Excerpt from The Independent State of the Congo: And International Law
If we recall these elementary ideas, it is because the are too often lost sight of; too often writers and jurists neglect them, either on account of their holding fast to theories long since dead, or because they do not take into account the changes that have occurred in the domain of fact. The old definitions showed, in the law of nations, the law which existed between several peoples or between the chiefs of peoples, as Grotius said; they recognised the applicability of its rules to dynasties and sovereign houses. In contemporary legal science, international law only governs the relations of States.
The modern State itself is an institution quite different from the ancient forms of the political community. The word State, let us repeat (I), made its appearance tolerably slowly; it comes from that Italy of the close of the Middle Ages where almost all the creations of politics were produced; the State, lo Stato, was composed of the persons immediately around the Prince; it was the assemblage of those who directed and governed. Later the essence itself of the State, regarded as the central power, was modified. New attributes were conferred upon it; it was no longer a question of the ancient authority, tangible and visible, which manifested itself especially for the purpose of threatening and punishing. The idea of a juridical person made itself accepted, a person distinct from chiefs and citizens, a person whose will is itself distinct from the wills of its members.
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