No. 232.
Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Lowell.
Washington , June 7, 1883.
Sir: Acknowledging the receipt of your dispatch No. 554, of the 26th ultimo, inclosing copies of documents in relation to the protection of [Page 436] American missionaries in Bulgaria by British representatives there, I have to inform you that at the request of the missionaries themselves no action will be taken at present in regard to the matter.
If hereafter pressed, the subject may require an examination of the guarantees of religious toleration under the treaty of Berlin, for the purpose of ascertaining whether its provisions extend to citizens of non-signatory powers, and if so, how those powers may take steps to ask the observance of those guarantees. I will therefore thank you to aid the Department in this investigation by making discreet unofficial inquiries in relation to the matter, and to report the result of your examinations at your earliest convenience.
I am, &c.,