William H. Seward to J. Hume Burnley, September 19, 1864

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowlege the receipt of your note of the 16th nstant, in which, referring to Lord Lyons’s note of the 15th of June last, concerning the nefarious practices resorted to by unscrupulous persons in seducing youths from their homes in Canada, and inducing them to enlist in the United States army, you intimate that this is a subject which engages largely the attention of the governor general of Canada and her Majesty’s government; and you then remark that any measures which the government of the United States might adopt towards helping to frustrate such practices would prove most acceptable, both to the Canadian authorities and to her Majesty’s government.

I have the honor to inform you, in reply, that since complaints of the nature above indicated have arisen, this government has used, as it will continue in the future to use, all diligence in preventing, and when discovered, in severely punishing, such transactions; and that it believes they are practically arrested.

I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant,