On December 23 he wrote that letters from Cobden and Lyndhurst had been seen by Lincoln.
"Both letters have been submitted to the President.

He returned them with the remark that 'peace will not be broken if England is not bent on war.' At the same time the President has assured my informant that he would examine the answer of his Secretary of State, word for word, in order that no expression should remain which could create bad blood anew, because the strong language which Mr.Seward had used in some of his former despatches seems to have irritated and insulted England" (Schleiden Papers).

No doubt Sumner was Schleiden's informant.

At first glance Lincoln's reported language would seem to imply that he was putting pressure on Seward to release the prisoners and Schleiden apparently so interpreted them.

But the fact was that at the date when this was written Lincoln had not yet committed himself to accepting Seward's view.