Lusitanos nullum habere ius dominii in eos Indos ad quos Batavi navigant titulo inventionis
Non esse autem Lusitanos earum partium dominos ad quas Batavi accedunt, puta Iavae, Taprobanae, partis maximae Moluccarum, certissimo argumento colligimus, quia dominus nemo est eius rei quam nec ipse umquam nec alter ipsius nomine possedit. Habent insulae istae quas dicimus et semper habuerunt suos reges, suam rempublican, suas leges, sua iura; Lusitanis mercatus, ut aliis gentibus conceditur; itaque et tributa cum pendunt, et ius mercandi a principibus exorant, dominos se non esse, sed ut externos advenire satis testantur; ne habitant quidem nisi precario. Et quamquam ad dominium titulus non sufficiat, quia et possessio requiritur, cum aliud sit rem habere, aliud ius ad rem consequendam, tamen ne titulum quidem dominii in eas partes Lusitanis ullum esse affirmo, quem non ipsis eripuerit Doctorum, et quidem Hispanorum sententia.
Primum si dicent inventionis praemio eas terras sibi cessisse, nec ius, nec verum dicent. Invenire enim non illud est oculis usurpare, sed apprehendere, ut Gordiani epistola
The Portuguese have no right by title of discovery to sovereignty over the East Indies to which the Dutch make voyages
The Portuguese are not sovereigns of those parts of the East Indies to which the Dutch sail, that is to say, Java, Ceylon,* and many of the Moluccas. This I prove by the incontrovertible argument that no one is sovereign of a thing which he himself has never possessed, and which no one else has ever held in his name. These islands of which we speak, now have and always have had their own kings, their own government, their own laws, and their own legal systems. The inhabitants allow the Portuguese to trade with them, just as they allow other nations the same privilege. Therefore, inasmuch as the Portuguese pay tolls, and obtain leave to trade from the rulers there, they thereby give sufficient proof that they do not go there as sovereigns but as foreigners. Indeed they only reside there on suffrance. And although the title to sovereignty is not sufficient, inasmuch as possession is a prerequisite—for having a thing is quite different from having the right to acquire it—nevertheless I affirm that in those places the Portuguese have no title at all to sovereignty which is not denied them by the opinion of learned men, even of the Spaniards.
* [Taprobane was the ancient name of Ceylon. Milton speaks of it in
Paradise Regained IV, 75:
“And utmost Indian Isle Taprobane.”]
First of all, if they say that those lands have come under their jurisdiction as the reward of discovery, they lie, both in law and in fact. For to discover a thing is not only to seize it with the eyes but to take real possession thereof,