any longer than it may be for their interest to do so. Richard Zouch was born at Anstey, Wiltshire, in 1590, and died in 1660. He was Professor of Roman Law at Oxford, England, and judge of the High Court of Admiralty. His principal works on public law, written about 1650, were entitled 'De Jure Feciali, sive Judicio inter Gentes,' and 'De Jure Nautico.' His writings are of high authority even at the present day, and are frequently referred to by English judges and publicists, particularly on questions of maritime law. Contemporary with Zouch was the Swedish professor, Johannes Loccenius, who wrote in 1651. His principal work, entitled 'De Jure Maritimo et Navali,' is often quoted as authority both by English and continental writers. He was born in 1599, and died in 1677. Charles Molloy published the first edition of his work, entitled 'De Jure Maritimo et Navali,' in 1666, and so popular was the book in England, that in 1769, it had reached the ninth edition. He was a native of Ireland, and died in 1690. Sir Leoline Jenkins was a judge of the High Court of Admiralty, of England, and, although he wrote no professed treatise on any branch of public law, his official opinions and his letters (which have since been published) have had great |