DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 593 



In cases of vessels carried into British ports by violence or stress of weather 



[suid Mr. \Vebster in instructions to Mr. Everett, June 28, 18421 we insist 



354 that there shall he no interference from the land with the relation or 



personal condition of those an board, according to the laws of their own 



country; that vessels under such circumstances shall enjoy the common laws 



of hospitality, subjected to no force, entitled to have their immediate wants 



and necessities relieved, and to pursue their voyage without molestation. 



In this case, that of the Creole, Mr. Wheaton, in the Revue Fran- 

 gaise et Etrangere (IX, 345), and Mr. Legare (4 Op. At. Gen., 98), 

 both eminent publicists, gave opinions that a vessel carried by stress of 

 weather or forced into a foreign port is not subject to the law of such 

 port; and this was sustained by Mr. Bates, the umpire of the commis- 

 sion to whom the claim was referred (Rep. Com. of 1853, 244, 245) : 



The municipal law of England [so he said] cannot authorize a magistrate to 

 violate the law of nations by invading with an armed force the vessel of a 

 friendly nation that has committed no offence, and forcibly dissolving the re- 

 lations which, by the laws of his country, the captain is bound to preserve and 

 enforce on board. These rights, sanctioned by the law of nations, viz., the right 

 to navigate the ocean and to seek shelter in case of distress or other unavoidable 

 circumstances, and to retain over the ship, her cargo, and passengers, the law 

 of her country, must be respected by all nations, for no independent nation 

 would submit to their violation. 



It is proper to state that Lord Ashburton, who conducted the con- 

 troversy in its diplomatic stage on the British side, did not deny as a 

 general rule the propositions of Mr. Webster. He merely questioned 

 the applicability of the rule to the case of the Creole. Nor has the 

 principle ever been doubted by either Her Majesty's Government or 

 the Government of the United States ; while, in cases of vessels driven 

 by storm on inhospitable coasts, both Governments have asserted it, 

 sometimes by extreme measures of redress, to secure indemnity for 

 vessels suffering under such circumstances from port exactions, or 

 from injuries inflicted from the shore. 



It would be hard to conceive of anything more in conflict with the 

 humane policy of Great Britain in this respect, as well as with the 

 law of nations, than was the conduct of Captain Quigley towards the 

 vessel in question on the morning of October 8th. 



In such coasts, at early dawn, after a stormy night, it is not un- 

 usual for boats, on errands of relief, to visit vessels which have been 

 struggling with storm during the night. But in no such errand of 

 mercy was Captain Quigley engaged. The Marion Grimes, having 

 found shelter during the night's storm, was about to 'depart on her 

 voyage, losing no time while her bait was fresh and her ice lasted, 

 when she was boarded by an armed crew, forced to go 7 miles out 

 of her way to the port, and was there, under pressure of Captain 

 Quigley. against the opinion originally expressed of the collector, 

 subjected to a fine of $400 with costs, and detained there, as I shall 

 notice hereafter, until her voyage was substantially broken up. I 

 am confident Her Majesty's Government will concur with me in the 

 opinion that, as a question of international law, aside from treaty 

 nnd other rights, the arrest and detention under the circumstances 

 of Captain Landry and of his vessel were in violation of the law 

 of nations as well as the law of humanity, and that on this ground 

 alone the fine and the costs should be refunded and the parties suffer- 

 ing be indemnified for their losses thereby incurred. 



It is not irrelevant, on such an issue as the present, to enquire into 

 the official position of Captain Quigley, "of the Canadian cruiser 

 92909 S. Doc. 870, 61-3, vol 4 48 



