The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-24 00:00:00

•CRASY. 1 GRESIIAM L•

BUL'

(According to the Saturday Review.)
From " Pelham" to " Caxtoniana" there has been
one long soliloquy. It is clearly in the light of halt-
regret, half-apology for early faults, that we are to
read the analysis given in this significant Preface
of the earliest of the Bulwer Lytton novels. We
have the frank avowal that it was written " at that
crisis of thought and feeling, common enough to the
boyhood and early youth of all men of genius, when
all the elements of thought are unsettled, when
crude impressions are hastily received as truths;
and in striving, first, to think for themselves, they
question all the oracles of human fate, and dange-
rously interpret the ambiguous answers accorded to
their own passionate inclinations." In the " Dis-
owned" we are next toad to see " glimpses of a much
loftier tone of mind, of greater capabilities for
pathos, of grander ideals of human character, and
the nobles aims of human life." The mystery of
"Devereux" is derived, for variety, " not from
the inferior sources of external incident, but the
complicated secrets of the human heart." Iu the
character of Aubrey, "our rea,4on is satisfied not so
much by the probability of the events as by the
consummate analysis of mind and motive by
which the events themselves grow naturally
and inevitably out of the idiosyncrasy of their
agents. Of " Paul Clifford" the design has never
been apprehended before. "In form a burlesque,
in essentials a tragedy," it is " a satire upon crime,"
a burlesque upon the false shows of civilised life,
" a genial appeal to the conscience of communities
to adjust our codes to the reform of criminals as
well as to their punishment." Shallow critics have
been all along unaware of its ethical depth—
Our author must often have smiled, whether in scorn or
sadness, at the shallow criticisms which represented this
work, so full of a cordial philosophy, so marked by elevated
btnevolence, and so rounded into the very moral which all
our statesmen have since laboured to shape into Acts of
Parliament, as a vicious representation of heroes and high-

waymen
Nor is " Eugene Aram" without those traits o
self-portraiture Which bespeak the mind of the
novelist passing through a further phase of culture.
There is here the imaginary study of evil in its
effects upon a temperament like Clifford's in romance,
but with far higher gifts of mind—"the effect of a
single crime upon a magnificent intellect." In
ideal
view Godolphin," on the contrary, we have the
view of the same influence in a less tragical aspect.
" In one there is the picture of a life blasted, in the
other the picture of a life frittered away." In both
we see, as it were, the physician experimenting
upon moral poisons in their effects upoe his ideal
self. Nor are we on any account to lose the
truthfulness and finish of the " high-bred
cynicism of Saville, or the elegant effemi-
nacy into which the original genius of Godal•
phin himself subsides, as the indolence of
the epicurean gradually prevails over his finer
nature. In "Ernest Maltravers" we pass on to
" the type of the poetic intelligence, working out its
highest ultimate destinies through the scenes and
probation of actual life." In what passes between
Maltravers and Evelyn is represented " that epoch
in the poetic mind when, wearied with the actual
world, the poet yearne for return to his early dreams,
seeks to renew his own youth, and forgets that he
cannot regain their former freshness, nor link inex-
perienced hope with the memory of errors and the
fulness of sorrowful knowledge." It is in' the re-
lation with Alice—that is to say, " the restoration
of art to nature"—that " the ideal intelligence, long
at war with the practical world, is reconciled to it.
" Zanoni"—the first inkling of a vein of thought in
Sir Edward's imagination which has since teemed
in the more astounding marvels of the Strange
Story"—dawned upon the author's brain as the
"illustration of external life by symbolical phi-
losophy." Current rumour points to the no less
potent sympathy said even now to elist between
the same imaginative genius and spirit manifesta-
tions of a more vulgar kind. Such magical bias,
however, is declared to be in its origin" no gloomy
criminal art, but a mastery over the lawful secrets
of nature, to be attained but by dauntless will, by
self-conquest, by the subordination of flesh to
spirit"
If his successive creations, from " Pelham''
downwards, may thus be viewed as so many reflec-
tions of the author's self, as in a room with many
mirrors, the same law of impersonation holds even
more strictly true as a key to his latest publication.
Passing by the practical lessons of the " Caxtons "
and "My Novel," as the expression of his sager
manhood, we have in " Caxtoniana," the didactic
statement of ideas which he has at other times
habituated himself to clothe with the personality of
fiction. By far the larger part of these two volumes
may be read as simple soliloquies or confessions.
Never, perhaps, since Rousseau, has a philosopher
or moralist thrown so much of himself into his re-
flections, even when giving them their most abstract
or general form, and using least commonly the first
person singular. To any keen interpreter of casual
hints and intimations, nothing more is wanting for
a complete mental image of the writer or the man.
Years which have added the last perfection to that
polished style—chastening its early exuberance, and
sobering the youthful tendency to inflation and bom-
bast—have but matured the habit of studying the
world by the inner light of his own consciousness. It
is in the microcosm of his own sentiments and
yearnings that the very universe seems alone
capable of being read and understood. What-
ever changes may go on without are as no-
thing to the importance of the alternations and
vicissitudes which mark the development within.
Tne laws of mind and morals are to be studied, not
in reality, but in type, and that type not far to
seek. Into whatever fountain Narcissus turns to
gaze, there is, changed as it may be by time, the same
individual image still. As Sir Edward himself says
of Montaigne, "it is his own human heart, as he
has tested it though his own human life, that be
first analyses, and then syntheses. And out of that
analysis and that synthesis he dissects into separate
members, and then puts together again, the world.'
Of what avail to him are the multitude of books,
save as they " serve only to enforce his own opinions
and illustrate his own experience of life 2"

POACHING AFFRAY NEAR MACCLESFIELD.--. At
ini A. x.
about 4 o'clock on Monday morning a desperate encounter
took place on the Siddingtou estate, four or five miles from
Macclesfield, between 12 or 14 gamekeepers and nearly twice
having received in..
their number of poachers. On the previous night the keepers
of Mr. J. B. Glegg, Withingion lialL
formation of a body of poachers
hathveinegstbaeensmeenr.
neighbourhood, mustered in force and started
doff in pursuit
They traced the poaching gang t o
being suitably armed, continued Davenport, Capestborne Ilan, where they fell in with the
keepers on that estate, together with those of the adjoining
landowner, Mr. J. Dixon, Astle Hall. The keepers united
their strength, and ber their
search. About 4 o'clock they came upon two fortoida
setting nets in a field in the occupation of mr, j ble gangs
Siddington. It was pitch dark, and their k abezWright,
of the strength of their opponents, pounced keepers, unaware
the two gangs closed and compelled the upon them, but
aloof. The latter summoned their a watchers to stand
but the poachers replied with a antagonists to surrender,
regular tnelse then ensued. 1 volley of large stones, A
and the confusion the keepers n the darkness of the night
fear of hitting the Were chary in striking through
Jess cautious, and set fellow-watchers ; but the poachers were
hard blows before upon each other, exchanging many
perior in number and discovering their mistake. though su-
leaving four of weapons, they made a general retreat,
These thetheir number wounded on the ground,
keepers
a quantity of c took into custody. A hare, a rabbit, and
The keepers e n tting and sticks were found upon them.
tended furscaped marvellously, many of the blows io-
poachers.
'rho them falling on the heads of the unlucky
T four captured men, Joseph Wilson, Joseph
Clayton,
Thomas Fitton, and Hubert :Mss, were brought
up at
Macclesfield on Tuesday. They made no defence,
but Muss and Wilson complained of the brutal ill-usage
they received at the bands of the keepers, 18
or 19 of whom
(they averred), armed with spears several
feet long, and
double-barrelled guns, cut and slashed
right and left.
"Wilson showed some ugly wounds on his head and face, and
Moss had the back of his hand severely cut, he said, with a
spear. no justices sentenced the prisoners to three months'
hard labour each, and expressed an opinion that if the
borough police officers did theirve them, the game pre-
duty under the powers
which the recent Poaching Act ga
serves in the neighbourhood of Macclesfield would be less
infected 0 Lii midnight marauders.
The steam despatch boat Eclaireur has lust r€-
ceived orders to take part in the works for laying dou
n the
new submarine telegraph line between Cartir
:Una and
Oran. The operations will commence
on the al-rival at the
former place of the Dix D3ecrnbre, which
has gone Eto
laud to bring over the caie, _ 4 lig

CE SOU] 3TY,

The annual general meeting of the share ant I policy
holders in this society was held yesterday at the offices,
37, Old Jewry, Cheapside.
The chair was occupied by W. Tabor, Esq., chairman of
the board of directors.

The advertisement calling the meeting having been read,
The following report was then submitted to the

meeting :
" The directors have to state as their report for the
financial year ending July 31st, 1863, that as many as
4,228 proposals have been made to the office for assu-
rances, amounting to £1,732,235.
" That of such proposals 3,508 have been accepted and
completed, yielding £37,347 13a. Bd., as new premiums fur
the year, exclusive of annuities.
"The general income for the year has been £162,537
12s. '2d., of which £12,147 6s. sd. is from interest of in-
vestments. _ _

The amount paid during the year for deaths, including
bonuses, has been £55,533 13a. 6d. ,
" The current funds remainingaccumulated and invested,
after payment of the charges of the year, and ey_clusive of
share capital and deposits, amounted to £374,671 13s. sd.
" The accounts have been examined monthly by the
assigned auditors, Messrs. G. H. Ladbury, W. W. Venn
and William Whitelock, and have been found and certi:
fied to be correct. These gentlemen again beg to offer
themselves for election,
" The directors retiring, but again offering
themselves for election, are, Edward Solly, William
recommendedH enr Henry T
horn tbhy
w theait board
e and l
as William ltlhi aeml
list
'labor,
ro r,
election. E s qs. and aro
" The above report comprises all the essential results of
the past year, and presents to those who are acquainted with
assurance business, such evidence of the activity and pros-
perity produced by the extensive and successful organisa-
tion of the society, as cannot fail to be deemed highiy satis-

factory."
The CHAIRMAN said it now became his duty to move
that the report be received and adopted. He did not know
there was anything that called for remark, but he could
not resume his seat without congratulating the meeting
upon the success of their operations during the past year,
which he thought were unparalleled in the annals of life
assurance. Their premiums kept on increasing, and they
had completed fresh proposals yielding. £37,347 13s. Sd,
(Hear, hear.) Such an amount of new business had, he
thought, never been exceeded by any ether office, and the
fact showed that the foundation of the establishment was
sound and reliable. (Hear, hear.) Their accumulated fund
had also shared in the general increase, and it now
amounted to nearly £400,000. (Hear, hear.) Their large
increase of business had been most legitimately obtained.
There had been no amalgamations, no purchases, but all
had been done in the most regular manner, During
the last week he had examined their securities for money
advanced, and he had also been to the Bank of England,
and seen that the amount standing in their name was cor-
rect. (Hear,
hear.) With these few observations, he
would conclude by formally moving that the report sub-
mitted to the
The motion having been seconded,
Mr. W. adopted.t
opportunity
pass without expressing the pleasure he felt at the
success to
thanztduring
a, 4,213 new
tehn
eel) wia past
pmryoeenpa
immense
that During
thatndd th e attendedtnuninitiatede theyth e i their
acdo could
lod operationsfl form
proposal,
representing such a circumstance would create, as every rop
representing as it did the head of a family, had to be dealtos
a
with singly and separately. It was most satisfactory to
know that their increased business had not been produced by
amalgamation, and that each new assurer had attended
personally at one or other of their offices, and had undergone
an examination by the medical gentleman appointed for the
particular district. The utmost care was taken in the selec-
tion of lives, and to ;that fact much of their prosperity
was to be attributed. Such had been the success of their
operations that, in some towns, they had secured every life
fit for insurance, and this in a field, in many instances,
which others had failed to cultivate. The Gresham
was really and truly an European office; be would
not say they had not a governor or a consul insured in
their office, but they had been insured previous to their
appointment—(hear)—in fact, the whole of those assurers
had been obtained without in one instance going to the
colonies for them. (Hear, hear,) It was the happiness of
the board to have the advice of a gentleman of great breadth
of mind, and he might truly say that it was owing to the
untiring energy of his friend Mr. Farren—(hear, hear)—
that the Gresham had been brought to its present pitch of
prosperity. lie ventured to predict that the office would
still grow, still extend itself, and large as it at present was
it was destined yet to become larger for the future. (Hear.)
The CHAIRMAN put the question for the adoption of the
report to the meeting, when it was enthusiastically
carried.
Mr. WILLIAMS moved the re-election of the retiring
directors, viz., Edward Solly, Esq., William Henry Thorn-
thwaite, Esq., and William Tabor, Esq. He said they
were all gentlemen of tried ability, and it would be im-
possible to obtain better or abler servants. (Hear, hear.)
The motion having been seconded was put to the meet-
ing and carried unanimously.
Mr. THORNTHWAITE, on the part of his brother directors,
returned thanks. He said it was their greatest pride to
see the office in its present flourishing condition, and their
past successful labours would only animate them to fresh
exertions for the future. (Hear, hear.)
This concluded the business of the meeting.
A POLICYHOLDER said before the proceedings terminated
he trusted they would award a vote of thanks to their
worthy and esteemed chairman. (Hear, hear.)
He had
invariably discharged his duties in the most courteous and
had
. hadre, the
and
the more they knew
affable manner; and he had great pleasure in
moving that
the best thanks of the meeting be presented to him.
The motion having been carried,
The CHAIRMAN returned thanks for the compliment,
but at the same time he must say
that much of their sue-
cess was attributable to their admirable and able actuary and
gentleman_
sheaCpr ti an reys lo‘firk.nFowarinreg
n.(.liea r, hear.)
fur They
inan3, )ea
that
of him the better they liked him.
This being the case, be
had great pleasure in moving a
cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Farren. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BEansAni. said it would afford him great pleasure in
seconding the motion.
The coAxamAN having put the
motion, and declared it

carried,
Mr. FARREN said he had to thank the meeting for
-himself and also for his staff, because the latter
He
rendered him the most essential servio:
sup.
need hardly tell them that the two
znalwete his
ports that he depended upon for suceedee
as
agents.
own staff and the gentlemen who
9:
the soundness
Those gentleman. felt a settled confidence in
advocated and
of the society, and they most unhesitatinglywelland justly paid
aided its extension. Everybody was well
with the energy and
for services rendered, and this, couyin
the
offices, was one of
perseverance of every one engageoed
uld only thank the meet-
the secrets of their success.
Se could
awarded him, but at the
ing for the compliment theyhp
resent that his constant en-
same time he could assure
deavour would be to all
the operations of the Gresham.
enlartegrzeinated.
The proceedings
THE ro,T:rsS INSURRECTION,

bT. PETERSBURG, Dec. 21.
The trial of Count Stanislaus Zanoyski is not
closed; the statement of his condemnation to death
is altogether false.

HE SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN QUESTION.

HAMBURG, Dec. 22.
A great popular assemblage of Holsteiners is to
take place to-morrow at Elmshorn, in which depu-
tations from all parts of the country will take part ;
the intention of the meeting is said to be to pro.
claim Duke Frederick.

The Price of Gold.

..---.--- ~..________
__

The quotation of gold at Paris is about 3 per mine pm., and
the short exchange on London is 25.30 per £1 sterling. On
comparing these rates with the English Mint price of £3
t 7 s. toAd. per ounce for standard gold, it appe.x that gold is
abioluyta2d-vltOctelsistrt.oemr cent. Londonbdueragretrhienprice
o than in Paris.
and the short exchange on London isgl°3l:lsiisic4l4l2lpsetrcrrnliaLl!
standard gohl at the English flirt price is, therefore, about
1-10th per cent. dearer in London than in Hamburg.
60"Id`laieysTui,riglito.igt atiesx.clll6aintgo'el6tt
London fur bills at
Preinianim n
profit
gold is 49A to 491 per cent. At these rates there s
on the importation of gold from the United States.
the
°

JUDGES' CHAMBERS.—At the Judges' Chambers
yesterday four learned judges attended. Mr. Justice Shea
heard summonses of the Court of Qucen'e Bench, and was
assisted by Mr. Justice Blackburn. Zo day (Thureda-i)
the Chambers will be closed till 'Wednesday morning.
THE RUBBER or LIFE--FOR 25,000 PEOPLr !
Twenty-five thousand persons are engaged in Peru in 611-
tainiug India-rubber to 014)14 the f0ic1,4,11 dentud,

...
The Prize Courts of the United State 3s.

Violation of the Neutral Rights.

(Translated from the Memorial Diplomatique 01 Dee. 20.)
The proceedings now pending before the prize
courts of the United States of America, and the seta,
tenses which are being pronounced by them, in op..
position to some of the best established doctrines of
international law, affect the interests of all the mari-
time nations of the world, and are of a character to
awaken the solicitude of the French Government.
Although the shipping of England alone is at pre-
sent exposed to the inadmissible pretensions of the
North Americans, the judgments which we are
about to examine, and the grounds upon which they
are based, constitute nothing less than a flagrant
violation of neutral rights—rights which for cen-
turies it has been the special glory of France to
maintain and defend.
The rights and the duties of belligerent and neu-
tral nations in time of war are foanded on certain
essential principles of natural justice, modified by
experience and determined by precedent. These
rights and duties mainly consist in strict abstention
on the part of the neutrals from any participation in
acts of warfare, while on the part of the belligerents
they impose the obligation not to subject the neu-
trals to the direct consequences of a state of warfare.
If the neutral violate his duties he, by his act, be-
comes the ally of one belligerent and the enemy of
the other belligerent, and consequently may be
treated as such by the latter. If the belligerent vio-
late his duties, inasmuch as he thereby deprives the
neutral of the benefit of his neutrality, and subjects
him to the inconveniences of war, such belligerent
justly exposes himself to the risk of the injured
neutral openly taking part with the enemy.
As the code which regulates the duties of neutrals
and belligerents is not precisely a written code, but
a code which, while based on natural justice, is modi-
fied by treaties and judicial decisions—in a word, by
precedents—it is of immense importance for neutral
powers that no unjust precedent, which
might now_
or hereafter be quoted as an authority, be admitted
into the law of nations.
It is on these grounds that we propose to examine
the legal and moral weight of certain judgments re-
cently pronounced by the American courts, in cases
of the seizure of neutral vessels by the cruisers of
the United States.
According to the official documents now before
us, it appears that the New pork District Prize
Court, presided over byJudgeßetts, summarily, and
at the single sitting of the Ist of August last,
con-
damned seven English merchant vessels and their
cargoes as prizes of war. We have thoroughly
and attentively examined all the documents and
evidence in the cases of two of these vessels,
namely, the Springbok and the Stephen Hart,
and we have satisfied ourselves that never did any
tribunal pronounce judgments more repugnant
to justice than are these two condemnations.
The Springbok, an English sailing vessel, was
chartered by an English merchant for a voyage
from London to Nassau, New Providence, an English
colony. Loaded with merchandise which belonged
exclusively to Englishmen, and having all her papers
in perfect order, she left London on Dec. 9, 1862,
and proceeded direct for Nassau. Being a slow
sailer, she took two months to cross the Atlantic.
On Feb. 3, 1863, she was in lat. 25 35 N., and long.
73 40 W. of Greenwich, and consequently about 60
leagues distant from Nassau. There she was over-
hauled and searched by the United States ship of
war Sonoma, who seized her as prize of war, and
carried her for adjudication to New York, on the
pretext that " she was loaded with contraband of
war for the use of the Southern rebels." In the
official act of seizure (proses verbal), it is expressly
stated that when the Sonoma fell in with the
Springbok, the latter vessel was steering straight for
Harbour Island, the most direct course she could
follow to reach her destination, Nassau.
We can understand this act of violence on the
part of the commander of the Sonoma, bound pro-
bably t. execute the peremptory orders of his Go-
vernment, but how shall we explain, and how ought
we to qualify, the judgment of the prize court of
New York which pronounced both vessel and cargo
prize of war? On what legal grounds did Judge
Betts base that double condemnation ? On the fol-
lowing proposition of law, amongst others, which
he propounded as an incontestable principle in inter-
national marititne law That a neutral vessel,
sailing between neutral ports, is not less subject to
capture and condemnation if she be laden with a
cirgo not to be sold or disposed of in the neutral
port to which she is destined, but to be thence tran-
shipped to the enemy's country."
We venture to say that the preceding proposition,
which we give textually, is in flagrant contradic-
tion with those which have been laid down by the
moat eminent jurists. It is very easy to prove this.
If there be any one principle in international
maritime law upon which all the authorities, from
Lord Stowell and Judge Story down to " His-
toricus '' in England, and to M. de Hautefeuille
in France, are unanimous it is, that there is no
such thing as contraband trade between neutral
ports or with a neutral port.

.. Goods belonging to a neutral (no matter of what
illeee goods consist, and even ware they munitions
of
'war), loaded on a neutral vessel, sailing for a
neutral port, cannot be regarded as contraband
of eirtya_
rl provided the goods are bona fide the
e
pro-
vessel bee.:eutral and the real destination of the
neutral port. The nationality and the
destinatioa
legality et the the vessel alone determine the
eouettvoyage ; and in the case in point
the prize
into consideration had no right whatever to take
either the nature of the cargo
or its ulterior destination. Any suspicion or even
positive evidence that
these goods, after arrival
and disembarkation
t
the neutral port, were in-
tended to be afterwards forwarded thence to the
enemy, was alt°gethez
o foreign t 0 the case and
inadmissible by a prize
These are the terms in Whichrt
.M. de Hautefenille
expresses himself on this
points_.
"To subject a neutral vessel t
capture for the
act of carrying contraband of ve!
r tlie.s
necessary,
concurrence
of two conditions is indispensable. t I
first, that there be actually contraband 4un articles on
board, and in larger quantities that are .
required
for the use of the vessel and her crew; and,
se
oondly,
that the vessel be bound for a port et listbellige-
rent power at war with that of the cruiser Which
makes the search. This latter condition ii
indis-
pensable to constitute a violation of the oblikatien
of neutrality, an infringement on the rights of the
belligerent.—(lla H tutefeuille, ' D
1 es liroits et d,,,
Devoirs des Nations Neutres.' Tome iii., p. 222.)
The equity of this doctrine is not only self evi-
th nt, but is made still more so by the absurdity of
that which Judge Betts opposes to it. If it were
admitted, in fact, that the ulterior destination
of certain articles of merchandise, on their WaY
from one neutral port to another, justifies
their confiscation by one of the belligerents, the
Northern Americans would, for example, be en-
titled to overhaul and search French vessels on
their voyage between Bordeaux and Havre, as well
as English vessels bound from London to Liver-
pool, to ascertain whether they had not amongst
their cargoes any contraband
they to capture had
them. They would have,
moreover, an equal right to confiscate all the
EeraPeen steamers running on the Transatlantic
lines, out,
New York, to
tpretext that these steamers carry to
war destined ulteriorly Boston, to Havannah, contraband of
The case of the
teriorly for the Confederates.
Stephen Hart does not differ
essentially from that f
the Springbok. Here again
we have an English
entirely English cargo sailing vessel laden with an
tzhich sailed from an Eng-
lish port, bound for
Cardenas, in the island of neutral Cuba.
Spanish port of
S tepaen Hart was seized on Nevertheless, the
the 29th of Jan. 1862,
in Cuban waters, by an A.raerie,n ship
very to .7..C,-.A.- Yiric, end „and__ -
, ,
._„
_,.. me
g'.'"otinti
,r 1 along with her
ert':,:fo as I,llz 0, ),•,.
Asses in 1,.
' ( of judgment in
this e.;tc' even FAIT- cz -avaßance that- of
" give it textually ~....
Springbok. li o
a To subject tt cargo to the penalty of
"li
confisea
.
lion as contraband, it is an erroneous 118811111
p"
that its destination must be directly °rimmed. °
lately
to the enemy's country or enemy's poet.
"It is glit,, sucient if its ultimate destination
be estebuished for the use of the army or navy of
tile cnAiy. II such be the ulterior et6ltuation, the

penalty of condemnation is incurred, although it be
designed to use an intermediate or neutral port as
one of transhipment of the cargo."
These two decisions of Judge Betts involve un-
fortunately not one but several violations of the law
of nations.

Let us assume for a moment, that the fact of its
being ulteriorly destined for one of the belligerents
renders the neutral cargo of a neutral vessel,
sailing between neutral ports, liable to seizure by
the other belligerent; it still remains to be
proved that this cargo is composed of contra
band artiolee ; for were it not so it could not be
seized, except in the case alone of the vessel carry-
ing it attempting to enter one of the enemy's legally
blockaded ports. But neither the Springbok nor the
Stephen Hart has been accused of running the
blocka'e, both having been condemned for having
had on board contraband of war.

According to the libel of the American authorities
the cargo of the Springbok was composed almost
entirely of dry goods. There were, however, one
dozen rifle bayonets and one dozen swords, a few
hundredweight of nitrate of potash, besides some
bales of coarse brown cloth, said by the United
States authorities to be suitable for the use of the
rebel troops ; and lastly a case of buttons, on which
were stamped neither arms nor any national device,
but which the Federal authorities further declared
to be adapted to the uniforms of the rebels. Solely
on account of these paltry articles the Springbok, a
fine barque, with all her valuable cargo, has been
seized and condemned by the tribunal of New York.
Let us see if the above-mentioned articles can be
legally considered as within the category of contra-
band of war ; and let us again turn to M. de Haut-
feuille, the most recent authority, and of all French
writers the one who possesses the greatest weight in
such matters. He says, " This restriction (that
which war imposes on the liberty of neutral com-
merce) affects those articles only destined immedi-
ately to become, in the hands of the possessors, a
direct means of attack or of defence —articles suited
solely for warlike purposes, without requiring to
undergo any industrial preparation or transforma-
tion to render them
so."
"It may then be affirmed that contraband of war
is limited expressly to arms, instruments, and muni-
tions of war, fashioned and fabricated exclusively
to serve in war ; and that all other articles without
excepting even those substances suited for the manu-
facture of such prohibited articles, the instruments
even which without having a direct use in
hostilities, can, however, be indirectly em-
ployed in them, continue the objects of
free commerce on the part of neutrals,
either with both the belligerents or with one of
them.--(Hautefeuille, " Droits et Devoirs des Na-
tions Neutres," tome ii., p. 83.)
Contraband of war comprises, then, only instru-
ments of war, and so true is this that the United
States themselves have expressly recognised it in
several treaties. That concluded with France, and
signed Feb. 6, 1778, runs thus—
" Under the name of contraband, or prohibited
articles of merchandise, are comprised arms, cannon,
bombs with their fuzes, and other articles thereto
pertaining, balls, gunpowder, slow matches, pikes,
swords, lances, darts, halberds, mortars, petards,
grenades, muskets, bullets, shields, helmets, breast-
plates, coats of mail, and other implements of this
kind suitable for arming soldiers, gun slings, belts,
and all other warlike accoutrements whatever."

M. de Hautefeuille makes the following remarks
on the subject—

" Almost all the treaties recently concluded by
France, and especially by the United States of Ame-
rica with the new American States, contain the
same enumeration, with the addition of a clause
which appears to me to embody exactly the doctrine
which I have just laid down—viz., And generally
every kind of arms and instruments of iron, steel,
bronze, brass, or any other material whatever,
manufactured, prepared, and fabricated expressly
for making war by sea or by t.
p, 158.)
On this point we might cite the 13th article of
the treaty between the United States and Peru of
Nov. 13th, 1836, which will be found in the " Nou-
veau itecueir of Martens, tome xv. p. 113.
Having thus established by reference to treaties
and to the fundamental principles of international
law that the articles above enumerated form alone
the objects of a prohibited commerce in time of war,
M. de Hautefeuille goes still further, and declares
that it is not permitted to a belligerent to extend
this prohibition to other articles.
" The restriction," he observes, " imposed by
war on the absolute liberty of neutral commerce,
in respect to the articles comprised under the name
of contraband of war, is a duty imposed upon
nations at peace by natural law, and is not a right
of the belligerent. The belligerent possessing the
exercise of no positive right is never entitled to
render the restriction more onerous on neutral
nations. He is not entitled to include in the pro-
hibited class such or such articles as he may desire
to deprive his enemy of, in a word, to enlarge or
circumscribe the circle of the restriction."—lbid., t.
ii., p. 82.)
Thus, according to international law and the ad-
mission even of the United States, neither cloth, nor
butter, nor, strictly, even nitrate of potash, are con-
traband of war. In the whole cargo of the Spring-
bok there were but one dozen rifle bayonets and
swords really contraband. Now, the presence of
these few articles amongst a cargo cannot justify
the seizure of the entire cargo and the confiscation
of the vessel which carried it. The law of nations
is equally clear on this head :
" Neutral vessels laden, in whole or in part, with
contraband of war destined for the enemy, are sub.
ject to seizure, but not in an absolute sense. They
are not subject to this measure except in so far as
regards the prohibited merchandise which they
carry. On giving up to the cruiser this portion of
their cargo they ought to be free to continue their
voyage. In fine, except in the case of express
stipulations existing between the belligerents and
the neutral nation, the articles of merchandise pro-
hibited and subject to seizure are those only which
are considered as such by national law, and which
we have before enumerated, and that independently
of all the laws, ordinances, regulations, orders, and
proclamations of belligerents."—(lbid., iii., pp. 226
and 239.)
This right of neutrals has been recognised not
only by France, England, Sweden, Holland, Colum-
bia, and other states, but also by the United States
themselves, in the treaties concluded by them with
`France in 1800, and with Columbia in 1843.

IA follows, from the preceding text and reasoning,
thttthe decisions of Judge Botts in the case of the
s
,ThP,t'VwolE and of the Stephen Hart comprehend
namll4,lrant 'violations of international law,
el y,
1. The
441trary assimilation of ordinary articles
of commerce
to contraband of war.
2. Arbitr
"5. esizure of an entire cargo because it
comprised a few ~,tic,es
of alleged contraband of
war.

.condemnation of neutral
Zihempirtestelvxaty
3. Capture and illegal
thatfrom
said one
property, under neutral
neutral port to another,
property had an ulterior a
eat_ •
of the
attention to
belligerents. luation to one of the
We have deemed it our duty to
examined
these extraordinary aberration,
bench. Let us add, however, thattlief American
they are only the doings of an inferi:rrttunately,
that the decisions whie'i we have
the United States,
been carried, on appeal, to the Supreme 4 have
where, for the reputation
of that
of
illustrious ':ribunal, it is to be hoped, they viipit_tet
reversed. Should it prove otherwise, and ohtotiqd
the Supremo Court adopt the legal heresies of
Judge Betts, and confirm his iniquitous nondem.
nations, it will become the duty of all the maritime
powers to protest against such a flagrant violation
of national rights.

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