The Freedom of the Seas

In this 1916 book, following the Introductory Note and Preface, the latin text and the translated english text were on alternate pages i.e. the first page of latin text was followed by the first page of corresponding english text, then the next (second) page of latin text was followed by the second page of corresponding english text, and so on.

This etext follows the same alternating pagination. A row of dashes has been inserted between the english and latin pages to give a visual separation.

There are three different sets of Footnotes. (a) The five Footnotes in the Introductory Note have anchors [A] to [E].

(b) The 192 Footnotes associated with the latin text have anchors [1a] [2a] through [192a].

(c) The 192 Footnotes associated with the english text have anchors [1] [2] through [192].

All these Footnotes have been placed after the Index at the end of the book.

In addition there are 17 Notes, distinct from Footnotes, which are anchored with * or †. These Notes by the translator have been placed at the end of the paragraph containing the anchor.

Italic text is denoted by underscores.

A superscript is denoted by ^x or ^{xx}.

Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.

HVGONIS GROTII

MARE LIBERVM

SIVE

DE IVRE QVOD BATAVIS

COMPETIT

AD INDICANA COMMERCIA,

DISSERTATIO

1608

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS

OR

THE RIGHT WHICH BELONGS TO THE DUTCH TO TAKE PART IN THE EAST INDIAN TRADE

A DISSERTATION BY

HUGO GROTIUS

TRANSLATED WITH A REVISION OF THE LATIN TEXT OF 1633

BY

RALPH VAN DEMAN MAGOFFIN, PH.D.

Associate Professor of Greek and Roman History The Johns Hopkins University

EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE

BY

JAMES BROWN SCOTT

DIRECTOR

NEW YORK OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

AMERICAN BRANCH: 35 WEST 32ND STREET

LONDON, TORONTO, MELBOURNE, AND BOMBAY HUMPHREY MILFORD

1916

COPYRIGHT 1916

BY THE

CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE

WASHINGTON, D. C.

THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS RAHWAY, N. J.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Since the month of August, 1914, the expression “Freedom of the Seas” has been on the lips alike of belligerent and neutral, and it seems as advisable as it is timely to issue--for the first time in English--the famous Latin tractate of Grotius proclaiming, explaining, and in no small measure making the “freedom of the seas.”[A]

The title of the little book, first published, anonymously, in November, 1608, explains the reason for its composition: “The Freedom of the Seas, or the Right which belongs to the Dutch to take part in the East Indian trade.” It was an open secret that it was written by the young Dutch scholar and lawyer, Hugo Grotius. It was a secret and remained a secret until 1868 that the Mare Liberum was none other than Chapter XII of the treatise De Jure Praedae, written by Grotius in the winter of 1604-5, which first came to light in 1864 and was given to the world four years later.[B]

The publication of the treatise on the law of prize is important as showing that the author of the Mare Liberum was already an accomplished international lawyer, and it proves beyond peradventure that the masterpiece of 1625 on the “Law of War and Peace” was not a hurried production, but the culmination of study and reflection extending over twenty years and more. More important still is the fact that neither the law of prize nor the Mare Liberum was a philosophic exercise, for it appears that Grotius had been retained by the Dutch East India Company to justify the capture by one of its ships of a Portuguese galleon in the straits of Malacca in the year 1602; that the treatise on the law of prize, of which the Mare Liberum is a chapter, was in the nature of a brief; and that the first systematic treatise on the law of nations--The Law of War and Peace--was not merely a philosophical disquisition, but that it was the direct outgrowth of an actual case and of professional employment.[C]