Note 83 — XI THE LAW OF NATURE

When he uses the phrase ius gentium, Grotius dwells on the fact that its force springs from the Will of the Nations which use it, and he observes that when it is ascribed to the will of all nations it is practically ius naturale, but that there is much of it which rests on the will, not of all, but only of many nations, since sometimes we find a ius gentium holding good in one part of the world which does not exist in other parts.