Itisinthecensoriallinethatthereisthegreatestroomfordisquisitionsthatapplytothecircumstancesofallnationsalike:andinthislinewhatregardsthesubstanceofthelawsinquestionisassusceptibleofanuniversalapplication，aswhatregardsthewords。Thatthelawsofallnations，orevenofanytwonations，shouldcoincideinallpoints，wouldbeasineligibleasitisimpossible:someleadingpoints，however，thereseemtobe，inrespectofwhichthelawsofallcivilizednationsmight，withoutinconvenience，bethesame。Tomarkoutsomeofthesepointswill，asfarasitgoes，bethebusinessofthebodyofthiswork。
XXV。Inthesecondplace，withregardtothepoliticalqualityofthepersonswhoseconductistheobjectofthelaw。Thesemay，onanygivenoccasion，beconsideredeitherasmembersofthesamestate，orasmembersofdifferentstates:inthefirstease，thelawmaybereferredtotheheadofinternal，inthesecondcase，tothatofinternationaljurisprudence。
Nowastoanytransactionswhichmaytakeplacebetweenindividualswhoaresubjectsofdifferentstates，theseareregulatedbytheinternallaws，anddecideduponbytheinternaltribunals，oftheoneortheotherofthosestates:thecaseisthesamewherethesovereignoftheonehasanyimmediatetransactionswithaprivatememberoftheother:thesovereignreducinghimself，prorenatâ；，totheconditionofaprivateperson，asoftenashesubmitshiscausetoeithertribunal；whetherbyclaimingabenefit，ordefendinghimselfagainstaburthen。Thereremainthenthemutualtransactionsbetweensovereigns，assuch，forthesubjectofthatbranchofjurisprudencewhichmaybeproperlyandexclusivelytermedinternational。
Withwhatdegreeofproprietyrulesfortheconductofpersonsofthisdescriptioncancomeundertheappellationoflaws，isaquestionthatmustresttillthenatureofthethingcalledalawshallhavebeenmoreparticularlyunfolded。
Itisevidentenough，thatinternationaljurisprudencemay，aswellasinternal，becensorialaswellasexpository，unauthoritativeaswellasauthoritative。