APPENDIX D.—SOME PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.
Nature and Origin.—A savage meeting in the forest a person whom he has never seen before is apt to look upon him as a foe. As civilization increases, danger to one's personal rights decreases, and stranger ceases to mean enemy. It has gradually come about that the confidence and courtesy shown to one another by men in their individual relations have extended to the relations of states. Morality, reason, and custom have established among the nations certain rules of conduct with respect to one another. The rules constitute what is called international law.
As might be guessed, international law is a matter of comparatively recent origin, and exists only among the most highly civilized nations. Not being the enactment of any general legislative body, having no courts competent to pass upon it nor executive to enforce its provisions, this law must be framed by agreement, and its carrying out must rest upon national good faith.