The New York herald., 1873-12-31
The Sinking OF tho virginius-i
Wonderful Coincidence.

no longer afoat With this ship at the bottom
''under strict orders not to communicate with
anybody in relation to the circumstances in
which she went down, and with the whole
history of her relations to our government and
of the attitude in regard to her recently as
sumed by the administration before u.s. it is
an observation which presents itself on the
very surface of the subject that this sudden
disappearance of the ship in eight fathoms of
water is wonderful piece of good fortune for
the incapables at Washington. Indeed, it is
SO uncommonly fortunate that it reminds us
of little story. In the eventful life of the late
Mr. Weller it happened that an important
election had been beforehand counted over
| very closely, and it was known that the arrival
of a coach load of voters would turn the scale.
Mr.. Weller, who was to drive the coach on
that day, called by invitation on one of the
gentlemen concerned and accepted from him
the civility of q twenty pound note, and, as
reported by Weller the younger the gentle
man said" 'Were all very fond O you, Mr..
Weller; so in case you should have an acci-
dent when you're bringing these here voters
down and should tip 'em over into the canal,
without hurtin' Of EN-, this is for yourself,
says he. You're very kind, says my
father, and I'll drink your health in another
glass Of wine' says he, which he did, and
then buttons up the money and bows himself
out. You wouldn't believe sir, continued
SAM 'that, on the very day as he came with
+bo,~ 4
very spot and every man on 'em was turned
into the canal and what look at is the hex
traerdinary and wonderful coincidence that,
arter what that gentleman said, my fathers
coach should be upset in TINT very place and
on that very day" 1t will probably be
imagined by many that the coincidence
in the case of the Virginius is not less remark
able. The implied suspicion of Wellerism,
although shown by our special reports to
be unfounded, will, at least, be excusable;
for no fact whatever but the very fact
that has occurred could have extricated the
administration from the false position it had
placed itself in by bad faith, moral cowardice
and immeasurable incapacity.
There is no doubt, of course, that the Vir-
| ginius was an American ship and fully
entitled to all the rights of regular mer-
chairman. At the time of her recent capture,
upon the first receipt of the news, there was
some doubt of her character but when the
facts of her history were made known this
doubt was cleared away, and her right to sail
as an American ship has since been denied
mainly by the paid agents Of Spain in this
city and elsewhere Indeed the fact of the
ships nationality was SO plain that the gov
ernment saw no alternative but to protect her.
Had there been any reason whatever to doubt
her right to protection it would have been
withheld for no fact is better known than
that the State Department is conducted in
subserviency to Spanish interests and wishes
and conveniences in all cases and in all
degrees in which these do not require an
actual abandonment of our sovereignty. If it
had been possible legally to leave the Vir-
ginius in the hands Of her captors she would
have remained there; but her rights were SO
clear that it was not possible. She was de-
manded, therefore but the determination was
maintained throughout to deprive the demand
and the surrender of every feature that could
give them national significance, to soften the
fall of the Spanish authorities from their
high ground in that spirit Of consid-
Grafton for them that, if it is honest,
| is strangely self-sacrifcing in our dip
donates. In that spirit we agreed to
dispense with the punishment of the officers
who had seized the ship, and reduced to
formal salute all the catalogue of facts of repa-
ration and it was finally even thought that
to exact this salute would be ungenerous
toward the chivalric gentleman who had de-
| filed our standard and murdered our sailors.
Mr. Williams was therefore apparently called
upon for an opinion, under cover of which
the Secretary of State could relieve his
7 Spanish friends of the obligation of saluting
our flag. ALI the world knows the readiness
with which the famous Jeffreys used to furnish
condemnations when they were required, and
when he hoped to become Chief Justice and
facility of this sort is an attribute of certain
stamp of legal functionaries in every period.
Upon an inspection of the evidence as fur
nished by one side only the opinion was
given, and the Attorney General, deciding the
law and the facts as shown by Spain and with
out reference to the owner of the ship,
declared tfat she improperly carried our
colors and that her registry was obtained by
perjury, and was, therefore, void Mr.. Pat
terson, the owner of the ship, has already had
something to say on that opinion, and as the
government is responsible for the custody of
the ship, he will doubtless be heard from
again in demand for indemnity, which may
lead to inquiry in the courts But the opinion
of Mr.. Williams was used in the intention for
which it was made, and Spain was relieved
from the obligation she had incurred by the
Fish-Polo protocol