Mr. Lidgerwood to Mr. Seward.
Sir : * * * * * * * *
At an interview yesterday with the under secretary of state, Senhor do Amaral, at the Foreign Office, he expressed much solicitude to learn if any communication had been received by me from the Department of State concerning a special salute to the Brazilian flag in the harbor of Bahia.
The Chambers will convene within a few days, but it is merely a continuation of the adjourned session of last year. The question of the Florida affair may, however, be brought up and information required of the ministry.
On the first of May the Chambers will commence their regular session, when it will be requisite that the report should be made. The government sincerely desires to be able to report that the Florida affair is satisfactorily settled.
Assuring Senhor do Amaral that I had received no instructions from the Secretary of State, who was absent from the United States, and that General Webb had been dangerously ill from his arrival in Washington until after the date of Secretary Seward’s departure, and that as the subject would no doubt receive early consideration, I preferred not to enter upon it further than to assure him that I would bring to the notice of my government the position and wishes expressed by this government.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.