The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-05 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 5, 1858.

In another part of our impression will be found
some very interesting documents referring to the
capture of the Cagliari, which now seems to be
generally admitted to have been totally unwar-
ranted and unjustifiable. The act of piracy was
committed not by the Sardinian steamer, but by
the Neapolitan frigates which pursued and cap-
tured her on the high seas, and far beyond the
Neapolitan waters. The able and eh-
borate opinion of Dr. TRAVERS Twas,
on which we offered some observations on Friday,
sets this question at rest. To our simple judgment,
the notion that the captAin of the Cagliari volun-
tarily surrendered is a mere quibble, which could
not now be sustained before any independent and
honest tribunal. It might just as well be said,
that a man voluntarily surrendered his purse to the
highwayman, who with presented pistol demanded
" his money or his life," and that therefore the mo-
dern DICLTURPIN Or JERRY ABERSHAW could not
justly be punished for what might be considered
a free gift. Two armed vessels pursued a peace-
ful merchantman, fired before her in order to bring
her to, and were prepared to fire into and sink
her, had she not at once submitted. It would
have been vain to have contended against such a
superior force. The Captain did what, as a pru-
dent man, he (could not have avoided, with any re-
gard to the lives of those committed to his charge.
Had he not done so the charge might have been
one of murder iu place of false imprisonment,
and his forbearance and prudence, which went
far to show that be was not conscious of any
guilt, could not place the conduct of his captors
in a more favourable point of view, or deprive
him of a just claim for compensation for the
wrongs he had sustained.

Still less could it affect the rights and pri-
vileges of the English engineers, who were entitled
both to Sardinian and British protection, To the
former, inasmuch as they were sailing under its
flag on neutral waters, and might therefore prac-
tically be considered as within the Piedmonteie
territory, to the latter because as British citizeas
they had an inalienable claim on the government
to which they owed allegiance, which could not
be abandoned, save by a violation of laws to
which they had voi antarily become amenable. Now
could it under the circumstances be alleged that
they had abandoned that privileges. As we have
already explained, the Master of the Cagliari
yielded to duress, under the reasonable appre-
hension of being fired into and sunk, but even if
he decided on surrendering without compulsion,
could those who entered his veesel for a different
destination, and without any improper design, be
held responsible for his acts, or be held to have
acquiesced therein because they did not enter
an immediate protest ? With all submission
to the authority of the late law officers
me must still contend that such was not
the case. Every one knows how absurd it would
be for a seaman at sea to resist any course ea-
cided on by the captain, although it may be
totally different from that for which he had
entered or signed article. He would be in as
great duress as the Sardinian steamer was under
the guns of the frigates. "To hear " must be
"to obey " on the high seas. Thera is no op-
tion, no means of escape, and therefore the parties
who silently submit, do not by any means forfeit
their right by reason of such submission. Wore
it otherwise the law would, indeed, be what Mr.
BUMBLE termed it,—" A ass, and a idiot 1"
Count CAVOUR, in his very able and spirited
despatch of the 10th January, has denounced,

what he truly designates as " the criminal out-

rage committed against the security of a friendly
State," and proved it to be without the shadow
of justification. NOT has M. CARAFA in any
degree rebutted the powerful and unanswerable
case made out by the Sardinian Minister.
It is very unfortunate that there should have
the views
been any misunderstanding raspectiag
and opinions of the British Government by that
of Turin, in consequence of the grave mistake of

Mr. ERSKINE—a mistake in which Sir J. HUDSON
participated, inasmuch as he could not have
read the document to which he affixed
his signature, and which was so ma-
terially altered after the original draft had
been approved. It would, indeed, be hard if the
Sardinian Government should be misled by sac
an act. Great Britain is clearly responsible for
the acts of her diplomatic agents, whatever they
may be, and aft& the expression of opinion
(albeit an unauthorised expression) can warrant
us is departing therefrom, or leaving Sardinia