a State may prohibit the entrance of strangers into the country, and may therefore regulate the conditions under which they shall be allowed to remain in it, or may require and compel their departure from it. According to the Law of England, local allegiance is due from an alien or stranger born, so long as he continues within the protection and dominion of the Crown; and it ceases the instant he transfers himself from this kingdom to another. The allegiance and the protection of the stranger, therefore, are both confined, in point of time, to the duration of the residence; and in point of locality, to the dominion of the British Empire.(q) During periods of revolutionary disturbances both on the Continent and within this kingdom, it has been customary to pass Acts of Parliament authorising certain high officers of the State to order the departure of aliens from the realm within a specified time and their imprisonment in case of refusal. These acts have generally been limited in their duration : the operation of the last was confined to the period of one year.(")

(9) Calvin's case, 7 Coke's Report's, 6 a.

Stephen's Blackstone, vol. ii. 6, iv. pt. i. c. 11.

1 Hale's Pleas of the Crown, 60.

(7) "This power," as Mr. Canning observed, "had undoubtedly been exercised by the Crown, sometimes with, sometimes without, the consent of Parliament." (5 Canning's Speeches, p. 255.) The 33 Geo. III. c. 4. a. D. 1793, was the first Alien Act passed by the Parliament of this *kingdom, and was followed up by Lord Grenvill's note, dismissing Monsieur Chauvelin.

Translation.

[*234

"Whitehall, Jan. 24th, 1793.

"I am charged to notify to you, Sir, that the character with which you had been invested at this Court, and the functions of which have been so long suspended, being now entirely terminated by the fatal death of His late most Christian Majesty, you have no more any public character here.

"The King can no longer, after such an event, permit your residence here. His Majesty has thought fit to order that you should retire from this kingdom within the term of eight days; and I herewith transmit to you a copy of the order which His Majesty in his Privy Council, has given to this effect.

"I send you a passport for yourself and your suite; and I shall not fail to take all the other necessary steps, in order that you may return to France with all the attentions which are due to the character of Minister Plenipotentiary from His Most Christian Majesty, which you have exercised at this Court.

The last Statute was passed on June 9th, 1848, 11 & 12 Vict. c. 20.; "An Act to authorise for one Year and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament the Removal of Aliens from the Realm."

Horner's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 522. Speech on the Alien Bill, 1816.

[*235]

*CHAPTER XI.

RIGHT TO A FREE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL RESOURCES BY

COMMERCE.

CCXX. This Right(a) is little more than a consequence from what has been already stated with respect to the free navigation of the ocean, and the exceptions which the International Law has sanctioned in the case of particular portions of the ocean. The general law as to the perfect liberty of commerce incident to every nation, is forcibly and truly stated by Grotius:(b) "Quominus gens quæque cum quâvis gente sepositâ commercium colat, impediendi nemini jus est: id enim permitti interest societatis humanæ; nec cuiquam damno id est: nam etiam si cui lucrum speratum, sed non debitum decedat, id damni vice reputari non debet."

The extravagant pretentions of Spain and Portugal to exclusive commerce with the East and West Indies, and their practical abandonment, have been discussed in a former chapter. It is, however, perfectly competent to any nation to make what regulations it pleases with respect to its own commerce, to admit every nation equally to it, to exclude [*236] *nations from it, to admit some under favourable, and others under unfavourable conditions, unless, indeed, such original liberty be curtailed by the express provisions of a Treaty.

A nation has the same power of restricting commerce with regard to its distant provinces and colonies. Every colony almost has, at one time or other, been confined to commercial intercourse with its mother country, or to some great privileged company of that country. Every page. of the history of collonial dependencies shows with what rigour this monopoly has been exerted by the mother country in time of peace, and with what jealousy the forced relaxation of such monopoly in time of war by one belligerent in favour of neutrals, has been regarded by the other belligerent. England has steadily denied to the neutral the right of carrying on that commerce with the colonies of the belligerent in time of war from which it had been excluded in time of peace. But this subject belongs to another part of this work.

"The colonial monopoly, that fruitful source of wars" (Mr. Wheaton writes in 1845), "has nearly ceased; and with it the question as to the right of neutrals to enjoy in war the commerce prohibited in time of peace." (c)

The whole status of Consuls is considered in a later portion of this Work.(d)

(a) "Commercium cum Turcis vetitum dicere lege omnes videntur. Et mihi tamen non libet facilè discedere à regulâ certissimâ Juris Gentium, quod constituit commercia, nec distinguit aliquid de Gentibus."-Albericus Gent., Advoc. Hispan. cc. 25, 26.

Grotius, 1. ii. c 2, 5.

Martens, 1. iv. c. iii. s. 139.

Klüber, s. 69.

Massé, Le Droit Commercial dans ses rapports avec le Droit des Gens et le Droit Civil, t. i. 1. ii. p. 88.

(c) Hist. pp. 759-60.

(b) L. ii. c. 2, 13. 5.

(d) Et vide anté, Ch. ii. 1. xiii.

*CHAPTER XII.

RIGHT OF ACQUISITION.

[*237]

CCXXI. In the discussion upon the Rights of Territorial Inviolability, the fact of rightful possession has been assumed.(a) "Totum autem jus," (the Roman lawyers say) "consistit aut in adquirendo, aut in conservando, aut in minuendo. Aut enim hoc agitur, quemadmodum quid cujusque fiat; aut quemadmodum quis rem vel jus suum conservet: aut quomodo alienet aut amittat."(b)

Before, however, we enter upon the consideration of the manner in which Acquisitions are made by a State, it seems expedient to offer some observations upon the nature of—

1. Possession (possessio); and of

2. Property (proprietas), or Dominion (dominium).

The Roman Law(c) is the repository from which all *jurists, [*238] whether, writing on private or public law, have borrowed their elementary learning upon this point; and it is with truth that a very distinguished modern jurist observes, "Possessionis notio atque indoles, ejus acquisitio vel omissio, accuratius à jurisconsultis Romanis definitæ. sunt, ut ea jam non facti solum sed juris quoque esse dicatur."(d)

CCXXII. The generic term possession branches forth into various species.(e)

(a) "Les territoires de l'Europe ont été appropriés à chaque nation à la suite de révolutions successives, dans lesquelles la force, puis la marche lente et logique des évènements, ont eu plus d'influence que le droit. L'invasion des peuples du nord dans le monde romain: plus tard, la réunion des différentes petites puissances de la féodalité en Etats plus forts et moins nombreux, sont, dans ce travail, les deux faits principaux. Pendant ce long espace de temps, et depuis, des transformations diverses, des traités nombreux, se sont succédé, et tout finit par constituer le territoire des Etats actuels.

"Il serait inutile de discuter sur la légitimité des premières occupations qui se rencontrent à l'origine de ces Etats."-Des Moyens d'acquérir le Domaine International, par Eugène Ortolan, s. lxi. p. 42.

(c) Warnkoenig, Instit. Juris Rom. Privati, I. ii. c. i. t. iii., c. ii. t. ii.

Puchta, Pandekten, kap. 2.

Mackeldey, Besond. Theil. kap. 1. t. i.

Savigny, Besitzrecht.

Muhlenbruck, Doctrina Pandect. 1. ii. c. 2.

(d) Warnkoenig, Instit. Juris Romani Privati, s. 295.

In The Fama, 5 Robinson's Adm. Rep. pp. 114-16, Lord Stowell applies the rules relating to Possession, &c., in the Institutes and Digests to decide a question of International Law.

(e) Dig. xli. 2: "De acquirendâ vel amittendâ possessione."

Ìb. xliii. 17: "Uti possidetis."

Inst. ii. t. vi: "De usucapione."

"Possessio appellata est, ut et Labeo ait, a sedibus, quasi positio, quia naturaliter tenetur ab eo, qui ei insistit; quam Græci karoxýv dicunt."-Dig. xli. 2, 1. "Qui jure familiaritatis amici fundum ingreditur, non videtur possidere, quia non eo animo ingressus est, ut possideat, licet corpore in fundo sit."—Ib. 41. "Quod meo nomine possideo possum, et alieno nomine possidere; nec enim muto mihi causam possessionis, sed desino possidere, et alium possessorem ministerio meo facio. Nec idem est possidere, et alieno nomine possidere; nam is pos

That person is properly said to possess a thing who both actually and corporally retains it, and who desires and intends at the same time to make it his own.

That person who, having no such desire or intention, by mere corporal act retains a thing, is, only in a gross and inaccurate sense, said to possess it.

*That person who retains a thing in the conviction that he is

[*239] the rightful possessor of it, though he be mistaken, and be not

the rightful possessor, may acquire, by the operation of time, a legal title to it, and be protected by law in the possession of it (ad usucapionem possidet).

There are, therefore, three species of possession :

1. Natural possession, or the bare seizing and detaining a thing (naturalis possessio, sive nuda rei detentio).

2. Legal possession, by act and intention (animo et facto, de droit et de fait, possessio propriè sic dicta.(ƒ))

3. Possession by operation of time (civilis possessio).

CCXXIII. Dominion (dominium) is the fullest right which can be exercised over a thing: the right of property, properly so called.

According to the ancient Roman Law, dominium could only be acquired by a Roman citizen, and through the medium of certain strict formalities ("in mancipio habere, ex jure Quiritium Dominus.") But the Prætor, following the dictates of natural equity (jus gentium), introduced a doctrine, which, without these formalities, secured to the stranger (peregrinus) as well as the citizen, a dominion over the thing (in bonis, bonitarium) which he had lawfully, and "jure gentium" acquired.

*Justinian abolished altogether this distinction(g) between [*240] the ancient and the Prætorian Equity, and established universally the dominium jure gentium. The law, however, still recognised certain

sidet, cujus nomine possidetur. Procurator alienæ possessionis præstat ministerium."-Ib. 18.

"Justa enim an injusta adversus ceteros possessio sit, in hoc interdicto nihil refert; qualiscunque enim possessor hoc ipso, quod possessor est, plus juris habet, quam ille, qui non possidet."-Ib. xliii. 17, 2.

"Creditores missos in possessionem rei servandæ causa interdicto uti possidetis uti non posse; et merito, quia non possident. Idemque et in ceteris omnibus, qui custodia causa missi sunt in possessionem, dicendum est."-Ib. 17, 3, 8.

"Dejicitur is, qui possidet, sive civiliter, sive naturaliter possideat; nam et naturalis possessio ad hoc interdictum pertinet."-Ib. xliii. 16. 1. s. 9.

(f) "Si me in vacuam possessionem fundi Corneliani miseris, ego putarem me in fundum Sempronianum missum, et in Cornelianum iero, non acquirem possesionem, nisi forte in nomine tantum erraverimus, in corpore consenserimus. Quoniam autem in corpore non consenserimus an a te tamen recedat possessio? quia animo deponere et mutare nos possessionem posse et Celsus et Marcellus scribunt, dubitari potest; et si animo acquiri possessio potest, numquid etiam acquisita est? sed non puto errantem acquirere, ergo nec amittet possessionem qui quodammodo sub conditione recessit de possessione."-Dig. xli. 2, 34.

"Differentia inter dominium et possessionem hæc est, quod dominium nihilo minus ejus manet, qui dominus esse non vult, possessio autem recedit ut quisque constituit nolle possidere. Si quis igitur eâ mente possessionem tradidit, ut postea ei restituatur, desinit possidere."-Ib. 17, 1.

(g) Cod. vii. 25: De nudo jure Quiritium tollendo. Warnkoenig, Instit. J. R. 1. ii. ch. i. t. 3.

modes of acquiring property: these were either according to the jus gentium or the jus civile.

The principal modes under the jus gentium were:

1. Occupation (occupatio).

2. Natural increase (accessio).

3. Transfer (traditio): either a. inter vivos,

6. or by testament or succession.

The mode of acquisition under the jus civile was,

1. By the effect of a law (lege).

2. By a judicial sentence (adjudicatione).

3. By the operation of time (vetustatis auctoritate, usucapione, præscriptione).

Dominion might suffer an interruption by the invasion of another person (usurpatio).

1. By an overt act on the part of an individual (naturalis usurpatio); 2. By an adverse decision of a legal tribunal (civilis usurpatio).

As Dominion is acquired by the combination of the two elements of fact and intention, so, by the dissolution of these elements, or by the contrary fact and intention, it may be lost(h) or extinguished. (¿)

The application of these principles of Roman jurisprudence to the system of International Law appears to have been readily made by Grotius and other jurists; and without some acquaintance both with the language and doctrine of the Roman *Law upon the subject of Possession and Dominion, it is impossible correctly to understand and justly to appreciate the writings of commentators upon International Law.

[*241]

It will be well to recite, as a preface to the discussion upon the Rights of Acquisition by a State, the doctrine and language of Bynkershoek: "Postquam Lex certos dominii acquirendi modos præscripsit, hos sequemur."() From Grotius(7) we learn that these modes of Acquisition

were:

1. By Occupation (occupatione derelicti).

2. By Treaty and Convention (pactionibus).

3. By Conquest (victoria jure).

And if Acquisition by Accession and by Prescription be considered as corollaries to Occupation, and all cases of Transfer be held to fall under the category of Treaty and Convention, the enumeration may be considered as sufficiently complete.(m)

(h) "Quemadmodum nulla possessio acquiri nisi animo et corpore potest, ita nulla omittitur nisi in quâ utramque in contrarium actum est."-Dig. xli. 2, 8. (k) Opera, iii. 254: De Dominio Maris.

(i) Vide post.

(7) Lib. ii. c. ix. s. 11. p. 338. (m) "Dominiumque rerum ex naturali possessione cœpisse, Nerva filius ait, ejusque rei vestigium remanere in his, quæ terrâ, mari, cœloque capiuntur; nam hæc protinus eorum fieri, qui primi possessionem eorum apprehenderint. Item bello capta, et insula in mari enata, et gemmæ, lapilli, margaritæ in littoribus inventæ ejus fiunt, qui primus eorum possessionem nactus est."-Dig. xli. 2. 1. i. "Sed quemadmodum, cum Theatram commune sit, rectè tamen dici potest ejus esse eum locum quem quisque occuparit: sic in urbe mundove communi non adversatur jus quo minus suum qaidque cujusque sit."-Cicero, De Fin. 1. iii. c. 20. "Sunt autem privata nulla naturâ: sed aut veteri occupatione, ut qui quondam in vacua venerunt: aut victoriâ, ut qui bello potiti sunt; aut lege, pactione, con