The Three Stages in the Evolution of the Law of Nations (Classic Reprint)

Download or read book The Three Stages in the Evolution of the Law of Nations (Classic Reprint) written by C. Van Vollenhoven and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-10 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Three Stages in the Evolution of the Law of Nations If a book which is meant for contemporaries and deals with present day affairs, opens with a historical disquisition, carrying us back a couple of centuries, the reader is apt to be suspicious. What could such an introduction be, but the draped curtain of a vestibule, a dusty portiere, put up merely because it belongs there, according to an upholsterer's notions? We pass by it or under it as quickly as possible and only then reach our destination. However, this mode of proceeding is to be deprecated when dealing with the law of nations. For this law boasts of a special legend concerning its birth, a legend indeed, of which the scene lies in the romantic days of the Rebellion of the Netherlands against Spain, of Elizabeth and Henry IV of Navarre, of the Pilgrim Fathers and the kings of the House of Vasa. We must clear up this perfectly incredible legend itself at the outset, to avoid constantly entering into conflict with the facts of later centuries, down to the present day. Now this is more easily said than done, for to draw a satisfactory picture of the period in which the Law of Nations was born, taxes our imagination considerably. At present France, England, Holland and even Russia and Prussia are such respectable old gentlemen that it is difficult to think of them as hobbledehoys, as young fellows. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.