Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.
Sir: I have received your despatch of the 16th of June, No. 720, together with its accompaniment, namely, a copy of the London Times of the 16th ultimo, which contains a letter of the captain of the pirate Alabama to that journal, and the comments of the Times thereupon.
If the government and people of Great Britain are disposed to be content with the relations which Semmes has thus established between himself and the British nation, we may well leave them to the enjoyment thereof.
Time is wearing on, and it cannot fail to offer to Great Britain a trial of the mistaken policy she pursues towards the United States. In the meantime, it is already manifest that the people of Great Britain are paying more for gold, for cotton, and for bread, than they would cost if her Majesty’s government had continued to respect the sovereignty of the United States. The presence of the Alabama in the German ocean, however it may annoy us, cannot prevent the augmentation of our wealth, and the increase of our population, which result [Page 199] from immigration. The reason is obvious: Great Britain, to a certain extent, interposes an embargo against American commerce. This embargo favors our manufactures, and increases our strength and our internal revenue.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.