[Extract.]
Mr. Seys to Mr.
Seward
No. 2.]
Legation of the United States,
Monrovia,
January 3, 1867.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you of my
arrival in this city on the night of the 30th ultimo. Early on the
morning of the 31st I communicated to the honorable secretary of state
of the republic of Liberia this event, (see enclosure No. 1,) and
received his reply as copied in enclosure No. 2.
On Wednesday, January 2d, 1867, at 12 o’clock m., in company with the
United States vice-consul general, the honorable. W. A. Johnson, I
repaired to the executive mansion, and in presence of the entire
diplomatic corps, the vice-president of Liberia, his honor the
chief-justice of the republic, and the members of the cabinet. I was
formally presented to his excellency President Warner, and handed my
sealed letter of credence from the President of the United States of
America.
My short address to the President, enclosure No. 3, was followed by the
reading aloud of my letter of credence, and then his excellency’s
address (see enclosure No. 4) was read by the honorable secretary of
state, and the United States minister resident and consul general duly
received and accredited.
* * * * * *
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Seys to Mr. Johnson
Monrovia,
December 31, 1866.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you of my
arrival last night in this city, with a commission from the
President of the United States of America as minister resident and
consul general to the republic of Liberia.
I beg leave to know from his excellency the President of Liberia,
through the secretary of state, when it wall suit his excellency’s
earliest convenience to grant me a personal interview, that I may
present my sealed letter of credence, a copy of which I now
enclose.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. H. R. W. Johnson,
Secretary of State Republic of
Liberia.
Mr. Johnson to Mr. Seys
Department of State,
Monrovia,
December 31, 1866,
Sir: I have had the honor to receive your
note of this morning, by which you inform me that you arrived last
night in this city, with a commission from the President of the
United States of America as minister resident and consul general to
the republic of Liberia, and
[Page 318]
request to be apprised when it will suit the convenience of the
President to grant you a personal interview that you may present
your sealed letter of credence, a copy of which you have sent
me.
In reply I have to acquaint you that the President is now suffering
from indisposition, but hopes to be able to grant you an interview
on Wednesday, the 2d of January proximo, on which day I shall be
pleased to meet you at the mansion at 12 o’clock m., for the purpose
aforesaid
With the highest consideration, I have the honor to remain your
obedient servant,
His Excellency John Seys,
&c., &c., &c.
[Untitled]
Mr. President: I have the honor to present
to you in person my sealed letter of credence to your excellency
from the President of the United, States of America. I am
commissioned as minister resident and consul general to the republic
of Liberia.
I beg leave to assure your excellency that I regard this as one of
the most auspicious hours of my long and checkered life. Known as I
am and have been for so many years, to the government and people of
Liberia, and feeling no abatement whatever in the deep interest I
have ever taken in the welfare and prosperity of this entire nation,
it affords me unspeak able pleasure to be the representative of that
great people and nation who may justly be entitled the mother
country of Liberia. I bear you, Mr. President, the greetings and
good wishes of that mother country, and I humbly trust that so long
as I shall be accredited near this government, it will be my highest
pleasure to cultivate and perpetuate the harmonious relations now
existing between the two republics.
[Untitled]
Excellency: It affords me much pleasure to
receive you in the capacity of minister resident and consul general
of the United States of America to the republic of Liberia.
There are few occurrences in the affairs of nations which give more
satisfaction than does an event like this—the receiving of a
minister sent from a friendly foreign power to strengthen the
relations of amity which exist between the two countries. The
representative of the sovereign of a great nation, I am happy in
recognizing you as the link which shall bind us closer together in
friendship, in commerce, and all international relations.
It is with no little degree of felicitation that the government and
people of Liberia have witnessed on the part of your government the
manifestation of the most lively interest in the affairs of this
nation, and a desire to establish and preserve the best
understanding between the two governments. It is scarcely necessary
for me to assure you that this desire is reciprocated by the
government of Liberia.
When this government received the assurance that the amicable
relations so happily advanced by Mr. Hanson should suffer no
deterioration from the representative appointed to succeed him, it
hailed the announcement as another evidence of the concern which
your government has for our welfare. But when you, Mr. Minister, are
sent to give effect to the desire of your sovereign to advance, on
all occasions, the interest and happiness of the two countries, it
is with unspeakable pleasure that I welcome you as the
representative of the ruler of a great country near the government
of Liberia.
And it hightens our joy to see in the representative of this great
friendly power one who has been for many years associated with the
history of Liberia. For a quarter of a century have you, Mr.
Minister, been ordained to promote various interests in Liberia. In
the church you were for many years advancing the spiritual welfare
of the country, laboring through gloomy periods and dark and anxious
nights in those times that tried men’s souls, when the seed of
civilization and Christianity that had been planted here had just
germinated, being watered with the tears and the blood of good and
great men, many of whom have been removed from the sphere of earthly
duties. You have known the hardships of a new country; you have
encountered the storms of the land and the sea, and having, like us,
passed through a severe ordeal, you no doubt, like us, bless God
that Liberia still stands, and that you have been designated to
renew, in a different capacity, your labors in this field of your
earlier toils.
Nor have your labors been confined to the church; on other occasions
you have served your government in this country, advancing its
commercial interests, and assisting to rescue from a cruel bondage
and all the horrors of “the middle passage” thousands who were the
victims of oppression. And could I so far forget the object which
brings us face to face to-day I would refer you to the fruits of our
mutual labors, to the signs of encouragement which are seen on every
hand, and which makes us confident as to the future. But we cannot
refrain from looking another moment into the past. And when
reviewing a period of 32 years we come to the time when you first
crossed the Atlantic to cast in your lot with us, and find that you
have eight times visited this land to assist in the great work in
which we are engaged, and that the ninth time you come back to us in
the capacity of the representative of your great ruler, we are
forced to believe that your destiny and ours are very closely
interwoven.
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Again I have to extend to your excellency a hearty welcome near the
government of Liberia, and an assurance that you shall have accorded
to you all the immunities, the respect and high consideration due to
one of your exalted rank, and especially to the representative of a
government so friendly disposed towards us. For your protection you
have not only the guarantees of international law, but also the
sympathy and good-will of the government and people of Liberia. For
your assurance of the same I pledge you the faith of the republic;
and in token that I embrace with all cordiality the great and
magnanimous ruler who thus, through you, his representative, places
himself in correspondence with me, I extend the hand of friendship
and protection to you as minister resident and consul general of the
United States of America to the republic of Liberia.
