ABSTRACT
The natural law which looks to the greatest good of human society, which protects the liberty of each Nation, and which desires that the affairs of sovereigns be settled and their quarrels come to a speedy issue. The voluntary Law of Nations, thus substantiated, is of very wide application; it is by no means a fantasy, an arbitrary invention destitute of foundation. It is derived from the same source and based upon the same principles as the natural or necessary law. Nations supposes a further principle, namely, the nature of the great society of Nations and of the intercourse which they have with one another. The necessary law prescribes what is of absolute necessity for Nations and what tends naturally to their advancement and their common happiness; the voluntary law tolerates what it is impossible to forbid without causing greater evils.
