International Law

LECTURE I.

ITS ORIGIN AND SOURCES.

Theeminent man who founded the Whewell Professorship of International Lawlaid an earnest and express injunction on the occupant of this chairthat he should make it his aim, in all parts of his treatment of thesubject, to lay down such rules and suggest such measures as might tendto diminish the evils of war and finally to extinguish war amongnations.

These words of Dr. Whewell, which occur inhis vill and in the statute regulating his professorship, undoubtedlycontain both a condemnation and a direction. International Law in itsearlier stages was developed by a method of treatment which has beenapplied to many important subjects of thought when their growth hasreached the point at which they are included in books to theology, tomorals, and even, in some cases, to positive private law. Writers ofauthority who have gained the ear of the learned and professionalclasses follow one another in a string, each commenting on hispredecessor, and correcting, adding to, or devising new applicationsfor, the propositions he has laid down. For a considerable timeInternational Law, as the words are commonly understood, had to beexclusively collected from the dicta of these authoritative writers,who, however, differed from one another materially in their qualitiesand defects. At the head and at the foot of the list two names areoften conventionally placed, first that of Grotius, who was born in1583, and died in 1645, and last that of Vattel, who was born in 1714and died in 1767. Of both these writers it may be confidently assertedthat the rules and propositions which they laid down did tend todiminish the evils of war and may possibly help to extinguish some daywar among nations. But of the residue of this class of publicists, itmust be confessed that some were superficial, some learned andpedantic, some were wanting in clearness of thought and expression,some were little sensitive to the modifications of moral judgmentproduced by growing humanity, and some were simply reactionary. Asthese lectures proceed I may be able to point out to which class, andfor what reasons, the writer immediately before us belongs.

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