Page:Handbook of maritime rights.djvu/16

2 either the greatest of crimes or the most sacred of duties; and, when it is the latter, the man who talks of peace is either a traitor or a coward. The sentence of confiscation is the lesser right included in the greater, viz. that of putting your enemy to death, and to distrain his goods is the milder and more humane compulsion applied to him prior to the exercise of the right of killing him.

War on land is more terrible than war on sea. It includes occupation and annexation of your enemy's territory, the denationalization of his provinces (the greatest calamity which an independent people can undergo), and the striking at his capital, the heart of his empire and the centre of his government, which, when successful, puts an end to the war and brings him to terms.

War at sea, in the nature of things, can lead neither to occupation nor annexation, and consists solely in naval actions and bombardment of fortresses, and in