THE LAW OF MARITIME WAR. WAR. WAR, says Vattel, is that state in which we prosecute our right by force. We also understand, by this term, the act itself, or the manner of prosecuting our right by force but it is more conformable to general usage, to understand this term in the sense we have annexed to it. "War," to use the language of Lord Bacon (Works, iii. 40)," is one of the highest trials of right; for, as princes and states acknowledge no superior upon earth, they put themselves upon the justice of God by an appeal to arms. "War," says Mr. Manning, in his Commentaries on the Law of Nations, p. 98, "is the state of nations among whom there is an interruption of all pacific relations, and a general contention by force, authorized by the Sovereign." As nature, continues Vattel, has given men no right to employ force, unless when it becomes necessary for self-defence and the preservation of their rights, the inference is manifest, that, since the establishment of political societies, a right, so dangerous in its exercise, no longer remains with private persons, except in those encounters where society cannot protect or defend them. In the bosom of society, the public authority B decides all the disputes of the citizen, represses violence, and checks every attempt to do ourselves justice with our own hands. If a private person intends to prosecute his right against the subject of a foreign power, he may apply to the sovereign of his adversary, or to the magistrates invested with the public authority and if he is denied justice by them, he must have recourse to his own sovereign, who is obliged to protect him. It would be too dangerous to allow every citizen the liberty of doing himself justice against foreigners; as, in that case, there would not be a single member of the state who might not involve it in war. A right of so momentous a nature,—the right of judging whether the nation has real grounds of complaint, whether she is authorized to employ force, and justifiable in taking up arms,-whether prudence will admit of such a step,-and whether the welfare of the state requires it,-that right can belong only to the body of the nation, or to the sovereign, her representative. It is doubtless one of those rights, without which there can be no salutary government, and which are therefore called rights of Majesty. War is either defensive or offensive. He who takes up arms to repel the attack of an enemy, carries on a defensive war. He, who is foremost in taking up arms, and attacks a nation that lived in peace with him, wages offensive war. The object of a defensive war is very simple: it is no other than self-defence. In that of offensive war, there is as great a variety as in the multifarious concerns of nations; but in general, it relates either to the prosecution of some rights, or to safety. We attack a nation with a view either to obtain something to which we lay claim, to punish her for an injury she has done us, or to prevent one which she is preparing to do, and thus avert a danger with which she seems to threaten us. The sovereign, then, is the real author of war, which is carried on in his name, and by his order. The troops, officers, soldiers, and, in general, all those by whose agency the sovereign makes war, are only instruments in his hands. They execute his will and not their own. The arms and all the apparatus of whatever is peculiarly used in waging war, is to be classed among the instruments of war; and things which are equally used at all times, such as provisions, belong to peace, unless it be in certain particular junctures, when those things appear to be specially destined for the support of war. Arms of all kinds, artillery, gunpowder, saltpetre, and sulphur, of which it is composed, ladders, gabions, tools, and all other implements for sieges, materials for building ships of war, tents, soldiers' clothes, &c., these always belong to war. As war cannot be carried on without soldiers, it is evident that whoever has the right of making war, has also naturally that of raising troops. The latter, therefore, belongs likewise to the sovereign, and is one of the prerogatives of majesty. The power of levying troops, or raising an army, is of too great consequence in a state to be intrusted to any other than the sovereign. The subordinate authorities are not invested with it; they exercise it by order or commission from the sovereign. But it is not always necessary that they should have an express order for the purpose. On those urgent exigencies which do not allow time to wait for the supreme order, the governor of a province, or the commandant of a town, may raise troops for the defence of the town or : decides all the disputes of the citizen, represses violence, and checks every attempt to do ourselves justice with our own hands. If a private person intends to prosecute his right against the subject of a foreign power, he may apply to the sovereign of his adversary, or to the magistrates invested with the public authority and if he is denied justice by them, he must have recourse to his own sovereign, who is obliged to protect him. It would be too dangerous to allow every citizen the liberty of doing himself justice against foreigners; as, in that case, there would not be a single member of the state who might not involve it in war. A right of so momentous a nature,—the right of judging whether the nation has real grounds of complaint,-whether she is authorized to employ force, and justifiable in taking up arms,-whether prudence will admit of such a step, and whether the welfare of the state requires it,-that right can belong only to the body of the nation, or to the sovereign, her representative. It is doubtless one of those rights, without which there can be no salutary government, and which are therefore called rights of Majesty. War is either defensive or offensive. He who takes up arms to repel the attack of an enemy, carries on a defensive war. He, who is foremost in taking up arms, and attacks a nation that lived in peace with him, wages offensive war. The object of a defensive war is very simple: it is no other than self-defence. In that of offensive war, there is as great a variety as in the multifarious concerns of nations; but in general, it relates either to the prosecution of some rights, or to safety. We attack a nation with a view either to obtain something to which we lay claim, to punish her for an injury she has done us, or to prevent one which she is preparing to do, and thus avert a danger with which she seems to threaten us. The sovereign, then, is the real author of war, which is carried on in his name, and by his order. The troops, officers, soldiers, and, in general, all those by whose agency the sovereign makes war, are only instruments in his hands. They execute his will and not their own. The arms and all the apparatus of whatever is peculiarly used in waging war, is to be classed among the instruments of war; and things which are equally used at all times, such as provisions, belong to peace, unless it be in certain particular junctures, when those things appear to be specially destined for the support of war. Arms of all kinds, artillery, gunpowder, saltpetre, and sulphur, of which it is composed, ladders, gabions, tools, and all other implements for sieges, materials for building ships of war, tents, soldiers' clothes, &c., these always belong to war. As war cannot be carried on without soldiers, it is evident that whoever has the right of making war, has also naturally that of raising troops. The latter, therefore, belongs likewise to the sovereign, and is one of the prerogatives of majesty. The power of levying troops, or raising an army, is of too great consequence in a state to be intrusted to any other than the sovereign. The subordinate authorities are not invested with it; they exercise it by order or commission from the sovereign. But it is not always necessary that they should have an express order for the purpose. On those urgent exigencies which do not allow time to wait for the supreme order, the governor of a province, or the commandant of a town, may raise troops for the defence of the town or |