Mr. Seward to Mr. Stuart.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 12th instant, relative to the chasing and driving on shore on the western coast of the island Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, of the steamer Margaret and Jessie by the United States gunboat Rhode Island in the month of May last, and to state that the Secretary of the Navy has been called upon for information on the subject, and that the government will lose no time in ascertaining the merits of the case, and rendering such decision upon it as justice and the law of nations require.
I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William Stuart, &c., &c., &c.