Mr. Perry to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have the honor to report, that while no very important events have of late occurred in this regency, many circumstances indicate the favorable tendency of public sentiment in regard to our country. All the consuls here, with one exception, (the British,) have uniformly manifested a desire for the success of our nation. The French consul and the French subordinate officials and merchants, whose acquaintance I enjoy, take the liberal journals of France, such as the Sieclé and the Debats, and partake of their liberal and friendly sentiments.
A few weeks since the French consul, then just returned from Paris with his appointment as minister to Japan, gave as a sentiment at a parting dinner, where were present all his subordinate officers and myself, as the only consular guest of Tunis, “Union and liberty in America as well as in France.” He remarked [Page 437] that he knew this sentiment to be favored by the Emperor, on the ground both of humanity and of national policy. At his request I gave him a letter to our minister in Japan, embodying his friendly expression in the letter.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.