a fierce resistance, but found themselves unequal to cope successfully with the immense naval strength of England. Their submission may be found in the following, being the thirteenth article of a treaty concluded in 1653 with Cromwell-"That the ships and vessels of the said United Provinces, as well men of war as others, meeting in the British seas with any of the armed ships of England, shall strike the flag and lower the top-sail, in such manner as the same hath formerly been observed in any times whatsoever."

On the pretensions of the two countries just referred to, Venice and England, it may be profitable to introduce some remarks of Vattel. "The fleets of England, he says, have given room to her kings to claim the empire of the seas which surround that island, even as far as the opposite coasts. Selden relates a solemn act, by which it appears, that, in the time of Edward I, that empire was acknowledged by the greatest part of the maritime nations of Europe, and the republic of the United provinces acknowledged it, in some measure, by the treaty of Breda * in 1667, at least so far as related to the honors of the flag. But solidly to establish a right of such extent, it were necessary to prove very clearly the express or tacit consent of all powers concerned. The French have never agreed to this pretension of England ; and in that very treaty of England just mentioned, Louis XIV would not even suffer the channel to be called the English channel or the British Sea. The republic of Venice claims the empire of the Adriatic; and every body knows the ceremony annually performed on that account. In confirmation of this right, we are referred to the examples of Uladislaus, King of Naples, of the emperor Frederic III, and of some of the kings of Hungary, who asked permission of the Venetians for their vessels *The article in the treaty of 1653 was subsequently copied into that of Breda.

to pass through that sea. That the empire of the Adriatic belongs to the republic to a certain distance from her own coasts, in the places of which she can keep possession, and of which the possession is important to her own safety, appears to me incontestable; but I doubt very much, whether any power is at present disposed to acknowledge her sovereignty over the whole Adriatic sea. Such pretensions to empire are respected, as long as the nation, that makes them, is able to assert them by force; but they vanish of course on the decline of her power.

It is hardly necessary to refer in this connection very particularly to the claims formerly made by the kingdom of Spain to the Pacific Ocean, and by Portugal to the Indian seas. By the laws of the latter country, all persons whatsoever were forbidden to pass to the countries, lands, and seas of Guinea and the Indies, either upon occasions of war or commerce, or for any other reason whatsoever, without the King of Portugal's special license and authority, under pain of death and confiscation of all effects." The mere statement of claims, so utterly extravagant and ill-founded, was enough to expose them to immediate rejection and contempt; while those of England and Venice were of a less exceptionable character, and have been more strenuously maintained.

At the present day a species of control is exercised over the Baltic sea, as has been the case for many ages past, by the kingdom of Denmark. No vessel is permitted to pass the sound of Elsinore, a body of water not enclosed by Danish territory but situated between Sweden and Denmark, without paying a toll or tribute. The sum thus raised from the numerous vessels entering and leaving the Baltic, is estimated at about half a million of dollars annually, paid to one of the smallest and weakest powers, that encompass that very impor* Vattel's Law of Nations, Bk. I, Ch. 23.

tant sea. But it is evident, if the Baltic be susceptible of an entire or partial appropriation to any one power to the exclusion of others, or if its vast commerce can be taxed by any one power to the exclusion of others, that Sweden, Russia, and Prussia, which border upon it, may claim to themselves such possession and control, as well as Denmark. If the claims of one country can be rightfully sustained, those of other countries may be expected in due time to present themselves; and in this state of things the commerce of the whole civilized world would be liable to be at any moment interrupted. But certainly if we consider the great extent of the Baltic sea, and the relations of the people bordering upon it to all other nations, we must conclude, that Providence designed it, not for the possession and control of one country or of a small number merely, but as the common property and the common highway of the world. The situation of the Mediterranean is somewhat similar. England, seated on the rock of Gibralter, can open and shut its entrance at pleasure. But would it be right ?Would it be consistent with the designs of that benevolent Being, who made both the ocean and the land? Would the civilized world submit to it without great dissatisfaction?

In the remarks, that have been made, it is not intended to cast any reflection on the course pursued by the Danes. Undoubtedly they can give reasons for the tax they impose upon the world, independently of a pretended exclusive right to the passage into the Baltic. But the case is one, in its principles and applications, in its past and its prospective history, which is full of interest and difficulty. If Great Britain, or any other great naval power occupied the place of Denmark, all would feel it to be so; nor are we to suppose, when we recollect the seizure of the whole Danish fleet by a British arma

ment in 1807, that this is an event altogether impossible. The case is brought forward, because it is one, in which the whole civilized world are concerned, and because in certain supposable contingencies it would involve difficulties, which could not be easily settled.

The remarks, which have been made applicable to the Baltic, are in a good degree applicable to the Black or Euxine sea. The commerce of other nations on that sea has been regulated for many years at the option of the Turkish government; being granted or withheld according as the Turks found it for their interest or pleasure.-Undoubtedly it might be said with much plausibility, that in their peculiar situation the Ottoman government are bound to take measures for their own security and preservation, even to the exclusion of all foreign commerce whatever, by the complete shutting of the Dardanelles; but on no other principle could it be justly done, and even this is obviously liable to such perverse and iniquitous applications, as to render it, as a principle, essentially untenable. Under the influence of an inordinate jealousy, they might pretend the apprehension of danger from all Christian nations, and unjustly regulate their conduct by such false apprehensions.

On this whole subject, the inquiry arises, what ground ought to be taken by the law of nations? We do not say What ground is taken; but what ground ought to be taken. We are aware, that we may be reminded here, that the law of nations is built upon custom and precedent. This is true in part, but it is equally true, that this portion of the public code stands amenable to, and is liable at all times to be examined and corrected by that higher department of international law, which is founded upon enlightened reason and conscience. We imagine there is but one ground, which can be safely taken; but one position, which will secure

the just rights of all, and at the same time make for the peace of all. It is, that all navigable waters of the ocean whatever are the common property and highway of the whole world beyond low water mark; with the exception, FIRST, of small inlets, bays, roadsteads, and harbors, the jurisdiction of which, on natural and equitable principles, can hardly admit of a dispute; and SECOND, of those shallow places in the ocean, bordering upon particular countries, which can be conveniently set off and held as property, in much the same way as the land is.

-On this plain principle, which is obviously conformable to nature and to common sense, the claims of the British, Venetians, Portuguese, Spaniards, Danes, and Turks, and all other similar pretensions, which it is well known have been a fruitful source of dispute and war, must be set aside at once. At the same time, if a particular country, bordered by a navigable portion of the ocean, incurs expense in rendering such waters more safe and easy of navigation, it would be right, that foreign ships, which avail themselves of these advantages, should pay a part of the expense. If, for instance, frequent buoys and light-houses are found to be necessary, as undoubtedly they are, in the passage of the Cattegat and Elsinore, and can be furnished and kept in order more conveniently by Denmark than any other neighboring power, she ought to be permitted, not on the ground of the exclusive possession of those waters, but on the ground of having incurred expense in rendering them more safe and convenient, to indemnify herself by exacting a toll from vessels passing through. But it may

be said by way of objection, that, by adopting this doctrine, we greatly expose ourselves to hostile attacks. If this be true, it is a mere incidental and contingent evil, such as all general principles are liable to. And besides, the adoption of the opposite doctrine, viz., that we can.