Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.
Sir: Your despatch of October 28 (No. 250) has been received. The President is gratified with the indications of the appearances of a less intolerant opinion in the political circles of Great Britain, to which you have directed his attention. It is surely quite time that there should be a change. Think, for a moment, of the singular transaction in which this government is now actually engaged, namely, the fortifying of New York harbor to resist a piratical expedition coming from Liverpool—Liverpool, a chief port of a great nation with whom we are at peace, to whose capitalists we are sending gold, and whose sufferings we are supplying with bread. It seems too strange to believe, and yet what menace of this kind can we discredit after the experience of our merchantmen destroyed on the high seas by the Alabama.
Lord Lyons has arrived and he has been received as he deserves, with a friendly and cordial welcome.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.