Excerpt from The Institutes of the Law of Nations, Vol. 2 of 2: A Treatise of the Jural Relations of Separate Political Communities Whilst such is our attitude, it is not surprising that the investigators of nature in other directions should despise us; that even our own self-respect should be shaken; and that, whilst legislation is honoured as the highest function of the citizen, and the profession of the law enjoys every consideration, the Science of Law should hang its head, and the Faculties of Law in our Universities, where we have them at all, should drag ignominiously at the tail of the academical system. Against this condition of affairs I have made it the chief occupation of my life to protest; and now that I am approaching the close of my labours, my only regret is that I have not protested with greater earnestness and power. It has sometimes occurred to me that the exceptional position of English jurists in this matter may be more apparent than real, and may...