PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

The General Rightl oj M4itHnJ. 85
would award a compensation to the owner of the
field, and a liberal profit to the author of the di~"e.
ry, especially, if he had.bestowed pains or ex~
upon the search ; but I question, whedrer any bu- i
man laws would be justified, or would justify the !
owner, in prohibiting mankind from the use of the 1
water, or setting such a price upon it, as would at. ,
most amount to a prohibition.
If there be fisheries, \vnich are inexhaustible; _
the cod-fishery upon the Banks of Newfoundland,
and the herring -fishery on the British Se-dS are said
to be; t.hen all . those conventions, by which one or ,f'
two natIons claim to themselves, and guaranty to;1
each other, the exclusive enjoyment of these fisher ..
ies, are so many encroachments upon the general
rights of mankind. a... .
Upon the same principle ,"Y be determined a
question, which makes a grea .. ·figure in books of
natural law, litrum mat:.u!i liberum! th_at~ as -l 8ft
derstaud it, whetherthe exclusive right of navigating
particular seas, or a control over the navigation of
these seas can be claimed, ·consistent}', with the'law
of nature, by any nation? '\That is necessary for each
nation's safety we allow ; as~ their own bays, creeks~
and harbours, the sea contigious to, that is, wi~hiD
cannon shot, or three leagues of their coast: and upon
this principle of safety (if upon any principle) must
be defended, the claim of the Venetian state to the
Adriatic, of Denmark to the Baltic sea, and of Great
Britain to the seas which invest the island.
But,
when Spain asserts a right to the Pacific ocean, or
Portugal to the Indian seas, or when any nation ex ..
tends its pretensions much beyond the iimits of its
own territories, they erect a claim, which interferes \
wi.th the benevolent designs of Providence, and,
which no human authority can justify.
I~I. A!l~~J.:~~ which._mal ~~ ~alled_~_gener. _
al rIght, as It IS Incidental to every man who is ill a
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