Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams
Sir: Your despatch of the 23d ultimo, No. 1428, in relation to the cases of Colonels Nagle and Warren, has been received, and a copy of the paper which accompanied it has been submitted to the collector of customs at New York, with a view to an inquiry as to the truth of the statements made therein. I transmit a copy of the collector’s reply, the tendency of which is to throw discredit upon those statements.
[Page 143]Special interest is felt in these cases by a large number of highly respectable and influential citizens, as an illustration of which you are informed that the President has recently received and referred to this department, petitions in the form of one which has already been forwarded to you, containing upwards of a thousand signatures, embracing those of the mayor of Brooklyn, judges and other judicial and civil officers, and many persons of eminence.
The communications which have been addressed to you render it unnecessary for me to assure you of the gratification which would be afforded by an early release of these officers.
There is probably little doubt that Colonel Warren is a naturalized citizen of the United States; but I have pointed out to the applicants in his behalf the importance of positive proof of the fact of citizenship.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.