The New York herald., 1867-02-20
MIR. r. w. sewnrd's West India Mission
Another Diplomatic Fizxie, -

Mr. II. W. SewnrGs West An"iN raisssOu-
Another Diplomatic Fizxie. -
The present administration is, II must be
admitted, rather unfortunate in its foreign
missions. If their object does not happen to
be Quixotc, the conduct OF those intrusted
with them not unfrequently renders them so.
Thus the Mexican. .mission-which was very
well meant thing In it's way-assumed quite
comic aspect from the adventures Of the dis
tinguished soldier and accomplished diplomat
employed to hunt up Juarez. We question if
the mishaps of the Spanish knight errant and
his faithful Sancho Panza would not be thrown
into the shade by them, if they were fully mar
rated.
But even still drollcr are the incidents that
befell the Assistant Secretary of State on his
recent secret mission to the West Indies.
Before the expedition got fairly under way
two or three steamers were disabled in the
usual amount Of i'll luck, and in the
absence Of any explanation set it down
to that favorite source of disaster, the un-
propitiousness Of the weather. 1t now turns
out that it was due to the heaviness Of the
freight on board the same consisting Of large
amount Of government specie. But the mis-
fortunes arising from it were not destined to
end there. When the Gettysburg got to Port
Royal, jamaica, the sailors, who are super
stitious class, discovered the source of their
evil fortune, and, in order to dispel it, broke
open the specie chest and got rid of as much
of the contents as they could handle Mr..
Seward offered the muniicent reward Of one
hundred dollars for the recovery of the money,
which, we regret to say, did not turn up in any
very largo quantities under the influence of such
aliberal inducement Finally, after coaling, the
Gettysburg proceeded to her destination,
which, contrary to all the speculations that had
been indulged in, proved to be the island Of
st. Domingo.
There our two diplomats, Mr.. Seward and
Admiral Porter, were received in great state
by the President, General Jose Maria Cabral.
On opening the negotiations it turned out that
instead Of their being instructed to purchase
a coaling station at the island, as Cabral
expected, they came to buy the republic itself.
AT this information the st. Domingo President
put on long face and asked them II they
really expected him to sell his country. Seer
tainly,' replied Porter. who is bit of wag,
"and you ought to be devilish glad TO have a
country to SELL" On hearing this axiom OF
political morality Cabral's face frightened and
he came at once to the point. He was willing
to make over the island to the United States ii
they would pay down the hard cash for II.
He had the liabilities due to France and Spain
TO settle, besides some little matters of hi j
own, and he must have the amount before
they left This was poser to our dipomats
The sum named was considerably in excess Of
that left them after the depletion of their
specie chest by the sailors, and as Cabral was
firm they had to quit the island without effect
ing their object. The moral Of all this is that
when our government sends out foreign mi,-
sions II should select for them men who are
not likely to leave behind them either their
wits or their money bags. These are not
usually considered American failings.