From one violation of International Law I pass to another. The
proceedings already detailed show belligerent intervention, contrary to
International Law. Here my statement will be brief.
According to all the best authorities, in harmony with reason, no
nation has a right to interfere by belligerent intervention in
the internal affairs of another, and especially to take part in a
civil feud, except under conditions which are wanting here; nor has
it a right to interfere by belligerent intervention between two
independent nations. The general rule imposed by modern civilization
is _Non-Intervention_; but this rule is little more than a scientific
expression of that saying of Philip de Comines, the famous minister of
Louis the Eleventh, “Our Lord God does not wish that one nation should
play the devil with another.” Not to occupy time with authorities,
I content myself with some of our own country, which are clear and
explicit, and I begin with George Washington, who wrote to Lafayette,
under date of December 25, 1798:--
“No Government ought to interfere with the internal concerns
of another, _except for the security of what is due to
themselves_.”[74]