that could be
ended only by war. A particularly aggravating incident appeared in what is
known as the _Virginius_ case. This was described as follows, in President
Grant's message to Congress on December 1, 1873.

"The steamer _Virginius_ was on the 26th day of September, 1870, duly
registered at the port of New York as a part of the commercial marine
of the United States. On the 4th of October, 1870, having received the
certificate of her register in the usual legal form, she sailed from
the port of New York, and has not since been within the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States. On the 31st day of October last (1873),
while sailing under the flag of the United States on the high seas, she was
forcibly seized by the Spanish gunboat _Tornado_, and was carried into the
port of Santiago de Cuba, where fifty-three of her passengers and crew were
inhumanly, and, so far at least as related to those who were citizens of
the United States, without due process of law, put to death."

Only for the timely arrival of the British man-of-war _Niobe_, and the
prompt and decisive action of her commander, there is no doubt that
ninety-three others would have shared the fate of their companions. Some
were Americans and some were British. The excitement in this country was
intense, and war with Spain was widely demanded. Further investigation
revealed the fact that the American registry was dishonest, that the ship
really belonged to or was chartered by Cubans, that it was engaged in
carrying supplies and munitions of war to the insurgents, and that its
right to fly the American flag was more than doubtful. The ship was seized
by the American authorities under a charge of violation of the maritime
laws of the United States, and was ordered to New York, for a trial of the
case. American naval officers were placed in command, but she was in bad
condition, and foundered in a gale near Cape Fear. As far as the vessel
was concerned, the incident was closed. There remained the question of
indemnity for what Caleb Cushing, then the American Minister to Spain, in
his communication to the Spanish authorities, denounced as "a dreadful,
a savage act, the inhuman slaughter in cold blood, of fifty-three human
beings, a large number of them citizens of the United States, shot without
lawful trial, without any valid pretension of authority, and to the horror
of the whole civilized world." England also filed its claim for the loss
of British s