Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton

No. 724.]

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of November 25th, No. 567, with its accompaniment, namely, what is called a collec tive note, addressed by John Slidell, James M. Mason, and A. Dudley Mann to the government of France and all the other European states, except Turkey. It has about equal value with the similar emissions which an eccentric countryman, William Cornwell Jewett, conveys to the European sovereigns through the public press. I think the Sultan of Turkey is to be felicitated upon the frankness and loyalty which have secured him against insurgent persecutions affecting the form of diplomacy.

I have not failed to notice your complaint against the unfriendly spirit of what is called the government press of France and of Great Britain. To relieve [Page 202] any anxiety which that hostility excites it will be sufficient for you to know that the number of newspapers of every sort in the insurgent region is thirty-eight, which is not double the number of prints published in each of the several congressional districts of the loyal States. Thank God, therefore, and take courage, for though our enemies grow more inveterate abroad, they are rapidly diminishing in numbers, at least, at home.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

William L. Dayton, Esq., &c., &c., &c.