The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-28 00:00:00

SPAIN AND PRANCE.

SPAIN is determined to share the advantages
resulting from an extended commercial intercourse
with England. The Vintage Wine Company import Spanish
Wines at such prices as to induce customers to give the pre-
ference to Sherry instead of to the light Wines of France."—
Court Circular.
" Not only excellent in quality and flavour, but remark-
able for cheapness. Eighteen Shillings per dozen for a
GENUINE MILD SHERRY for the Dinner Table."—Sun.
" A PURE, SOUND, and PALATABLE WINE, and far more
fitted for our climate than the thin acid Clarets of France."
—Press.

-
" A really good Sherry."—Morning Star.
XERES COMMA SHERRY,
Soft, fine bndy, age and flavour, and gennine,
EIGHTEEN SHILLINGS PER DOZEN.
PALE—TWENTY snrr.r.rNcs PER DOZEN.
" Quite equal to that for which we have been accustomed
to give 60s."—Atlas.
"Extraordinary for the money, and that no man need be
ashamed to put on his table."—Mark-laue Express.
TERMS :

CASH ONLY—Country orders must contain remittances.
Town orders to be paid for on delivery.
CARRIAGE —Orders of Two Dozen and upwards carriage
paid to any railway station in Eng,land.
—Samples of the Wines forwarded on receipt
of Eighteen Postage Stamps.
BOTTLES, dr..c., charged at cost price, but not returnable.
MODE OF REMITTANCE—By Post-office Order, payable
at the GENERAL POST-OFFICE, Lon-
don ; or by Cheque, crossed to the BANK
of LONDON,
N.B.—ln either case the Order or Cheque to be made payable
to "THE VINTAGE WINE COMPANY."

VINTAGE WINE COMPANY.
IMPORTERS OF SPANISH WINES.
West-End Offices, 14, Bloomsbury-street,

Lon.don, W.C.

DR. BRIGHT'S APIIRODISION.—
The GREAT CHEMICAL COMBINATION of Phos-
phorus, Quinine, Iron, and other invigorating ingredients, is
the never-failingßemedy for Spermatorrlicea, and all Diseases
of the Reproductive System. A single course of this invalu-
able preparation insures health, strength, and manly vigour
in every stage of life. Price, 11s. per bottle, or four Ils. bottles
in one, 335. ; and in cases containing three 335. bottles, for
£5, at a saving of £1 12s.

DR. BRIG lIT'S THREE DAYS' CURE ; the most speedy
remedy known. The BUCIIU GLOBULES, containing the
Quintessence of Copaiba, Cubebs, Buchu, &c., at once cure,
without the possibility of failure, Gonorrlicea, obstinate Gleet,
Stricture, &c., immedifitely subduing all inflammatory action;
encased in sugar, free from taste or smell Price lls. ; by
post 125. 6d.
Prepared and sold at the Laboratoyy, 44A, Maddox-street,
Regent-street, W. (opposite the side of St. George's Church),
London, where also may be had the new medical work, en-
titled "Nervous Exhaustion," on Physical Disqualification
and Impediments to Marriage, 275 pages. Price 25. fid. ; by
post, "s. 10d. ; abridged edition ls., by post 14 stamps. All
communications and Post-Office Orders to be addressed to
Ralph Bright.
The above medicines have been confided to a Registered
Physician, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, Eng-
lan.d, who may be daily consulted from 11 to 8.

DR. CULVERWELL'S LAST NEW WORK,
OURSELVES.
Price Is., by post Is. td. ; of Mann, 29, Cornhill.
On Spermatorrhcea, Syphilis, Stricture, Hxmorrhoids,
G lee ts. &c.
Marriage : Impediments removed, and Healthy Offspring
secured.

Dr. C. may be consulted daily till 12, at
The Post-office Turkish Baths, 19, St. Martin's-le-Grand;
and from 1 till 9 p.m. at 3, Great Marlborough-street, W.
DR. CULVERWELL'S NEW POST-OFFIOE
TURKISH BATHS, 19, St. Martin's-le-Grand.
2s. till 5, and ls. 6d. from 5 till 9 ; Sundays, ls. till 1.
An ESSAY on TURKISH BATHING, gratis.
OPINIONS OF TIIE PRESS.
" The Use and the Abuse of the Turkish Bath.—A very
useful pamphlet has been published by Dr. Culverwell, the
proprietor of the Turkish Baths in the neighbourhood of the
Post-office, which presents to the uninitiated a mass of inte-
resting information, while these who have already encouraged
this new system will derive additional advantage if they
obstrve some of the p actical regulations which the writer
endeavours to enforce."—herald and Standard, N0v.12,1861.
" The Post-office Turkish Bath 09, St.-Martin's-le-Grand.
—Dr. Culverw, 11 has already established the reputation of
an able physioian ; he has now proved himself to be a worthy
philanthropist, in as far as he has established, in the heart
of the City, au institution that more nearly than any disco-
very of modern days, goes nearer the abolition of the practice
of physic, than any proposition or invention yet established,
the Turkish Bath. . . Our object being merely to direct
the attention of our City readers to the fact that they possess
one of the best set of baths, at 19, St. Martin's-le-Grand,
which the country can produce; perfect in all its appliances,
and most admirable in effect. Dr. Culverwell has fitted up
his baths with a degree of elegance, luxury, and refinement,
which, considering the space at his disposal, is truly sur-
prising, while everything that taste or delicacy could desire
has been obtained to add to the comfort and luxury of the
visitor. . . We may justly say that if a man ever feels
himself regenerated and new made, it if; on coming out of a
Tarkieti Bath.',- a, cm, 0, nu.

OPINIONS OF TIIE PRESS.
(From the Times.)
It requires a strong effort of.self-restraint to dis-
cuss with coolness the intelligence we publish to-
day. An English mail steamer, sailing under the
British flag, and carrying letters and passengers
from a Spanish port to England, has been stopped
on the high seas and overhauled. Four of the
passengers have been taken out and carried off as
prisoners, claiming, and vainly claiming, as they
were being forced away, the protection of the flag
of Great Britain. These are the naked facts. We
put out of sight the accidents that the four gentle-
men thus kidnapped were accredited with a diplo-
matic mission from the Confederate States of
America to the Courts of Europe, and also the
peremptory manner in which the Federal frigate
acted in making her seizure. The intention of
the Federal Government evidently was to act
upon their strict right, and to do so in as little
ceremonious a manner as might be. If they
are justified by their rights as belligerents in
what they have done the manner of doing it is
a mere question of good or bad taste. If a rude
fellow claims his rights coarsely we must yet give
him his rights; and if we would not find ourselves
in the wrong we must not quarrel with him on ac-
count of his ill manners.
'l3-it, then, true that every officer of the American
Navy can stop and overhaul our ships wherever
they may be found, and can take out of them any
persons whom he may claim to be citizens of the
United States or officers of the Confederate Govern-
ment ? If we were to admit the Federal view of
their own position it would be plain that no such
right exists. They tell us that they are not at
war, but are only putting down a rebellion. They
say, or said, that they are not blockading their
own ports, but arc simply enforcing a law which
has closed the Southern ports as ports of entry.
They insist upon putting their quarrel upon the
same ground as if the Queen of England were put-
ting down a rebellion in the Isle of Wight. Now,
if this were so, it is clear that the Federal States of
America have in stopping our mail steamer been
guilty of an act of aggression which could only be
properly punished by laying an embargo on every
American ship in British ports and sweeping their
little Navy from the seas. They would, according
to their point of view, not be at war, and would
have none of the rights of belligerents over neutrals.
They would no more be belligerents than England
was after the celebrated Smith O'Brien battle in the
cabbage-garden, and they would have no more right
to stop our ships and carry off our passengers than
we should have had to stop a French ship and take
Mr. Smith O'Brien out of her. But this assumption
of the Federal Government has been disallowed.
The world generally has refused to see in this dis-
ruption and reconstitution of the North American
Republic a mere rebellion. We have recognized
both Republics as belligerent States. We declare
neutrality between them as between two warring
Powers. We mete out a precise degree of equal
consideration for the ships of war of each. In
everything but our diplomacy we bear ourselves
exactly equal between them. Whenever the
Southern States shall have given proof of such
stability as may make it sure that they can
sustain their independence we shall doubtless re-
cognise them diplomatically, as we already do de
facto. This is the test applied by all writers on
International Law. To support a claim to enter
into the comity of nations the only proof required
of any people is that they are able to make their
twu Lmperurs,
and even Dukes and Electors, have sometimes re-
fused to recognise the Government for the time
being of England or France or Italy, but only to
their own ultimate ridicule. We hay...a..-.,4„p_
cognised these Coured...t,. bausareut
Power, and we shall, when the time comes, recog-
nise their Government. lherefore we have imposed
upon ourselves all the duties and inconveniences of
a Power neutral between two belligerents.
Unwelcome as the truth may be, it is neverthe-
less a truth, that we have ourselves established a
system of International Law which now tells
against us. In high-handed, and almost despotic
manner, we have in former days claimed privi-
leges over neutrals which have at different times
banded all the maritime Powers of the world
against us. We have insisted even upon stopping
the ships of war of neutral nations and taking
British] subjects out of them ; and an instance is
given by Jefferson in his " Memoirs" in which two
nephews of Washington were impressed by our
cruisers as they were returning from Europe, and
placed as common seamen under the discipline of
ships of war. We have always been the strenuous
asserters of the rights of belligerents over neutrals,
and the decisions of our courts of law, as they
must now be cited by our Law Officers, have been
in confirmation of these unreasonable claims, which
have called into being Confederations and armed
neutralities against us, and which have always
been modified in practice when we were not su-
preme in our dominion at sea. Owing to these
facts the authorities which may bo cited on this
question are too numerous and too uniform as
to the right of search by belligerent ships of
war over neutral merchant vessels to be disputed.
" The only security that nothing is to be found
inconsistent with amity and the law of nations,
known to the law of nations," said Lord Stowell
in the celebrated case of the Maria, " is the right
of personal visitation and search to be exercised by
those who have an interest in making it." Again
Lord Stowell, in the same judgment, which is the
storehouse of all the English law on this subject
says,—" Be the ships, the cargoes and the destina-
tion what they may, the right of visit and search
are the incontestable right of the cruisers of a belli-
gerent nation. Till they are visited and searched it
does not appear what the ships or the destination
are ; and it is for the purpose of ascertaining these
points that the necessity of this right of visitation
and search exists. This right is so clear in prin-
ciple that no man can deny it who admits the
right of maritime capture; because if you are not
at liberty to ascertain by sufficient inquiry whether
there is property that can be legally captured, it is
impossible to capture. The many European trea-
ties which refer to this right refer to it as pre-exist-
ing, and merely regulate the exercise of it. All
writers upon the law of nations unanimously ac-
knowledge it." The great American authority Kent,
treating upon the same subject in his " Commen-
taries,"says—" The duty of self-preservation gives
t o belligerent nations this right. The doctrine of
Englishan and
seasearch,
Admiraltyan d e
nCourts
limitationo n th e r iegfhtthoefright visi-
tation
the
has been recognised in its fullest extent by the
Courts of Justice in this country." So far as the
nt yh
aotf
ai n
bt eerinliagtei
ro
ennatl
wl a
awr
awurtiltseorrsi t i cies gaoll t heen
et eswtiamyo,
cruiser has a right to stop and visit and search Fn.),
merchant ship upon the high seas.
We quote these authorities because it is essential
that upon a matter so important as that now before
us the public mind should be well informed. But
it must be remembered that these decisions were
given under circumstances very different from those
which now occur. Steamers in those days did not
exist, and mail vessels carrying letters wherein all
nations of the world have immediate interest were
unknown. We were fighting for existence,
and we did in those days what we should
neither do nor allow others to do, nor expect
ourselves to be allowed to do, in these
days, Moreover, if we gave full scope to all this
antiquated law it remains still to be asked whether
the men who have been taken from beneath the
protection of our flag were liable to seizure. They
were not officers of the army or of the navy of the
Confederate States. They were Diplomatic Envoys,
wanting only in come Winalities to be Ambassadors

to England and France. We do not say that there
is any provision in the law of nations which will
entitle us to maintain that their persons were sacred
by reason of their mission; on the other hand, we are
not aware of any authority which will show that
these Envoys were contraband of war. If we had re-
cognised the Confederate States we apprehend that
we should have been perfectly justified in taking
these Ambassadors on board our own vessels of war
and bringing them to England without in any way
forfeiting our character as neutrals. But, even if it
were necessary to admit that these gentlemen were
in a belligerent or contraband character on board
the English vessel, it is, we believe, the opinion of
very eminent jurists that this was rot a question to
be adjudicated on by a naval officer and four boats'
crews. The legal course would hare been to take the
ship into port and to ask for her condemnation, or
for the condemnation of the passengers, in a Court
of Admiralty. The result might, no doubt, have
been the same, but if the proceeding was irregular
we have surely a right tO demand that these pri-
soners shall be restored.

When such tremendous interests are at stake we
feel deeply the responsibility of discussing a ques-
tion like this. Our first duty is to calm—certainly
not to inflame—the general indignation which will
be felt in these islands as the news is told. We can-
not yet believe, although the evidence is strong,
that it is the fixed determination of the Govern-
ment of the Northern States to force a quarrel upon
the Powers of Europe. We hope, therefore, that our
people will not meet this provocation with an out-
burst of passion, or rush to resentment without full
consideration of all the bearings of the case. On
the other hand, wo appeal to the reasonable men
of the Federal States—and they have some reason-
able men among them—not to provoke war by such
acts as these. It is, and it always has been, vain to
appeal to old folios and bygone authorities in jus-
tification of acts which every Englishman and every
Frenchman cannot but feel to be injurious and in-
sulting. Even Mr. Seward himself must know
that the voices:of these Southern Commissioners,
sounding from their captivity, are a thousand times
more eloquent in London and in Paris than they
would have been if they had been heard at St.
James's and the Tuileries., Questions of this kind
in countries where the people exercise power pass
but too quickly out of the hands of lawyers and
statesmen, and give irresistible power to neither the
wisest nor the most peaceleving members of a com-
munity.

(From the Daily News.)
The American Government is surely the most

unfortunate of governments, or else the most san-

guine. An officer of the Federal navy has struck
a better blow for the rebel cause than either General

Beauregard or Johnston has yet been able to do.

There is rejoicing on board the Nashville, and if
Messrs. Yancey and Dudley Mann did not feast
their friends last night, they missed a fine opportu-
nity. The news by the La Plata, which we pub-
lish to-day, will raise the spirits of the whole South.

The United States Government—for, until the act
is disavowed and atoned for, on it must fall the

responsibility—has struck its best friend in the

face, a friend that never yet when smitten on the
left cheek turned the right for a second blow:
On the Bth instant the Royal Mail Company's
steamer Trent was performing the voyage between

Havannah and the Danish island of St. Thomas,

having on board Mr. Slidell and Mr. Mason, Com-

missioners from Mr. Jefferson Davis, on their

way to this country. In passing through the Old
Bahama Channel she was met by the United States
war steamer San Jacinto, which firPa first a round

shot and then a shell across her bows, and thus
brought her to. An 01.c.er ur the war steamer,

Lieutenant Fairfax, thereupon put off in a boat
with ten men, boarded tho Trent, and demanded

ligirfsTarv,r," rat --aPttingairbWriiirditicaffil
that Mr. Slidell anti Mr. Mason, with their score-

aries, Mr. Eustace and Mr. M‘Farlano, were on

board, and demanded that they should be given up.

This request Capt. Moir, of the Trent, peremptorily
rejected, utterly denying the right of the Federal
officers to take any person from under the British
flag. It is very likely that, had Lieut. Fairfax re-
ceived no assistance in this conjuncture, he would
have been without the means of identifying the
objects of his search, and would have had to depart
unsatisfied. The Confederate Commissioners, how-
ever, preferred to announce themselves, and having
done so, formally claimed the protection of the
British flag. Had Lieut. Fairfax now desisted from
his attempt, a gross outrage would have been com-
mitted; but he went further. Waving his hand to
his ship, he summoned a force of 30 marines and 60
sailors, who leaped ou board the Trent cutlass in
hand, and seized the Commissioners by main force.
Against this violent and arbitrary act Commander
Williams, of her Majesty's navy, acting as Admi-
ralty agent of the Trent, protested in solemn terms :
"In this ship," he said, " I am the representative
of her Majesty's Government, and I call upon the
officers and passengers present to witness, that, in
the name of the British Government, I distinctly

denounce this as an illegal act, an act in violation
of international law, an act, indeed, of wanton
piracy, which had we the means of defence you
would not dare to attempt."
The remote consequences of this act we shall not
attempt to predict. Enough for the present that it
is one which will make it the duty of our Govern-
ment to insist on ample, complete, and immediate
satisfaction. Its wanton folly bids us hope that
Lieut. Fairfax was acting without instructions,
and that the Washington Cabinet will no sooner
learn what has taken place in the Bahama
Channel than it will disavow the act, restore
Messrs. Mason and Slidell, and tender the
fullest apology: Nothing short of this repara-
tion can be accepted. Until there has been time
to receive news from Washington, we feel bound to
believe that the seizure of passengers on board the
Trent was an act as much in excess of duty as it was
in violation of public law. No Government should
know better than that of the United States the
lines which separate the rights of belligerents and
neutrals respectively. While this war lasts we
must submit to have our mercantile vessels stopped
on the high seas by bath parties in search of con-
traband. Had Lieutenant Fairfax confined himsel
to demanding Mr. Slidell's despatches, and taken
them off, we must have acquiesced in his visit as
one of the disagreeable occurrences incident 0 a
voyage in the neighbourhood of contending foes.
But the seizure of persons stands on a different
footing. In the eyes of Mr. Seward, Messrs. Slidell
and Mason are rebels ; in our eyes they are simply
passengers. And the Washington Government may
rest assured we shall no more permit it to take its
rebels out of our vessels than we should concede a
similar right to Austria or Russia.
The circumstances of this event still more strongly
compel us to disbelieve, in the absence of direct evi-
donee, that this aggression was ordered by the United
States Government. The Cabinet at Washington
known perfectly well that it cannot act in this
fashion with impunity. In fact at this moment its
cause lies at our mercy. We could with case re-
move that severe pressure which it exerts on the
South by means of its blockade, and on which, far
more than ou the sword, it relies for success. We
could open all the Southern ports at once to receive
gold, and commodities, and munitions of war, in
return for cotton. And if need were, we could at
small cost find abundant occupation for all the San
Jacintos they could muster, and for half the army
of the Potomac into the bargain. We have given
no provocation for this outrage. 'rho course of our
Government has been uniformly forbearing and
considerate. Lord Palmerston's high spirit has
manifested itself only in magnanimity. No Mini-
ster could have avoided more anxiously all that
could fairly give offence, or when occasions for
remonstrance have ari!en, rs in the recent impri.

sonment, of British subjects have borne him-
self with more patience. And for what object
should the United States Government risk a rup-
ture with this country ? For the miserable gratifi-
cation of getting the persons of two of its adversa-
ries into its power. The Washington Cabinet has
shown itself sufficiently imbecile, but to authorise
the forcible arrest of gentlemen under the protec-
tion of the British flag would be nothing less than
madness.

Incidents like these are irritating, but the British
people have the satisfaction of knowing that their
affairs are under firm guidance. With the irascible
Earl :of Derby or the fussy Lord Malmesbury in
power, we might well be concerned for the inte-
rests of peace at a time like this. But from the
present Government we may expect energy without
precipitancy, and prudence without weakness.
Their course is tolerably clear ; and it will be
for the Government of the United States to deter-
mine what shall be the future relations of the two
countries.

(From the Morning Herald).

Quern Deus milt perdere, prius demented. The
conduct of the American Government has long been
such as, to Europeans, scarcely seemed consistent
with the supposition of its being directed by men
in full possession of their senses. The outrages on
the constitution which have been every day perpe-
trated with impunity in every state under the juris-
diction of the Federal Government; the frantic lan:
guage in which its proclamations have been couched;
the extravagance of its boasts, and the imbecile
weakness of its action ; the savage excesses which
its troops have been encouraged to commit in the
border States, by which it has alienated Kentucky,
lost its last chance of preserving Missouri, and exas-
perated Virginia beyond the possibility of forgive-
ness; the wanton extravagance of its tyranny in
Maryland—all seem to proceed from the headstrong
fury of men who never were under the control of
principle, and are now beyond the control of reason.
Mr. Lincoln, on his accession to power, was thought
to be an honest, vigorous, straightforward man,
whose firmness of temper might balance his in-
tellectual deficiencies, and whose respect for
law might atone for his utter ignorance of
politics. Unhappily, he has proved himself
not only far more ignorant and unintelligent
than any one imagined him, but utterly wanting in
decision of character, or in conscientious adherence
to the constitution of which he was the appointed
guardian. He has usurped a power beyond the law
to exercise it with a feebleness and vacillation very
naturally allied with frantic and ungovernable rage
against all opponents. Sui impotens is the classic
phrase which most accurately describes both his
character and that of his chief friend and adviser.
Mr. Seward's want of common sense, reticence, and
principle, have long been notorious to Americans ;
and recent circumstances have directed to him an
amount of English attention which has made him
equally well understood and despised in this coun-
try. Unhappily, until yesterday, we had not been
able fully to appreciate the extent and depth of his
moral and mental worthlessness. We knew that he
had proposed to " annex" Canada ; but the idea was
to us, who know our strength and the weakness of
the United States, so utterly ludicrous that we did
not, and could not, appreciate the utter folly and
desperate wickedness of the man who could put it
forward as a serious proposal. Since then Mr.
Seward has done everything in his power to insult
and exasperate Great Britain ; he has encouraged
-the piratical seizure of our ships, he has ordered the
illegal arrest of British subjects, he has directed his
envoys at foreign courts to revile and menace us ?
All this we have borne a little too quietly—the na-
tion has endured it with the patience of contempt ;
the Government, with an indecision which, to Ame-
rican eyes, looked like the irresolution of fear.
The _Herald has more 9 than once warned its readers
a man, placed in a critical moment at the head of a
nation which has no respect for law or right, and no
idea of the immeasurable superiority of force of the
great European powers. But we confess that we
were hardly prepared for a crime so wanton, an
outrage so flagrant and so unpardonable, as has
just been perpetrated under the orders of the
Cabinet of Washington. Unless Mr. Seward be
simply out of his senses with rage, fear, and help-
lessness—unless he be intoxicated with his own
boastfulness till he really believes his own state •
ments—he must be aware that England can,
before a month is passed, destroy or take posses-
sion of every seaport in the Northern states, raise the
blockade of the Southern coast, and sweep the seas
clear of the Federal flag. And yet, with this know-
ledge, he has ventured on an outrage which ought to
be avenged by the immediate appearance of a British
fleet in the Chesapeake, bringing the alternative of
nstant reparation or—war.

(From the _Morning Pose.)

The Government of the United States has taken
a step of a very serious character. By its direction
the captain of the war-ship San Jacinto has stopped
and boarded the West India mail-steamer Trent,

and has by force of arms seized four of her pas-
sengers who claimed the protection of our flag. The
account of this will be found in another column.
The facts are before the legal advisers of the Crown,
and upon their decision as to the legality of the
proceeding will depend the action of the Govern-
ment.

It would be therefore premature for us to discuss
the consequences of this important event. We may,
however, observe that there can be no doubt that it
is competent for the United States or any other bel-
ligerent Government to stop any merchantman on
the high seas, and to seize any soldiers, arms,
despatches, or contraband of war she may convey.
But the question is, can a belligerent search a mer-
chantman, and take out of her what passengers he
may be pleased to seize upon? The fact of the
Trent being a mail-steamer does not remove her
from the simply commercial class of vessels—ships
of war and transports being alone strictly sacred
from search. The point, therefore, to be deter-
mined in the case of the Trent is simply whether
the British flag covers her passengers, without dis-
tinction of country, so long as those passengers are
not military, not classable under the definition of
contraband of war.
Our own opinion is that the Federal Government

had a legal right to stop the Trent and to seize
upon contraband of war, under which definition,
we believe, despatches belonging to the enemy are
included. But no such despatches were searched
for, nor, indeed, did the Trent convey any. Four
passengers only, who bore no official character,
were taken out of the ship. We think that this
proceeding was not according to international law.
The opinion of the law officers will, however, very
shortly decide this question.
If we are right, the British Government will
clearly be entitled to reparation and apology, and
no reparation could be complete without the resti-
tution of the passengers taken from under our flag.
If we are wrong, of course we shall have to submit
to the law. But we shall not the loss keenly feel
an affront which must prove to us how little the
Federal Government appreciate the courtesy, dis-
cretion, and generosity with which we have inva-
riably acted.
The arrival of these gentlemen in England could
really be no matter of great moment. Mr. Yancey
has been here for months—what could it matter if
Mr. Mason had arrived safely? His presence was
not likely to affect the precise and settled policy
which we pursue. The insult, therefore, in any
case was most gratuitous ; and if, as we think, it
was unwarranted by the code of nations, it will not
only be deeply felt but duly resented.

(From the Morning A(leeplism)
The town was startled yesterday by tho telegra-
phic communication from Southampton relative to
the captilro of two gentleman assumed to be Con-

We do not wonder at the sensation which this
circumstance has caused among all classes here, nor
at the fall of nearly a per cent. which it has caused
in our Funds. It is a most untoward event at the
present moment, and cannot fail to prove produc-
tive of very serious complications.
And matters, there is every reason to fear, will be
greatly aggravated by the fact, that there may be
some important and very difficult points of a legal
kind involved in the circumstances under which the
occurrence has taken place.
The Federalists will doubtless maintain that the
capture comes within the scope of the Treaty of the
Right of Search, to which we made ourselves par-
ties a few years ago. They will, there cannot ba a
question, contend that the two Confederate Com-
missioners, Messrs. Slidell and Mason, having en-
tered our West India steamer the Trent, not in their
capacity as private individuals, but as persons
charged with an important political commission by
the Confederate Government to the urovvii...-dts of
England and of France, rendered themselves liable
to capture as coming under the category of contra-
land.oLwar. ,01. course, it will bettor the Bader&iiaie
to prove in the clearest manner that the two gen-
tlemen in question were really,Commissioners from
the Confederate Government, arid were on their way
to Europe for the purpose of promoting the warlike
objects of the Southern States.
We deal with the question on the assumption
that the Northern States Government will be able
to establish their allegation beyond all possibility of
doubt, but then will come another question—" Did
the commander of the Trent receive Messrs. Slidell
and Mason on board his vessel, knowing them to be
Commissioners from the Southern States Govern-
ment ?" On this point we have received no informa-
tion, and therefore we do not enter into a considera-

tion of the other question—supposing it can be
proved that the English Commander knew nothing
of the official character of the two gentlemen—how
far that would bar the right of the Commander of
the Federal ship of war to insult the British flag and
board the British steamer, in the face of a most
vehement protest made by the Captain and Com-
mander Williams, the Admiralty agent, against such
steps on the part of the Commander of the Ameri-
can vessel of war.

These and other points will be for the con-
sideration of the law officers of the Crown. But
whether or not the conduct of the Govern-
ment of President Lincoln in this matter be in con-
sonance with international law, one thing is suffi-
ciently clear, namely, that the Federalists have
committed an act which is the reverse of courteous
to this country. It would appear as if they were
determined to irritate, by affronting, the English
Government and the English people. We say no-
thing of the taste, whether good or bad, of this sort
of procedure, but, as regards its policy, there will
not, we are certain, be two opinions either in Eng-
land or in Europe. To "find out their mistake" is
a favourite American phrase. The Federal Govern-
ment will, in all probability, be furnished with an
experimental illustration of the import of the words.
Unless we greatly err, they will discover before
long that the proceeding in question is as unwise as
it is outrageous. Even already, before the intelli-
gence of the occurrence in question had been known
three hours in this country, an indignation meeting
was convened to be held in Liverpool. The senti-
ments on this subject of the merchants and people
generally of that great commercial
be beforeelasses manyinthe
British
t is have
h
the
fatuation. Just before the war broke out with the
o
Southern States they affected to make so light of
empire.aea
L Jt„wis
seem. elapsed, to be
if_the,wounded vanity of
hostilities with the Confederates as to say, that it
those foli
of
would matter little to them if they were to have on
hand, at the same time, six or seven other wars,
" including one with the Britishers." More than
six months have passed away since then, and so far
these intolerably vain people have found their one
war with the Southern States quite sufficient to
afford full scope to their gallantry and their mili-
tary skill. It will be time enough for them to
boast of "licking the Britishers" when they have
" whipped" the Confederates.
If in this country and in Europe little sympathy
was felt for the Federalists before, there will be still
less now. No matter, as we have already remarked,

whether they be right or wrong as regards inter
national law, there was something so gratuitous
and deliberate in the insult thus offered to the
British flag, and something so surpassingly auda-
cious in the whole affair,—that their conduct must
draw down upon them the indignation of the whole
civilised world. Hereafter they will look in vain
anywhere for sympathy in their conflict with the
Southourn States.
In reading the account of this affair, there is
one feeling which will most certainly be expe-
rienced by every Englishman. We allude to a
feeling of gratitude that Lord Palmerston, with his
characteristic sagacity, foresaw not only the possi-
bility, but the probability that collisions might occur
between the Northern States and ourselves before
the war was over, and that, therefore, he adopted
precautionary measures to meet such a contingency.
He has considerably strengthened our Canadian de-
fences, and made other arrangements, by which we
should be able to repel any aggression which might
be attempted on our North American possessions.
It is a curious coincidence that, on Tuesday we
were enabled to announce, on the best authority,
that Earl Russell had, a few days ago, officially
apprised Mr. Adams, the American Minister in
London, that if the Federal Government stopped
or overhauled any Royal mail steam-packet, the fact
would be considered as an insult to the British flag.
It is a remarkable circumstance that the very day
after we made this important announcement, intel-
, ligence should reach this country that the very
contingency here contemplated as possible should
r actually have occurred.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLISH
VESSELL—Some months ago the Perthshire, of Hartlepool,
a large colonial vessel of 840 tons, the property of Mr. Wm.
Gray, of Hartlepool, had been boarded without legal war-
rant by the United States steamer Massachusetts, off the
American coast, on the alleged ground that the Perthshire
had violated the blockade of the Southern ports. Mr.
Gray, on being made acquainted with the fact, presented a
teb en
ntraetcee Geoav from
r
claim, through the: British Government, for the loss sus-
tained in consequence of detention, deviation, and con-
sumption of stores. Mr. Gray's clam has
dee been hons
iv curably
ande ly
the Foreign-office by that gentleman :—" Nov. 12, 1861.
Sir,—I am directed by Earl Russell to inform you that a
responded
tcommunication by
m te
has ili
despatch has been received from her Majesty'e Minister at
promptlythe following
Washington, stating that, in answer to the representation
which he had made to the United States Government re-
specting the seizure and detention of your vessel, the Perth-
shire, the United States Secretary of the Navy had failed
to satisfy him that the detention of that vessel by Com-
mander Smith, commanding the United States steamer
Massachusetts, was warranted by law, or by the President's
proclamation instituting the blockade, and that the Presi-
odfen4t2Novoouclladi
mrecommend toasCcoonmgrpeensssattoioanp.prolparimat, estihr,e mysouur
most obedient humble servant, E. HAMMOND.—Mr. W.
Gray, Hartlepool."

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soothing, safe, and certain.

oiran there was
Charleston.
direct T o- df
ray
late on Tuesday 'Change consequencea goofotdTh
he deal
arrival
name
n excitementot
hf e
t:vessel
Mersey,
rns
eeeywn,
evening, of a Confederate
arrival is the Helen, commanded by Capt. Wester-
dorf. She left Charleston on the evening of the 2d
inst., and Capt. Westerdorf informs
us that he passed
safely out to sea, without seeing
any of the blocka-
ding squadron ; the entrances to
the port being
quite clear of the Federal fleet. The Helen is an
American built barque, of 310 tons, a:
extremely
handsome vessel, quite new, and a " regular clip-
per," as her run from Charleston plainly shows. She
has on board 1,100 barrels of rosin, and 500 barrels
of spirits of turpentine ; but just previous to leaving
Charleston she had stowed away 250 bales of cotton
which she was obliged to unship again in conse-
quence of the determination cf the Charleston
people not to let a bale of cotton go out of the port.
This statement may appear somewhat strange in
the face of the arrival of the screw steamer Bermuda
at Havre yesterday, with close upon 2 000 bales of
cotton, from Charleston. We are, however, reliably
informed that the Bermuda received her cargo of
cotton as a reward for the temerity displayed by
her captain in running the Charleston blockade with
a cargo of supplies for Charleston. The holders of
cotton will gladly exchange that article for arras
and other necessaries; but they will not sell.
" There is no use (said Capt. Westerdorf) in vessels
running the blockade in ballast in the expectation
of getting cargoes of cotton. It is only vessels like
the Bermuda, which can carry supplies to Charles-
ton, that may expect to get cotton cargoes." This
determination, the captain says, is not confined to
Charleston alone, but it prevails throughout all the
Soulhern ports. The Helen sails under the Confe-
derate flag, and made the passage from Charleston
to this port in 24 days, although she encountered
rather stormy weather.
Through the kindness of the consignees of the
Helen we are favoured with files of Charleston
papers, the latest dates being to Nov. 2. Although
the papers are considerably diminished in size, yet
they contain war and other news of the very latest
dates from the North and Europe. The papers are
well advertised, and contain numerous patriotic
call upon the people of the South for volunteers,
and judging from the rejoinders these calls are well
responded to.
The following description of the departure of the
Confederate Ministers, Slidell and Mason, from
Charleston, is from the Charleston Mercury of Oct.
31:—

The Commissioners having resolved to make the
venture of running the blockade of Charleston, after
mature consideration, selected for the experiment
the stanch and swift little steamer Theodora.

The preparations having been completed, they
embarked a little before midnight on Friday, Oct.

11. The party of passengers who were starting on
this very unusual and somewhat hazardous trip
consisted of the following persons :—Hon. J. M.
Mason, of Virginia; Mr. M'Farland (secretary to
Mr. Mason), Hon. John Slidell, of Louisiana, Mrs.
Slidell, Miss Mathilde Slidell, Miss Rosine Slidell,
Mr. Eustace (secretary to Mr. Slidell), Mrs. Eustaco
who is a daughter of Mr. Corcoran, the Washington
banker, now a prisoner in Fort Lafayette, Col. Le
Mat, of Louisiana, and several other gentlemen.
The night was pitch dark, and about midnight a
light rain began falling, which rendered the chances
of being detected by the blockade exceedingly slight.
At 1 o'clock on Saturday morning the cables of the
Theodora were loosened, and she glided down the
harbour on her important mission. As the steamer
passed Fort Sumter every light was extinguished,
and away she went right through the fiugers of the
blockaders far out to sea.

On the evening of the lith she reached Nassau in
safety, where, had the opportunity been a favourable
one, the commissioners would have disembarked,
but on inquiring they ascertained that the English
steamer connected with the point, touched at New

However gratily 'us
~•n—
-have been under other circumstances, the Commis-
sioners determined in this instance to forego the
P^ ". Theodora left Nassau, and
steamed away towards Cub.. nn the 16th inst.
she arrived at Cardinas, where the Commissioners

landed. The news that a Southern steamer had
arrived with Messrs, Mason and Slidell on board,
telegraphed from Cardinas to Havana, was
scarcely credited at the latter place. But when
on the lith instant the Theodora came up the
harbour of Havana, displaying the Confederate
flag, the quays were immediately thronged with
thousands of spectators, and a most cordial and en-
thusiastic reception was given to the adventurous
little craft. The Yankees in Havana, as a matter
of course, were much annoyed at the welcome given
to the Theodora ; but, on the other hand, the ladies
of Havana prepared a splendid Confederate flag for
the steamer, which was presented to the captain
with appropriate ceremonies. The ladies of Ma-
tanzas also took advantage of the chance to send
hither a splendid flag for the Hampton Legion. The
steamship Columbia, formerly a Charleston vessel,
but now in the armed service of the Yankees, was
at the time in the harbour of Havana. Luckily,
however, she was not ready to put to sea. Her
consort, the Keystone State, had gone to New York
with a Southern steamer, loaded with a valuable
freight of arms and munitions, and which, unfortu-
nately, had been captured while endeavouring to
make the ran to Tampa, Florida; so the Theodora
left the friendly port of Havana unmolested, and
with a freight of coffee, sugar, saltpetre, sulphur,
acids, lead, iron, shot, block tin, &c., ran quietly
into -- (we wont say where), bringing a number
of Charlestonians who had reached Havana from
, Southampton about the same time the Theodora
. made her appearance.