A proclamation or order of state, usually issued in time of war or threatened hostilities, prohibiting the departure of ships or goods from some or all the ports of such state until further order. The William King, 2 Wheat 148, 4 L. Ed. 206; Delano v. Bedford Ins. Co., 10 Mass. 351, 6 Am. Dec. 132; King v. Delaware Ins. Co., 14 Fed. Cas. 516.
Embargo is the hindering or detention by any vernment of ships of commerce in its ports, the embargo is laid upon ships belonging to citizens of the state imposing it it is called a “civil embargo;” if, as more commonly happens, it is laid upon ships belonging to the enemy, it is called a “hostile embargo.” The effect of this latter embargo is that the vessels detained are restored to the rightful owners if no war follows, but are forfeited to the embargoing government if war does follow, the declaration of war being held to relate back to the original seizure and detention. Brown.
The temporary or permanent sequestration of the property of individuals for the purposes of a government, e.g.t to obtain vessels for the transport of troops, the owners being reimbursed for this forced service. Man. Int Law, 143.