And we need not be surprised, therefore, to find a mode of
dealing which has shown such extraordinary vitality in the
criminal law applied with even more striking thoroughness in the
Admiralty. It is only by supposing [27] the ship to have been
treated as if endowed with personality, that the arbitrary
seeming peculiarities of the maritime law can be made
intelligible, and on that supposition they at once become
consistent and logical.

By way of seeing what those peculiarities are, take first a case
of collision at sea. A collision takes place between two vessels,
the Ticonderoga and the Melampus, through the fault of the
Ticonderoga alone. That ship is under a lease at the time, the
lessee has his own master in charge, and the owner of the vessel
has no manner of control over it. The owner, therefore, is not to
blame, and he cannot even be charged on the ground that the
damage was done by his servants. He is free from personal
liability on elementary principles. Yet it is perfectly settled
that there is a lien on his vessel for the amount of the damage
done, /1/ and this means that that vessel may be arrested and
sold to pay the loss in any admiralty court whose process will
reach her. If a livery-stable keeper lets a horse and wagon to a
customer, who runs a man down by careless driving, no one would
think of claiming a right to seize the horse and wagon. It would
be seen that the only property which could be sold to pay for a
wrong was the property of the wrong-doer.

But, again, suppose that the vessel, instead of being under
lease, is in charge of a pilot whose employment is made
compulsory by the laws of the port which she is just entering.