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THE

EPISTLE

TO THE

READER.

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The author of this translation was a clergyman original: "Divine"; a member of the clergy or a theologian by profession, eminent for his learning and well-skilled in the civil laws The legal system derived from Roman law, which formed the basis for international law in Grotius's time. He was a great admirer of the works of Hugo Grotius and valued him particularly for this treatise on the Rights of War and Peace. Finding within it material suitable for general communication, he thought it well worth his time to translate. It was the labor, or rather the pastime, of the last seven years of his life to perfect it, which he intended to print during his lifetime; and so we found it in his study after his death. And although it added nothing to the value of his estate, yet we (to whom he committed the care of all the rest) These are likely the translator's executors or family members who oversaw his final affairs. thought it our duty to make this public, believing it

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