and rights which have been accidentally lost or illegally taken away. They must, however, have been at one time actually, and not theoretically (r), possessed,—as was rightly determined in the case of Belgium, which has been already mentioned (s).

CCXC. When property, or rights, have been so lost and taken away, it should seem to be the better opinion of jurists, that even a bona fide possessor and purchaser must restore them to the rightful owner (t),—and, moreover, without compensation for the expenses which he (the bona fide possessor) may have incurred in purchasing it. He is not even, according to many jurists, following the doctrines of the Civil Law, entitled to the superpa, the inventionis præmia (u), except, indeed, in cases in which the rightful owner himself must have paid for the recovery of the goods of a friend from the possession of an enemy (r). Salvage on recapture is founded on this principle, and is a part of the Maritime Law, not only of our own, but of all civilized nations. Property recovered from robbers by sea or land falls of course under the same principle.

CCXCI. Upon the question, however, whether the bora fide possessor is bound to restore (y), not only the possession,

(r) Grotius, 1. iii. c. ix., de Postliminio.

(8) Wheaton's Hist. pp. 547-555.

(t) Grotius, 1. ii. c. x. i. 5, de Obligatione quæ ex dominio oritur: "Nam ad dominii naturam nihil refert ex gentium an ex civili jure oriatur semper enim secum habet quæ sibi sunt naturalia, inter quæ est obligatio cujusvis possessoris ad rem domino restituendam. Et hoc est quod ait Martianus jure gentium condici posse res ab his qui non ex justa causa possident."

(u) Grotius, 1. ii. c. x.: "Quid ergo, si evperpa (id est, inventionis præmia) quæ dicunt, petat? Nec hic videtur furtum facere, etsi non probe petat aliquid."-Dig. xlvii. t. ii. 43, 9, de Furtis.

(x) Heineccius indeed thinks this practice "ex regula honesti," but not "ex regula justi;" because no owner ought "res suas bis emere."Heinec. in Grot. 1. ii. c. x. 9.

(y) "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.

"And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not,

but the intermediate fruits and profits which he has derived from it, there is some difference of opinion. Grotius and Puffendorf (z) hold that he must restore so much of the fruits of the property as have increased his fortune, though not the value of that which has been consumed by him upon his actual necessities. They found this maxim upon a rule to be found in the Digest: "Jure naturæ æquum est neminem "cum alterius detrimento et injuria fieri locupletiorem " (a). The rigid adoption of this rule has led them both into considerable perplexity, and into the necessity of allowing many exceptions from it, chiefly founded on the doctrine of obligations from implied contracts (ex quasi contractu (b)). It is difficult not to agree with Barbeyrac, that the rule cited is not necessarily applicable to any cases of this description (c): "Mais" (he says) pour ne pas l'étendre trop loin, il faut "considérer si celui qui profite aux dépens d'un autre n'a "pas un droit de faire ce profit. Car s'il en a un droit, "alors on voit bien que c'est tant mieux pour lui, et tant pis "pour l'autre "(d). The maxim cited from the Civil Law may indeed be opposed by another derived from the same source : "Bona fides tantundem possidenti præstat, quantum veritas, quoties lex" (that is, some particular law)" impedimento "non est " (e), and that the true rule of International Law is, that the peaceable enjoyment of an honest possessor is to

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then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.”— Deuteronomy xxii. 1, 2.

(z) Grotius, 1. ii. c. x. Puffendorf, 1. iv. c. 13.

(a) Dig. 1. t. xvii. ccvi.

And 80 Cicero says:

"Detrahere

igitur aliquid alteri, et hominem hominis incommodo suum augere commodum, magis est contra naturam, quam mors, quam paupertas, &c.— De Offic. 1. iii. c. v.

(b) Grotius, ib,, and Heineccii Prælect:-"Et quæ sunt alia hujus generis exempla. Innumera enim in jure universo, maxime in materia de quasi contractibus passim occurrunt.”

(c) It is the doctrine, however, of English Law.

(d) Barbeyrac on Grotius, t. i. l. ii. c. x. p. 391 (note 4). (e) Dig. 1. t. xvii. 136.

be considered as a kind of interregnum which has interrupted the power of the true proprietor, but ensures to the putative proprietor the fruits of his management while he was in full authority (f).

CCXCII. Günther seems to admit the position of Grotius, but asserts that the honest possessor may set off the costs of the improvements which he has effected, against the emoluments which he has received (g). Heffter takes, in effect, the same view of the matter as Barbeyrac, but without referring to him (h). Heffter founds his opinion upon the position, that the silence of the true proprietor, during the time the honest possessor was in authority, ought to secure to the latter his gains; and Barbeyrac acutely observes, what Thomasius, who followed in the wake of Grotius and Puffendorf, is obliged in his Commentary on Huber's work (i) (De Jure Civitatis) to admit, "que, quand il "s'agit de voir si un possesseur de bonne foi s'est enrichi "par la possession de la chose même, ou par la jouissance "des revenus qui en proviennent, c'est un examen sujet à "des difficultés infinies, et dont on ne peut presque venir "à bout."

CCXCIII. From the practice of nations with respect to this matter in time of peace, but little aid is to be borrowed for either argument. The 13th Article, however, of the Peace of Ryswick, in 1697, though it may be said more properly to refer to indemnification due from a wrong-doer to a lawful owner, may be mentioned here: "Et in quantum, per aucto"ritatem Domini Regis Christianissimi Dominus Rex Magnæ "Britanniæ impeditus fuerit, quominus frueretur reditibus, "juribus et commodis tam principatûs sui Aransionensis quam "aliorum suorum Dominiorum, quæ post conclusum Tracta"tum Neomagensem, usque ad declarationem præsentis belli

(f) Barbeyrac on Puffendorf, de Jure Nat. et Gent. 1. iv. c. xiii. s. 3. Ibid. on Grotius, de Jure B. et P. 1. ii. c. x. s. 2.

(g) Günther, vol. ii. p. 214.

(h) Heffter, 73, n. 1.

(1) Barbeyrac on Grotius, l. ii. c. x. p. 391 (notis).

"sub dominatione prædicti Regis Christianissimi fuerunt, "prædictus Dominus Rex Christianissimus Regi Magnæ "Britanniæ restituit et restitui efficiet realiter cum effectu "et cum interesse debito, omnes istos reditus, jura et com" moda secundum declarationes et verificationes coram dictis "Commissariis faciendas "(k).

CCXCIV. Property may be taken, without consent, from an individual by an act of the law, and a valid title conveyed to another owner; so by conquest-jure victoriæ -followed by treaty, property may be taken from one State and conveyed to another; but this will be discussed at greater length in another part of this work.

CCXCV. Property may also become legally extinct by suffering a change of character, by being placed among things extra commercium, as will be explained in the next chapter.

CHAPTER XVII.

SLAVES AND THE SLAVE TRADE.

CCXCVI. THERE is a kind of property which it is equally unlawful for States as for Individuals to possessproperty in men.

A being endowed with will, intellect, passion, and conscience, cannot be acquired and alienated, bought and sold, by his fellow beings, like an inanimate or an unreflecting and irresponsible thing (a).

CCXCVII. The Christian world has slowly but irrevocably arrived at the attainment of this great truth; and its sound has at last gone out into all lands, and its voice into the ends of the world (b).

International Law has for some time forbidden the captive of war to be sold into slavery. Of late years it has made a further step; it now holds that the colour of the man does not affect the application of the principle. The black man is no more capable of being a chattel than the white man. The negro and the European have equal rights; neither is

(a) "Si vinxero hominem liberum ita ut eum possideam, an omnia quæ is possidebat, ego possideam per illum? Respondit si vinxeris hominem liberum eum te possidere non puto; quod quum ita se habeat multo minus per illum res ejus a te possidebuntur; neque enim rerum natura recepit, ut per eum aliquid possidere possim quem civiliter in mea potestate non habeo."-Dig. xli. t. ii. 23, 2.

(b) "J'ai dit que d'après les principes de l'ancienne constitution romaine la propriété des objets les plus précieux, c'est-à-dire des choses mancipi, était censée provenir de l'Etat. Mais les chrétiens n'avaient jamais cru à cette hypothèse-dans leurs principes la terre appartenait à Dieu avec tout ce qu'elle contient."-Troplong, de l'Infl. du Christ, sur le Droit civil, p. 121.