Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1865-11-30
The Pirates Return Home.

LbV Bilubo udS TetuT0bu
home to Mersey, and delivered herself up
to British authority, after having destroyed
twenty nine whaling ships iu the Pacific,
besides some other vessels on her voyage.
Her appearance created CONSERVATION in the
British mind. The Liverpool Mercury
says:
At the present juncture, when so many
kDotty points international law are at issue
between this Government and the United
States, and when the maintenance of ami
cable relations between the two countries is
so much to be desired, and is so essential to
the welfare of both, the absence of the
Shenandoah from this port was more to be
desired than her presence.
The London Times says;
The temperance of the Shenandoah in
British waters at the present juncture is an
untoward and unwelcome event. y
1t would have been a great relief to our.
selves, though little to the advantage of the
! United States, had the Shenandoah been
simply excluded from the Mersey and left
to rove the seas till she should fall into the
hands of her pursuers.
The News begins
The Shenandoah has arrived ia British
port and surrendered to British officer.
The Americans may be inclined to say that
this is as it should be; that it was only 6t-
ting that her end should be as British as her
origin.
Says the Pail Mall Gazette:
Small thanks are due to the commander
| OF the Shenandoah for the preference which
he has given to Liverpool for the purpose
| AZ hrip o;nr he or,;,; m onJ
Butwha should the apparition of this soli-
tary vessel put John Bull out of counte-
nance. Let the CALLED jade vince how is it
that his withers are wrung? Does he fear
that the pirate return to the paternal home
will make the relationship more palpable ?
Surely it was plain before. The OK know
eth his.owner as the ass his masters crib,
aud the pirate which has roamed the seSs
and found no haven of rest, returns at last
to the brittana bosom of its mother. We
admit that the pirate has violated the code
of honor of thieves, which forbids them to
recognize each other when either is in good
company, or to "peach" upon comrades
when justice overtakes them but that is the
concern ofthe gang alone.
The question is simple The British G ov
ernment has formally Withdrawn her allow
ance Of belligerency to the Anglo Confeder-
ate vessels, and refused them shelter in her
ports. By her laws the Shenandoah is a
pirate. She has either to deliver them up
to be tried by our laws, or to give them shell.
teri and assume the responsibility. The case
is provided for by clause in the Ashburton
Treaty for the rendition of persons charged
with piracy.
But this is the rub. Legally the case is
clear, and so the Times makes it out but
the sympathies of flesh and blood are toc
strong. Shall she give up her offspring tC
justice for her own acts? The Times say,
legally and morally she must, but in ties Of
nature she cannot:
Captain Waddell with his one hundred
and thirty men cannot he handed over a.
prisoners of warnpon any hypothesis consist
ent with that OF the war being at an end
Nor under any circumstances can they b.
given over to the Uuited States. They
; might possibly be prosecuted under the For
eign Enrollment Act, out experience ha
shown the extreme difficulty of establisbin,
offenses of that nature. The crime of whicl
they really stand accused d-supposing then
to have wilfu'ly ignored the termination of
hostilities-is that of piracy, and on thi,
charge it is possible that they may be appre
hended and tried before an English court O
justice.
This is muddy clear. The Times ha.
previously shown that the fact of the ter
mination of hostilities is a thing that Capt
Waddell was bound to know that the onu.
of proving that he did not know it lies or
him. that all his destruction after he hat
reason to know it was piracy And having
thus established that he and his crew arc
pirates, it declares first that they cannot bt
given up as prisoners of war, and then tina
they cannot be given up at all, and yet tha
they may be tried in England as pirates
whereas if there is ground for charging then
with piracy, the treaty provides for the rem
jition on our requisition. OF course the,
cannot be given up as prisoners of war, 70
| one nation does not take prisoners of war 70
another nation. But the crime of piracy i
a thing to be tried by our Courts; and if tn
British Government shall shelter tho pi
rates, she will only confirm her original com
plicity. = Cincinnati Gazette.