Mr. Hitchcock to Mr. Sherman.
St. Petersburg, February 24, 1898.
Sir: Referring to my No. 43 of February 18, inclosing copy of a note of condolence from the imperial ministry of foreign affairs, I now have the honor to inform you that since the dispatch above referred to, I have received a visit of condolence from His Excellency Sir Nicholas O’Conor, the British ambassador, in which he expressed his profound sympathy with our country in the loss of the cruiser Maine, by which so many brave lives perished. It gives me great pleasure to add that Mr. William Edward Goschen, British minister plenipotentiary, performing the functions of counsellor to the embassy, and Captain Alfred Paget, naval attaché, both of whom have been in diplomatic service at Washington, have written me cordial notes of sympathy.
It is to be remarked that neither the Spanish ambassador nor any member of the Spanish embassy has referred to the catastrophe so far as this legation is concerned.
I have, etc.,