The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-02-13
For the National Era
RELATIONS BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS,
Proper Mode Of Establishing Justice among the
No. 4 The Law Of Nations.
BY JOHN n. BEACH.

No. The Law Of Nations.
To the present generation, therefore, clearly
seems to have been committed the important work
of extending the principles of the civil code so
far to cover all the relations, transactions and
intercourse of State with State. We are indeed
aware that there already exists what is denomi-
mated the law of nations, by which the mutual
intercourse Of civilized Powers is said 10 be reg
lated. This assertion, however, should be re-
ceived with considerable Limitation, as will pres
emily appear.
BY what legislative body, may we ask, has this
code been digested and defined BY what judi
cary has it ever been authoritatvely interpreted
BY what Executive is it enforced And by what
penalties is it sanctioned We grant that Vat
tel, Wheaton, and others, have written treatises
defining the proprieties and improprieties Of the
behaviour Of nations but how the maxims therein
embodied ever came to be christened iam, is an
intricate point which III is hoped) future Monies
quieus or Du Canges may be able to unravel.
Strictly speaking, authority can be claimed for
them only rs opinions, which are often at dscrep-
saey with others equally authenticated At pres
ent, therefore, the most approved International
code known to the world compares with the true
digest which exists but in idea, about as well as
do the old political maxims of the Danes and Sax
ons with the beautiful and finished structure Of
modern English law.
We read of a period in the history of the He.
brew Theocracy, when "there was no King in
Israel--every man doing that which was right in
his own eyes, Just so it stands with the CON-
munity of nations to-day Code of international
law! Indeed What Government feels coerced or
protected thereby What right does it secure to
the weak? What restraints impose upon the
ambitious and the strongl Who ever decided
the extent Of it's jurisdiction, the validity of its
maxms, the precise nature Of its claims What
nations are known to have solemnly ratified il,
aud to have erected themselves into a Federal
Union under IN IL il be indeed lam, why has it
failed to establish the peace of Christendom
Why did ii permit the last generation to move
amid the crash Of falling empires, and the perpet-
ual din Of warning States Why, too, in this
age Of peaceful inv ntions, does it keep the mas
sive gates Of the worlds war-temple Janus-like,
ajar
Let us not be deceived by a name The object
OF international law Ia to secure public tranquil
lily without which, any federal compact under it
is worse than useless. That the code under re-
view is improperly termed idw appears as we'll
from the manner Of It's operation, rs from the ma
ture of its maxims. For We are authorized to as
sumo that by far the greater part of the wars
which have Interrupted the tranquility and re-
iarled the prosperity of the civilized world within
the present century have occurred and been con-
Quoted in conformity to the aforesaid code, and
under lie peculiar sanction. The present case
msy again receive illustration from the history
Of the middle ages II has already been said, that
courts Of justice existed for such only as unfor-