Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1861-11-29

read or sew, lay aside the book or needle, and
take walk for an hour, or employ yourself ii
some active exercise not requiring the close
use of the eyes.-HuHS Journal Of Health.
From the National INTEL gencer
Capture of Messrs. Mason and slidelI.
The reader will fnd in another part of to-
days lnteligcncer the announcement of the
capture of Messrs. Mason and SIi6eI, Envovs
Of The Confederate States" to the Govern
ments Of Great Britain and France. Found
by Captain Wilkes, Of the United States
steamer San Jacinto, on board the British
mail steamer, Trent, which on her passage
from Havanah 10 England was overhauled in
the channel of the Bahamas, the two distin-
guished Commissioners were taken in custody
by that officer, and, having been transferred to
his vessel, were brought, in the first place, to
Fortress Monroe, and thence transported to
New York
Such being the facts in the case, wh,ther
Captain Wilkes acted with or without the or
d.rs of the National Government it remains
le inquire into the grounds by which this pro.
ceeding is Justified in the light of international
law; for, however expedient may seem the sue.
cess gained by the arrest and detention of these
Confederate representatives whether regarded
i'll point Of political or military strategy it
would be dearly purchased at the cost of IA
single principal of that public morality whose
rules govern, or should govern, the conduct OF
civilized and Christian States in their mu; ual
intercourse in peace and in war.
Those, therefore, who are not already famil.
lar with the principles involved in the proceed
ing OF Capt. Wilkes, will learn with interest
that 1t is luly justified by the rules of mterna
tional law, as those rules have been cxpoundcd
10y the most ilusIrious British juriss and com
piled by the most approved writers on the laws
of Nations. So far from having transcendcd
the powers with which he was c.othed by that
code, Capt. Wilkes did not exhaust the full
measures Of his authority, for he not only had
an undoubted right 10 arrest these AMBUSH
doris Of the Confederate Government on their
passage to Europe, but might have justly cap
tured the vessel on which they nere found, and
brought her into port TO be condemned as
lawful prize.
The points of public law involved in the
case, and on which il turns, are as follows:
/. The right of visiting and searching mer-
chant ships on the high seas, whatever be the
ships, their cargoes. or their des ina,ons, is an
ncontestib!c right of the lawfllly commission
ed cruisers of dclligercnt nation. Being
purely belliserent right, essential 10 the cap
ture OF enemys property and the discovery Of
contrabands of war on board ofneutral ve-se's
it IS, from its very nature and definition, H.
competent TO state of peace, but accrues to
each belligerent on the outbreak Of war;
2. To engage III the transportation of mill
tary persons, bearers Of dispatches, and des-
patches themselves, is Of the same nature with
the carrying Of contraband goods, AMI yes
sci so engaged in the slrvice Of one belligercmt
is subjeeG 10 col fscatiun 10y the other
,. a belhgerent may lawfully arrest an am-
basSadJr OF the adverse beligerent, if found at
sea i'll neutral vessel on his passage and there
fure before he has arrived in the neutral com
try, or has assumed the functions of his office
near the Government to which he is accredited,
But when he has arrived and been limited in
his official relation, lie is protected by his rep.
Iesentativo and international character.
4. The fact that the voyage is made to a
neutral port does not change The legal charac-
ter of the transaction, where cuutrtbanl of
war-iLcluding of course military persons
dispatches, and hearers-is found on neutral
vessel.
Tie principles are believed ia covered com
pletcly the case presented by the capture OF
Mcssrs. Mason aul S!idoIi; and that the points
have been correctly stated will be seen in the
f,Ilowng citations from Wheatsons FEl ,ments
of international Law We quote from the
edition of 1853:
THE right of visitation and search of neu-
trail vessels at sea is u beligerrnt right, essen
tial to the exerci:e of the right Of capturing
encmy's property, contraband of war, aud YES
sel9 committing breach Of blockade
"I'he international law on this subject Is
ably summed up by Sir W. Scott, in tue ease
Of the Maria, where the exercise ui the ight
was attempted to be resisted by lhe inlcrposi-
tiOn Of a convoy Of Swedish ships Of war. la
deliver ing the judgment of the High Court of
Admiralty in that memorable case this learned
civilian lays down the following principles of
law:
Il. That the right Of visiting and searching
merchant ships on the high seas, whatever be
the ships the cargOes. the dcstnations is an in
contestihle light of the lawfully commissioned
cruisers Of a beligerent nation / say be the
ships, the cargoes and the destinations what
they may, because, TIL they are visited and
searched, it does not appear what the ships or
the destinations are; and it is for the purpose
Of aseertaining these points that the necessity
OF this right of visitation and search exists.
This right is so clear in principle thnt 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