Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton
Sir: I have received your despatch of the 1st of September, No. 532, together with the letters of Captain Rodgers and Mr. de la Montagnie, annexed thereto, and have submitted these papers to the President. The answer which you gave to our consul at Nantes, on the subject of agency at St. Nazaire and Belle Isle, and telegraph expenses, is fully approved.
We understand that the two corvettes now at Nantes, namely, the Shanghai and San Francisco, were built for, and are owned by, our rebel enemies, and are designed to be armed and used in war against the United States. We have no information that they have been sold to any neutral power or persons, and we have no guarantees against them if they are permitted to leave the port where they lie, and have no reason to believe they would be withheld from actual hostilities by France, or any foreign power whose flag they might assume to carry. It will, therefore, be the duty of our naval officers to capture them on the high seas, if possible, and send them into court for adjudication. Without the formality of a special and pointed communication, you have let Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys understand the views of this government upon this subject, and thus afforded him an opportunity, if he desires, to prevent the departure of the vessels.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
William L. Dayton, Esq., &c., &c., &c.