§ 81. No prisoner of war can be forced by the hostile government to parole himself, and no government is obliged to parole prisoners of war, or to parole all captured officers, if it paroles any. As the pledging of the parole is an individual act, so is paroling, on the other hand, an act of choice on the part of the belligerent. § 82. Civil officers kept as prisoners of war, may be paroled; but no citizens without office, no citizens in a merchant vessel stopped by a privateer or man-of-war, can be paroled. Nor can inhabitants of places or territories occupied by the enemy, be paroled by the latter. Their government does not lose its claim for military service upon such persons, should they give their parole, for it is of no value. If they should be paroled, and, being captured at a later period as soldiers, should not be treated by the captor as prisoners of war, such conduct of the enemy would be ground for retaliation. ARMISTICE. CAPITULATION. § 83. An armistice is the cessation of active hostilities for a period, agreed upon between belligerents. It must be agreed upon in writing, and duly ratified by the highest authorities of the contending parties. § 84. Armistices may be general, and valid for all points and lines of the belligerents, or special, that is, referring to certain troops or certain territories only. Armistices may be concluded for a definite time or for an unsettled time, with a stipulated period, which must elapse between the notice given by either party that hostilities will be resumed and the actual resumption of hostilities; or they may be concluded for a definite time, and so much longer as may be found convenient for the belligerents, with the obligation of giving due notice of the resumption of hostilities, a fixed time previous to the actual resumption. § 85. The motives which induce the one or the other belligerent to conclude an armistice, whether it be expected to be preliminary for an ultimate treaty of peace, or to prepare during the armistice for a more vigorous prosecution of the war, does in no way affect the character of the armistice itself. § 86. Every armistice involves not only the idea of the cessation of actual hostility, that is of attacking the enemy, but also that the hostile armies or troops remain in _status quo_ with reference to the position of the hostile armies opposite to or fronting one another. Neither belligerent is allowed to extend his troops to the injury of the other, or to make any change in his front; but each belligerent in the open field, may do whatever he may deem advantageous for securing or fortifying himself in his position, if it can be done without extending or advancing his lines or posts, and he may receive additional troops, supplies, or ammunition. He may levy new troops during the armistice.