is a state of peace; the
pursuit of happiness, man's natural right; that is the duty of all men
to contribute, as much as is in their power, to one another's happiness,
and that there is no other way by which they can so well contribute to
the comfort and well-being of one another, as by commerce, or the mutual
exchange of equivalents." These views and principles he thus
illustrates:

"The duty of commercial intercourse between nations, is laid down in
terms sufficiently positive by Vattel, but he afterwards qualifies it by
a restriction, which, unless itself restricted, annuls it altogether. He
says that, although the general duty of commercial intercourse is
incumbent upon nations, yet every nation may exclude any particular
branch or article of trade, which it may deem injurious to its
interests. This can not be denied. But then a nation may multiply these
particular exclusions, until they become general, and equivalent to a
total interdict of commerce; and this, time out of mind, has been the
inflexible policy of the Chinese empire. So says Vattel, without
affixing any note of censure upon it. Yet it is manifestly incompatible
with the position which he had previously laid down, that commercial
intercourse between nations is a moral obligation upon them all."

The same doctrine, with regard to the duties of _individuals_ in a
community, that is here advanced by Mr. Adams with regard to _races_ and
_nations_, is thus set forth in Blackstone's Commentaries, book iv,
chap. xxxiii: "_There is not a more necessary, or more certain maxim, in
the frame and constitution of society, than that every individual must
contribute his share, in order to the well-being of the community._"

The first principle laid down by Mr. Adams is, that the same code of
international law does not apply to all nations alike, but that it
varies with the condition and character of the people; that one code of
laws applies to the enlightened and Christian nations of Europe, but an
entirely different one to the pagan, woolly-headed, barbarians of
Africa. What would be just and right with regard to the African, would
be eminently unjust towards the European. Though it would be a great
wrong to reduce the European to a condition of servitude, it does not
follow that it would be equally wrong to enslave the African. If all the
human races were alike, one code of international laws would apply to
the whole, but so long as the African continues to be a