BOOK II. terrible scourge of nations. Every madman will fancy he is CHAP. IV. fighting in the cause of God, and every aspiring spirit will use that pretext as a cloak for his ambition. While Charlemagne was ravaging Saxony with fire and sword, in order to plant Christianity there, the successors of Mohammed were ravaging Asia and Africa, to establish the Koran in those parts.

$ 60. Off

manity in

these mat

ters.

ries.

But it is an office of humanity to labour, by mild and lawces of hu- ful means, to persuade a nation to receive a religion which we believe to be the only one that is true and salutary. Missionaries may be sent to instruct the people; and this care is Missiona- altogether comformable to the attention which every nation owes to the perfection and happiness of others. But it must be observed, that, in order to avoid doing an injury to the rights of a sovereign, the missionaries ought to abstain from preaching clandestinely, or without his permission, a new doctrine to his people. He may refuse to accept their proffered services; and, if he orders them to leave his dominions, they ought to obey. They should have a very express order from the King of kings, before they can lawfully disobey a sovereign who commands according to the extent of his power; and the prince who is not convinced of that extraordinary order of the Deity, will do no more than exert his lawful rights, in punishing a missionary for disobedience. what if the nation, or a considerable part of the people, are desirous of retaining the missionary, and following his doc[159] trine? In a former part of the work (Book I. §§ 128-136), we have established the rights of the nation and those of the citizens; and thither we refer for an answer to this question.

$61. Circumspection to be used.

But,

Re

This is a very delicate subject; and we cannot authorize an inconsiderate zeal for making proselytes, without endangering the tranquillity of all nations, and even exposing those who are engaged in making converts to act inconsistently with their duty, at the very time they imagine they are accomplishing the most meritorious work. For, it is certainly performing a very bad office to a nation, and doing her an essential injury, to spread a false and dangerous religion among the inhabitants. Now, there is no person who does not believe his own religion to be the only true and safe one. commend, kindle in all hearts, the ardent zeal of the missionaries, and you will see Europe inundated with Lamas, Bonzes, and Dervises, while monks of all kinds will overrun Asia and Africa. Protestant ministers will crowd to Spain and Italy, in defiance of the Inquisition, while the Jesuits will spread themselves among the Protestants in order to bring them back into the pale of the church. Let the Catholics reproach the Protestants as much as they please with their lukewarmness, the conduct of the latter is undoubtedly more agreeable to reason and the law of nations. True zeal applies itself to the task of making a holy religion flourish in the countries

where it is received, and of rendering it useful to the man- BOOK II. ners of the people and to the state: and, without forestalling_CHAP. IV. the dispositions of Providence, it can find sufficient employment at home, until an invitation come from foreign nations, or a very evident commission be given from heaven, to preach that religion abroad. Finally, let us add, that, before we can lawfully undertake to preach a particular religion to the various nations of the earth, we must ourselves be thoroughly convinced of its truth by the most serious examination."What! can Christians doubt of their religion?"-The Mohammedan entertains no doubt of his. Be ever ready to impart your knowledge, simply and sincerely expose the principles of your belief to those who are desirous of hearing you: instruct them, convince them by evidence, but seek not to hurry them away with the fire of enthusiasm. It is a sufficient charge on each of us, to be responsible for his own conscience. Thus, neither will the light of knowledge be refused to any who wish to receive it, nor will a turbulent zeal disturb the peace of nations.

favour of

another

state.

When a religion is persecuted in one country, foreign na- § 62. What tions who profess it may intercede for their brethren: but a sovereign this is all they can lawfully do, unless the persecution be car- may do in ried to an intolerable excess: then, indeed, it becomes a case those who of manifest tyranny, in opposition to which all nations are profess his allowed to assist an unhappy people (§ 56). A regard to religion in their own safety may also authorize them to undertake the defence of the persecuted sufferers. A king of France replied to the ambassadors who solicited him to suffer his subjects of the reformed religion to live in peace, "that he was master in his own kingdom." But the Protestant sovereigns, who saw a general conspiracy of the Catholics obstinately [160] bent on their destruction, were so far masters on their side as to be at liberty to give assistance to a body of men who might strengthen their party, and help them to preserve themselves from the ruin with which they were threatened. All distinctions of states and nations are to be disregarded, when there is question of forming a coalition against a set of madmen who would exterminate all those that do not implicitly receive their doctrines.

BOOK II.

CHAP. V.

CHAP. V.

§ 63. Necessity of the observance

of justice in human society.

$ 64. Obli

nations to

cultivate

OF THE OBSERVANCE OF JUSTICE BETWEEN NATIONS.

JUSTICE is the basis of all society, the sure bond of all commerce. Human society, far from being an intercourse of assistance and good offices, would be no longer any thing but a vast scene of robbery, if no respect were paid to this virtue, which secures to every one his own. It is still more necessary between nations than between individuals; because injustice produces more dreadful consequences in the quarrels of these powerful bodies politic, and it is more difficult to obtain redress. The obligation imposed on all men to be just is easily demonstrated from the law of nature. We here take that obligation for granted (as being sufficiently known), and content ourselves with observing that it is not only indispensably binding on nations (Prelim. § 5), but even still more sacred with respect to them, from the importance of its consequences.

All nations are therefore under a strict obligation to cultigation of all vate justice towards each other, to observe it scrupulously, and carefully to abstain from every thing that may violate it. Each ought to render to the others what belongs to them, to respect their rights, and to leave them in the peaceable enjoyment of them.*

and observe

justice.

injustice.

§ 65. Right From this indispensable obligation which nature imposes of refusing on nations, as well as from those obligations which each nato submit to tion owes to herself, results the right of every state not to suffer any of her rights to be taken away, or any thing which lawfully belongs to her: for, in opposing this, she only acts in conformity to all her duties; and therein consists the right [ 161 ] (§ 49).

$ 66. This right is a

This right is a perfect one,-that is to say, it is accompanied with the right of using force in order to assert it. In perfect one. vain would nature give us a right to refuse submitting to injustice,-in vain would she oblige others to be just in their dealings with us, if we could not lawfully make use of force,

* Might not this duty be extended to the execution of sentences passed in other countries according to the necessary and usual forms?-On this subject M. Van Bouningin wrote as follows to M. De Witt, Oct. 15, 1666: "By what the courts of Holland have decreed in the affair of one Koningh, of Rotterdam, I see they suppose that every judgment pronounced by the parliaments of France against the inhabitants of Holland in judicio contradictorio, ought to

be executed on requisition made by those parliaments. But I do not know that the tribunals of this country act in the same manner with respect to sentences passed in Holland; and, if they do not, an agreement might be made, that sentences passed on either side against subjects of the other state shall only take effect on such property as the condemned party is found to possess in the state where the sentence has been given."

when they refused to discharge this duty. The just would BOOK II. lie at the mercy of avarice and injustice, and all their rights CHAP. V. would soon become useless.

fence.

From the foregoing right arise, as distinct branches, first, § 67. It prothe right of a just defence, which belongs to every nation,- duces 1. The or the right of making use of force against whoever attacks right of deher and her rights. This is the foundation of defensive war. Secondly, the right to obtain justice by force, if we cannot $ 68. 2. The obtain it otherwise, or to pursue our right by force of arms. ourselves This is the foundation of offensive war.

rightofdoing

justice. An intentional act of injustice is undoubtedly an injury. § 69. The We have, then, a right to punish it, as we have shown above, right of punishing injusin speaking of injuries in general (§ 52). The right of refus- tice. ing to suffer injustice is a branch of the right to security.

one that

Let us apply to the unjust what we have said above (§ 53) § 70. Right of a mischievous nation. If there were a people who made of all naopen profession of trampling justice under foot,-who de- tions against spised and violated the rights of others whenever they found openly dean opportunity, the interest of human society would author- spises jusize all the other nations to form a confederacy in order to hum- tice. ble and chastise the delinquents. We do not here forget the maxim established in our Preliminaries, that it does not belong to nations to usurp the power of being judges of each other. In particular cases, where there is room for the smallest doubt, it ought to be supposed that each of the parties may have some right: and the injustice of the party that has committed the injury may proceed from error, and not from a general contempt of justice. But if, by her constant maxims, and by the whole tenor of her conduct, a nation evidently proves herself to be actuated by that mischievous disposition, -if she regards no right as sacred,—the safety of the human race requires that she should be repressed. To form and support an unjust pretension, is only doing an injury to the party whose interests are affected by that pretension; but, to despise justice in general, is doing an injury to all nations.

CHAP. VI.

OF THE CONCERN A NATION MAY HAVE IN THE ACTIONS OF CHAP. VI.

HER CITIZENS.

We have seen in the preceding chapters what are the com- § 71. The mon duties of nations towards each other,-how they ought sovereign mutually to respect each other, and to abstain from all injury ought to reand all offence,-and how justice and equity ought to reign injuries of between them in their whole conduct. But hitherto we have the state, only considered the actions of the body of the nation, of the and to pro

venge the

BOOK II. state, of the sovereign. Private persons who are members CHAP. VI. of one nation, may offend and ill-treat the citizens of another, tect the citi- and may injure a foreign sovereign:-it remains for us to examine what share a state may have in the actions of her [162] citizens, and what are the rights and obligations of sovereigns in this respect.

zens.

§ 72. He

suffer his

subjects to offend other

nations or their citi

zens.

Whoever offends the state, injures its rights, disturbs its tranquillity, or does it a prejudice in any manner whatsoever, declares himself its enemy, and exposes himself to be justly punished for it. Whoever uses a citizen ill, indirectly offends the state, which is bound to protect this citizen; and the sovereign of the latter should avenge his wrongs, punish the aggressor, and, if possible, oblige him to make full reparation; since otherwise the citizen would not obtain the great end of the civil association, which is, safety.

But, on the other hand, the nation or the sovereign ought ought not to not to suffer the citizens to do an injury to the subjects of another state, much less to offend that state itself: and this, not only because no sovereign ought to permit those who are under his command to violate the precepts of the law of nature, which forbids all injuries, but also because nations. ought mutually to respect each other, to abstain from all offence, from all injury, from all wrong,-in a word, from every thing that may be of prejudice to others. If a sovereign, who might keep his subjects within the rules of justice and peace, suffers them to injure a foreign nation either in its body or its members, he does no less injury to that nation than if he injured it himself. In short, the safety of the state, and that of human society, requires this attention from every sovereign. If you let loose the reins to your subjects against foreign nations, these will behave in the same manner to you; and, instead of that friendly intercourse which nature has established between all men, we shall see nothing but one vast and dreadful scene of plunder between nation and nation. $73. The However, as it is impossible for the best regulated state, acts of indi- or for the most vigilant and absolute sovereign, to model at viduals are his pleasure all the actions of his subjects, and to confine them on every occasion to the most exact obedience, it would be unjust to impute to the nation or the sovereign every fault committed by the citizens. We ought not, then, to say, in general, that we have received an injury from a nation because we have received it from one of its members.

not to be

imputed to the nation,

$ 74. unless it approves

But, if a nation or its chief approves and ratifies the act of the individual, it then becomes a public concern; and the injured party is to consider the nation as the real author of the injury, of which the citizen was perhaps only the instru$75. Con- ment.

or ratifies them.

duct to be observed by

If the offended state has in her power the individual who the offended has done the injury, she may without scruple bring him to party. justice and punish him. If he has escaped and returned to