The case is of magnitude; but the issue for you to determine is simple. Leaving out of view the alleged authority under which the prisoners claim to have acted, you will inquire, in the first instance, whether the seizure of the Joseph and her lading was robbery. You will be unable to discover that any element of the crime was wanting. If no actual force was employed in compelling the surrender, it is enough that the captain and crew were put in bodily fear. So the traveler delivers his purse in obedience to a request, and the crime is complete, although violence proves unnecessary. That the humble owners of the brig were despoiled of their property--how hardly earned we know not--will not be disputed. Nor is it material that the proceeds were to be shared between the prisoners and absent confederates. As to the question of intent, it cannot be denied that the prisoners designed to do, and to profit by, what they did. They are without excuse, unless possessed of a valid commission. This brings us to the plea of authority. A paper, purporting to be a letter of marque, signed by Jefferson Davis, was found on the Savannah. Such a commission is of no effect, in our courts of law, unless emanating from some government recognized by the Government of the United States. The political authority of the nation, at Washington, has never recognized the so-called Confederate States as one of the family of nations. On the contrary, it resists their pretensions, and proclaims them in rebellion. In this position of affairs, a court of justice will not, nor can you as its officers, regard the letter as any answer to the case which the prosecution will establish. Such is the law. It is so determined in decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, which I have just cited. I will now proceed with the examination of the witnesses. _Albert G. Ferris_ called and sworn. Examined by District Attorney Smith: _Q._ Where were you born? _A._ In Barnstable, Massachusetts. _Q._ How old are you? _A._ Fifty on the 10th of September last. _Q._ Have you a family? _A._ Yes, sir. _Q._ Does your family reside at Charleston? _A._ Yes, sir, at Charleston, South Carolina. _Q._ How long have you resided at Charleston? _A._ Since 1837. _Q._ What has been your business there? _A._ Sea-faring man. _Q._ In what capacity have you acted as a sea-faring man? _A._ As master and mate. _Q._ In what crafts? _A._ In various crafts, small and large, and steamers. _Q._ Sailing out of the port of Charleston? _A._ Yes, and from ports of New York, and Virginia, and other places. _Q._ In what capacity were you acting just prior to the time you embarked on board the Savannah? _A._ I was acting as master of a vessel sailing from Charleston on the Southern rivers, in the rice and cotton trade. _Q._ What was the name of the vessel? _A._ The James H. Ladson, a schooner of about seventy-five tons. _Q._ Was the business in which you were engaged stopped? _A._ Yes, sir.