Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.
Sir: It will, I am sure, be an agreeable office for you to present to the committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society the acknowledgments of the President of the United States for the copy of the minute which has been transmitted to him of their proceedings at a meeting held on the 19th of January last.
It seems to be in the order of God’s providence to combine the welfare of society, which might otherwise be neglected, with the interests of individuals and of nations, which can never be safely overlooked. It was in this sense, as you well know, that the confederated congress of the United States, when surrendering their trust to the agents chosen under the federal Constitution, conjured the American people to remember always that the cause of the United States is the cause of human nature. Deeply cherishing this sentiment, so well calculated to remind this government of its immense responsibility to mankind, the sympathies which are expressed for it by the society whose proceedings are now before me, have been accepted by the President with the most profound satisfaction.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.