The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1861-12-25

II slider what action shall be taken upon the
opinion of the law officers. We do not
wish to speculate as to what steps they
may consider necessary, If, however, it
shall appear to them so clear as it appears
to us that Messrs. Mason and Slidell were
wrongfully taken when under the protec-
ton of the British flag, there routd sesm
to be but one PREPARATION ~hich as adequate
to The a6ront. 4hey naustbe restored pfth
a sufficient apolQay."
The Morning Post ministerial organ
says:
| ssUnder these circumstances, we need
hardly point out that the Government
will lose no time in seeking for the
prompt and complete reparation which it
is its duty to require. In this course 1t
will assuredly receive the unanimous ap-
probation of public opinion. In ques-
ton such as this, where our feelings of
hospitality and our national dignity are SO
wantonly attacked men of all parties will
| unite to support the Government in the
yindication of legal right and the honor
of England. We are unwilling to place
the worst construction upon the outrage
committed by Captmn Wilkes, and to
look upon it as an intentional atfront on
the part of the United States. We yet
hope that that Government will at once
disavow the act of their officer, make suit
able apologies for it, restore the persons
of the gentlemen arrested, and, in fact,
make every compensation ia their power
After the violent diatribes of the Times
and Daily News, it is refreshing to find
these common-sense observations III the
editorial columns of the London Star;
"Within twcnty-four hours after the
receipt in London of the tidings brought
by the La Plata the public mind had been
calmed by the recollection of these two or
three facts First, that the British flag,
however digni6ed and powerful, has no
special privilege cxempting it from the
ordinary obligations of international law;
secondly, that the British Government
has invariably maintained the right of
searching for and Selling, on board neutral
vessels, deserters from its service or abct-
tors of its enemies aud thirdly, that the
American commander has taken only
such passengers by the Trent as were no
toriously in the employ Of the Confeder-
ate States. The remembrance Of these
points compels the subsistence Of anger,
shuts out the impntation Of lawless yio-
ence, sets aside considerations of the wis
dom or courtesy of the act, and binds US
to await the authoritative Judgment of
our Crown lawyers upon an event as strict
ly within their province as that OF any
question ever submitted to the Court of
Chaneery or the judicial Committee of
the Privy Council.
We have no doubt that the opinion of
the highest legal functionarIes in the
realm viii more than sustain the lawful
ness of what has been done by the FEEDER
al commander. Looking at the history
Of modern maritime warfare, the dieta Of
the latest writer's on international law, and
the terms of the Queens proclamation
we are forced to believe that the Trent
was liable to far more than the indignity
suffered. The United States has too much
reason to know that the neutral flag does
not cover all that sails
The British political weeklies, the Ex-
aminer, Economist and Spectator, are apt
to take graver view Of important affairs
than the dailies, and their opinions, less
hastily written, are commonly more ably
fortified with authorities, 1t is curious
10 remark, therefore, that the Economist
can find no other ground on which to con
demn the act of Capt. Wilkes except that
already preached by the Times. 1t in
sists that s'the captain of man Of war
has no power to adjudicatc on such ques-
tons as the present, and that, there
fore, the San Jacinto should have made
prize of the Trent and brought her into
an American port to have the case deeid-
ed before proper court.
ET- There is pettieta. at Washington
taken from she secesh, that weighs 80
pounds. The garment is apparently a
quilted one, but instead of the usual fill
ing, it is thickly wadded with the finest
quality of sewing silk of assorted colors,