Mr. Johnson to Mr. Seward
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatches numbers 19, 20, and 21, respectively.
I was aware of the doctrine held by the judiciary of England upon the subject of native allegiance, as declared by the judge in the case of Halpine, to which you call my attention in your dispatch No. 19. I agree with you in thinking that it has no foundation in reason, but is in violation of man’s clearest right—the search for happiness wherever he may think he can find it. That a government should possess the power to throw an insuperable obstacle to the enjoyment of this right is a principle which no just government can admit, and I am glad to be able to assure you that it has no support in England, except what it receives from their courts, who think themselves bound by the decisions of their predecessors made centuries ago, although the judges themselves, I have reason to believe, think of it as every intelligent man at present does. The protocol agreed upon to-day by Lord Stanley and myself, relative to the naturalization question, which you will receive in this [Page 358] bag, will show you that this government does not hold, but, on the contrary, expressly renounces, the principle.
Referring you to my dispatch accompanying the protocol, I remain, with high regard, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.