THE PREFACE.

they usually add that the Sword is the Common Judge or Arbiter of all disputes arising between Kings and Foreign Nations. Nor is this just the opinion of the common people original: "the Vulgar"—that all Laws are silenced by War—but similar sayings often come from Men who are otherwise Learned and Wise, which gives this Opinion more weight. There is nothing more frequently set against each other than Law and Arms. Thus we find them opposed in Ennius Quintus Ennius, an early Roman poet:

— to gain their Right,

Not by the Law, but with their Arms, they fight.

We find the same in Horace, who says of Achilles:

He claims nothing by Law, but Everything by Arms.

Albericus Gentilis

Old Antigonus One of the successors of Alexander the Great laughed at a man who, seeing him busy attacking the Forts and Cities of his Enemy, presented him with a book on Justice. Marius A Roman general and statesman used to say that he could not hear the voice original: "Cry" of the Laws over the clashing of Arms. Plutarch, Life of Lysander Lysander, in Plutarch’s writings, laid his hand upon his Sword and said, "He who knows how to use this is the best Judge of the Boundaries of Empires." To the same purpose was the saying of Julius Caesar: The time for Arms is not the same as the time for Laws original: "Non est Idem tempus Armorum, quod Legum"; Arms and Laws never flourish at the same time. Kings, says Seneca, grant many things blindly, especially in times of War; for no one man, however Just, can possibly satisfy the desires of so many Armed Men. Nor can any one man perform the duties of both a Good Man and a Good General at the same time. Indeed, even Pompey himself—though otherwise very modest—would say: Should I think of Laws while I am armed? original: "Armatus ut Leges cogitem?" Or as Plutarch phrases his Answer to the people of Messina original: "Mamertines": "What, will you never stop rebuking us with your Laws, when you see us surrounded by Swords?" So easily, says Curtius Quintus Curtius Rufus, a Roman historian, does War pervert and destroy even the very Laws of Nature. Even among Christian Authors, we find many such sayings. That of Tertullian An early Christian author from Carthage shall suffice instead of the rest: Deceit, cruelty, and injustice are the proper business of battles original: "Dolus, Asperitas, Injustitia, propria sunt Præliorum negotia". Now, those who favor this Opinion will undoubtedly object to my work by quoting the comic poet Terence, a Roman playwright:

If you try to guide uncertain things with fixed rules,

You will undertake a task as hopeless

As one who would try to run stark mad using reason.

Since it would be pointless to discuss Right original: "Right" (Latin: Ius), referring here to Law or Justice if no such thing exists, it is very important for us to recommend and defend this following Discourse by providing a brief but solid refutation of this error.