Mr. Burnley to Mr. Seward
Sir: I had the honor of addressing you a note on the 17th instant, under the instruction which I had received from her Majesty’s government, requesting the United States government to convey to Lieutenant Pearson the acknowledgment of the lords commissioners of the admiralty for the ready co-operation which that gallant officer afforded to Vice-Admiral Sir A. L. Kuper during the operations in which the combined forces of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States had recently been engaged in the straits of Simon-osaki, in Japan.
[Page 23]It is now my pleasing duty to state to you that the Queen is, desirous of evincing her high appreciation of the zealous co-operation of Lieutenant Pearson, and of the conduct of the United States naval forces, on the occasion in question, by nominating Lieutenant Pearson a companion of the military division of the order of the Bath, and her Majesty trusts that the President of the United States will be pleased to allow that officer to accept the honor which her Majesty is desirous to confer upon him.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.