Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons.
My Lord: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your lordship’s note of the 6th instant, which presents a claim of Messrs. Galbraith, Redgate & Co., of London and Glasgow, to compensation for losses incurred by them, by reason of the capture on board the Peterhoff, and subsequent confinement, of Mr. Redgate and Mr. Ellsworth, who were going to Matamoras on the current business of the said house.
I shall lose no time in calling on the Secretary of the Navy for such information as he may have or be able to procure concerning the grievances thus complained of. It seems proper for me to remark here, in regard to the subject,
First, that the representation thus submitted to me assumes that the seizure [Page 593] of the Peterhoff was without any just cause and authority of law, while the question of the lawfulness of that seizure is yet remaining under examination by the prize court at New York; and,
Secondly, that the representation thus made does not appear to be accompanied by testimony of any kind calculated to give support to the claim.
I have the honor to be, with high consideration, your lordship’s obedient servant,
Right Hon. Lord Lyons, &c., &c., &c.