- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CAPVT XI _Mercaturam cum Indis non esse Lusitanorum propriam iure praescriptionis aut consuetudinis_ Restat praescriptio, seu consuetudinem mavis dicere.[164a] Sed nec huius nec illius vim esse aliquam inter liberas nationes, aut diversarum gentium Principes, nec adversus ea quae primigenio iure introducta sunt, cum Vasquio ostendimus. Quare et hic ut ius mercandi proprium fiat, quod proprietatis naturam non recipit, nullo tempore efficitur. Itaque nec titulus hic adfuisse potest, nec bona fides, quae cum manifesto desinit, praescriptio secundum Canones non ius dicetur, sed iniuria. Quin et ipsa mercandi quasi possessio non ex iure proprio contigisse videtur, sed ex iure communi quod ad omnes aequaliter pertinet; sicut contra, quod aliae nationes cum Indis contrahere forte neglexerunt, id non Lusitanorum gratia fecisse existimandi sunt, sed quia sibi expedire crediderunt; quod nihil obstat quo minus ubi suaserit utilitas, id facere possint, quod antea non fecerint. Certissima enim illa regula a doctoribus traditur,[165a] in his quae sunt arbitrii seu merae facultatis, ita ut per se actum tantum facultatis eius, non autem ius novum operentur, nec praescriptionis nec consuetudinis titulo annos etiam mille valituros: quod et - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CHAPTER XI _Trade with the East Indies does not belong to the Portuguese by title of prescription or custom_ Last of all, prescription, or if you prefer the term, custom.[164] We have shown that according to Vasquez, neither prescription nor custom had any force as between free nations or the rulers of different peoples, or any force against those principles which were introduced by primitive law. And here as before, mere efflux of time does not bring it to pass that the right of trade, which does not partake of the nature of ownership, becomes a private possession. Now in this case neither title nor good faith can be shown, and inasmuch as good faith is clearly absent, according to legal rules prescription will not be called a right, but an injury. Nay, the very possession involved in trading seems not to have arisen out of a private right, but out of a public right which belongs equally to all; so on the other hand, because nations perhaps neglected to trade with the East Indies, it must not be presumed that they did so as a favor to the Portuguese, but because they believed it to be to their own best interests. But nothing stands in their way, when once expediency shall have persuaded them, to prevent them from doing what they had not previously done. For the jurists[165] have handed down as incontestable the principle that where things arbitrable or facultative are such that they produce nothing more than the facultative act _per se_, but do not create a new right, that in all such cases not even a thousand years will create a title by prescription or custom.