Mr. Seward to Mr. Marsh.

No. 185.]

Sir: Your dispatches of the 2d of February, No. 202, and of the 3d of February, No. 203, have been received.

I approve and commend your proceedings in making inquiries of General Menabrea, in regard to the dispatching of an Italian squadron to the waters of La Plata. No communication has been made to me on that subject by the Italian minister here, and in the absence of any authentic information, I had come to regard the rumor as groundless.

A third party can reasonably ask no further explanation on the subject than that which General Menabrea has so promptly and courteously given. I shall lose no time in giving that information to Mr. Asboth, United States minister at Montevideo and Buenos Ayres.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

George P. Marsh, Esq., &c., &c., &c.