Mr. Seward to Mr. Wood.
Washington, September 5, 1861.
Sir: Your despatch of August 15 (No. 9) has been received.
The affair of the place of deposit for papers of Danish vessels, to which you direct my attention, has been already settled in a manner which will, I am sure, be entirely satisfactory to the government of Denmark.
I can well understand the depression you experienced on hearing of the reverse of our arms at Bull Run, and the unfavorable comments on our course which this misfortune elicits in Europe. There is, however, no occasion for apprehension of an unfavorable issue of the present civil contest.
Whatever speculations on the subject may be made at home or abroad, you may be assured that it is not in our day that treason is to prevail against the government in our country, based as it is on the rights of man and his capacity for self-government.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Bradford R. Wood, Esq., &c., &c., &c., Copenhagen.