_Admiral of the Blue, Commander-in-Chief, &c._
JAMES MONROE, Esq., _Secretary of State_.
_Mr. Monroe to Sir John Borlase Warren._
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, _Oct. 28, 1812_.
SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 30th
September, complaining that Commodore Rodgers, commanding a
squadron of the United States Navy at the port of Boston, had
taken twelve British seamen, lately belonging to His Britannic
Majesty's ship the Guerriere, from a cartel in the harbor of
Boston, and that he had detained them on board the President, a
frigate of the United States, as hostages.
I am instructed to inform you, that inquiry shall be made into
the circumstances attending, and the causes which produced the
act, of which you complain; and that such measures will be
taken, on a knowledge of them, as may comport with the rights
of both nations, and may be proper in the case to which they
relate.
I beg you, sir, to be assured that it is the sincere desire
of the President to see (and to promote, so far as depends on
the United States) that the war which exists between the two
countries be conducted with the utmost regard to humanity. I
have the honor to be, &c.,