Yes, because taking four rebel agents and an hour's delay in the mails
Americans always want to pretend that the Trent incident was a minor peccadillo not worth getting worked-up about, but for a good parallel you should consider the Iranian storming of the US Embassy in Tehran, back in the 70's.
Yes, because taking four American traitors off a British merchant ship and an hour's delay in the mails in the Nineteenth Century is
exactly like the Iranians violating a diplomatic mission and holding 60 Americans hostage for 444 days in the Twentieth...
Considering that both
Leopard-Chesapeake and
Little Belt-President were resolved without resorting to war (and, for that matter, the
Saumarez-Volage, and
Amethyst incidents were as well), and - in fact - an authority no less than the British prime minister acknowledged that the Crown's own law officers acknowledged the treatment of
Trent was entirely legal, the only way there would be a war over
Trent is if the British wanted one...
Lord Palmerston would seem a reasonable source on the legality of what was done with
Trent, since, in fact
, the British government's legal advisors said the treatment of
Trent was perfectly legal, even without Wilkes forcing
Trent into harbor for a court review.
See page 22-24, here:
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...iew=1up;seq=28
To appreciate the true significance of the interview described in his diary by Mr. Adams it is necessary to bear in mind that it took place on the 12th of November, the Confederate envoy having been taken on the 8th from the Trent. On the day preceding his talk with Mr. Adams, Lord Palmerston, it now appears, had addressed the following letter to J. T. Delane, the editor of the Times:
My dear Delane:
It may be useful to you to know that the Chancellor, Dr. Lushington, the three Law Officers, Sir G. Grey, the Duke of Somerset, and myself, met at the Treasury today to consider what we could properly do about the American cruiser come, no doubt, to search the West Indian packet supposed to be bringing hither the two Southern envoys; and, much to my regret, it appeared that, according to the principles of international law laid down in our courts by Lord Stowell, and practised and enforced by us, a belligerent has a right to stop and search any neutral not being a ship of war, and being found on the high seas and being suspected of carrying enemy's despatches; and that consequently this American cruiser might, by our own principles of international law, stop the West Indian packet, search her, and if the Southern men and their despatches and credentials were found on board, either take them out, or seize the packet and carry her back to New York for trial. Such being the opinion of our men learned in the law, we have determined to do no more than to order the Phaeton frigate to drop down to Yarmouth Roads and watch the proceedings of the American within our three-mile limit of territorial jurisdiction, and to prevent her from exercising within that limit those rights which we cannot dispute as belonging to her beyond that limit.
...
I mention these things for your private information.
Yours sincerely,
Palmerston.
...
While the opinion of the officers of the Crown referred to was no mystery at the time, and is mentioned, though in much more general language, by Spencer Walpole in his Life of Lord Russell (n. 354-356), yet the statement here made of that opinion by Lord Palmerston is well calculated to excite surprise. It will be noticed that the officers referred to .— the Lord Chancellor, Westbury, and Dr. Lushington being among them — are said to have laid it down as law that the belligerent had a right to stop and search any neutral, not being a ship of war, on the high seas, suspected of carrying enemy's despatches. Consequently, then, in this case, the Southern insurgents having been granted belligerent rights, the San Jacinto might, On English principles of international law, stop the Trent, search her, and if the Southern men were on board, either do exactly what Captain Wilkes had already just done, .— take them out, and then allow the packet to proceed on its voyage, — or seize the packet and carry her to some American port for trial and adjudication as prize.
Best,