26.20. 20. That we ought not to decide by the Principles of the civil Laws
those Things which belong to the Law of Nations.
Liberty consists
principally in not being forced to do a thing, where the laws do not
oblige: people are in this state only as they are governed by civil
laws; and because they live under those civil laws, they are free.
It follows hence, that princes who live not among themselves under
civil laws are not free; they are governed by force; they may
continually force, or be forced. Hence it follows that treaties made by
force are as obligatory as those made by free consent. When we, who live
under civil laws, are, contrary to law, constrained to enter into a
contract, we may, by the assistance of the law, recover from the effects
of violence: but a prince, who is always in that state in which he
forces, or is forced, cannot complain of a treaty which he has been
compelled to sign. This would be to complain of his natural state; it
would seem as if he would be a prince with respect to other princes, and
as if other princes should be subjects with respect to him; that is, it
would be contrary to the nature of things.
