A proclamation or order of state, usually issued in time of war or threatenedhostilities, prohibiting the departure ofships or goods from some or all the ports of such state until further order. The WilliamKing, 2 Wheat. 148, 4 L. Ed. 200; Delano v. Bedford Ins. Co., 10 Mass. 351, 6 Am. Dec.132; King v. Delaware Ins. Co., 14 Fed. Cas. 510.Embargo is the hindering or detention by any government of ships of commerce inits ports. If the embargo is laid upon ships belonging to citizens of tlie state imposing it.it is called a “civil embargo;” if, as more commonly happens, it is laid upon shipsbelonging to the enemy, it is called a “hostile embargo.” The effect of this latterembargo is thai the vessels detained are restored to the rightful owners if no warfollows, but are forfeited to the embargoing government if war does follow, thedeclaration 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 thepurposes of a government, e. p., to obtain vessels for the transport of troops, theowners being reimbursed for this forced service. Man. Int. Law, 143.