The Sun. — 1858-04-05 (London, England)

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 unwarranted and unjustifiable. The act of piracy was committed not by the Sardinian steamer, but by the Neapolitan frigates which pursued and captured her on the high seas, and far beyond the Neapolitan waters. The able and elaborate opinion of Dr. TRATERS Twins, on which we offered some observations on Friday, sets this question at rest. To our simple judgmext, the notion that the capt sin of the Cagliari voluntarily 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 modern DICK TURPIN or JERRY ABERSIIAW could not justly be punished for what might be considered a free gift. Two armed vessels pursued a peaceful 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 prudent man, he could not have avoided, with any regard 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 he 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 privileges of the English engineers, who were entitled both to Sardinian and British protection, To the former, inasmuch as they were sailing under its tag on neutral waters, and might therefore practically be considered as within the Piedamontese territory, to the latter because as British citizens 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 hadvoluntari/y 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 apprehension of being fired into and sunk, but even if he decided on surrendering without compulsion, could those who entered his vessel 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 we 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 decided on by the captain, although it may be totally different from that for which lie had entered or signed articles. 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. There is no option, 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. Buaisue termed it,—" A ass, and a idiot 1" Count CAvouß, in his very able and spirited despatch of the 10th January, has denounced, what he truly designates as " the criminal outrage committed against the security of a friendly State," and proved it to be without the shadow of justification. Nor has M. CARAYA in any degree rebutted the powerful and unanswerable case made out by the Sardinian Minister. It is very unfortunate that there should have been any misunderstanding respecting the views and opinions of the British Government by that of Turin, in consequence of the grave mistake of Mr.