SPEECHES, ARGUMENTS,

AND

MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS

OF

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD.

EDITED BY

A. P. SPRAGUE.

VOLUME I.

NEW YORK:

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,

1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET.

1884.

PREFACE.

THIS Compilation was undertaken, as the title-page indicates, by Mr. A. P. Sprague. He had proceeded beyond the half of the second volume, when the work was interrupted by his sudden death. The loss was a severe one, for he was a young man of much promise, and had distinguished himself by winning the prize offered by M. Marcuarto, of Spain, through the Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, for the best essay upon the codification of public International Law. His death interrupted for a time the completion of the present work. It was his intention to insert a preliminary essay, but the materials were not sufficiently collected and arranged to be of use in other hands.

The selections for these volumes have been made from a large mass of material, and they sufficiently explain themselves. Many of the controversies to which the papers relate have been settled by time and circumstance; but it was thought that the republication might serve a useful purpose, by way of suggestion at least, toward a history of opinion and struggle, in periods of great importance.