Mr. Seward to Mr. Harvey.

No. 107.].

Sir: Your despatch of February 27 (No. 206) has been received. Your reply to the remarks made by his Majesty concerning our affairs is approved. The President, as you intimated on that occasion, deplores the derangement of commerce which has resulted from the civil war in the United States, and the whole American people desire, even more heartily than any foreign state can, the restoration of peace. But you can never be too emphatic in saying, whenever required to express yourself, that this country neither promises nor looks for peace, save only through the restoration of the national authority throughout the republic. Any other peace than that would be perpetual wars, which foreign nations would find infinitely more intolerable than the present strife, in regard to which they manifest an impatience which continually furnishes only fresh fuel to the fires they inconsistently crave us to extinguish.

I am, sir, your most obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

James E. Harvey, Esq., &c., &c., &c., Lisbon.