I do not believe that Spain will ever again obtain similar terms, and there is but one voice respecting the ignorance and folly which have dictated their late determination. Many persons charge Great Britain with it. She has had, heretofore, no influence over the councils of Spain, and Lord Castlereagh has expressly declared to Mr. Rush, that although England should have preferred that Florida should have remained in the hands of Spain, they not only had not interfered, but foreseeing the consequences of rejection of a treaty actually signed, had advised its ratification. You may have already received all this information from our government, Mr. Forsyth and Mr. Rush, but reflecting on your remote situation, and thinking that a correct knowledge of the facts might enable you to make a proper impression on the Russian government, that that government is not less friendly to Spain than to us, and that it may be important that they should know beforehand the probable consequences of the conduct of Spain, I have thought that this hasty summary might be acceptable. I must add, and you may rely on the fact, that Onis had acted not only in conformity with his instructions, but had yielded less than they authorized him to do; so that there is a positive breach of good faith on the part of Spain, a circumstance which renders a renewal of negotiations still more difficult. I remain, with great respect and sincere attachment, dear sir, ALBERT GALLATIN. Excuse my scrawl, I have not time to transcribe. FROM COMMODORE MCDONOUGH. UNITED STATES SHIP GUERRIERE, Sir,-This day being the anniversary of the coronation of the Emperor Alexander, it may be thought that this ship might have paid a compliment to it by salute, but I find the Russian vessels which are draped on the occasion, and which will, in all probability, salute also, have not displayed the flag of the United States among others which they have hoisted; this has determined me not to salute, and I hope my determination in this instance to remain silent is correct. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir, Your obedient servant, Honorable G. W. Campbell, St. Petersburgh. T. MCDONOUGH. Colonel Baldwin's Interview with Mr. Lincoln-Letter from Colonel J. H. Keatley, of Iowa. We publish the following letter as confirming the accuracy of Dr. Dabney's interesting report of Colonel John B. Baldwin's account of his interview with Mr. Lincoln. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, December 18, 1880. Rev. J. William Jones, D. D., Secretary Southern Historical Society, Richmond, Va.. Dear Sir,-I have just read, in the first volume of the Transactions of your society, Dr. Dabney's paper concerning an interview between Mr. Lincoln and Colonel John Baldwin, of Virginia, in April, 1861. In May, 1865, I was on duty, as a Federal military officer, in Norfolk, and while the United States District Court for the eastern district of Virginia was in session there. I was introduced to Colonel Baldwin at that time, in the clerk's office, by Honorable L. H. Chandler, United States District Attorney, Colonel Baldwin being then in attendance on some business connected with that court, and having also for the first time, after the war, visited Norfolk. I met him again, during the afternoon, at the Atlantic hotel, and he was kind enough to refer to some of the incidents of the contest, and to the causes which occasioned it. In that interview he made substantially the same statement that Dr. Dabney has given in his valuable and interesting paper, but, for reasons that will occur to almost any one, I did not repeat what he said, and did not feel at liberty then to make any publication of his statement, and would not do so now had not others already done so. Yours respectfully, JNO. H. KEATLEY. Oficial Paper which was Never Sent. The following letter explains itself. We should be glad to learn something more concerning the lieutenants who wrote the document quoted: COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa, February 11, 1881. Dr. J. W. Jones, Secretary Southern Historical Society: Dear Sir,-In the winter of 1864 and the spring of 1865 I served in the Army of the Potomac, in front of Petersburg, and was present during the last gallant efforts of the Army of Northern Virginia. Upon reaching the inside of the Confederate works in the vicinity of the point where the Weldon railroad crossed the trenches I saw a bunch of papers, the one corner of which lay in a pool of blood. Near by was also the shattered carriage of a gun, indicating that one of our shells had dismounted it. Everywhere were the signs of a desperate struggle, though the dead and wounded had been removed. I picked up the package of papers, supposing that some poor fellow had dropped them as he fell, and they might lead to a clue. There was nothing of interest except one, a copy of which I give you. I preserved it, but there was no historical society in the South in 1873 with which I was acquainted to which to send it, and therefore that year I placed it among the archives of the Iowa Historical Society for safe keeping, and publication was made of it among the transactions for that year.. When I last saw it it had a large blood stain and a number of earth stains from the yellow clay in which I found it. It was written on coarse foolscap paper, in a delicate hand, and evidently had been prepared for transmission through the regular military channels to the War Department at Richmond. The following is the document: CAMP SIXTY-FIRST ALABAMA REGIMENT, March 31, 1865. General,-We have the honor to request of you authority to raise ten companies of colored troops in the vicinity of Montgomery, Ala. We feel confident that this can be done, with the help of influential friends;. both of us having many in and around the city. We are, General, very respectfully, Your obedient servants, THOMAS T. GREENE, First Lieut. and Adjt. Sixty-first Ala. Regt. Inf. First Lieut. Co. "A" DE WITT DILLARD, Sixty-first Ala. Regt. Inf. To General S. Cooper, A. and I. G. I have always had a personal interest in the fate of these gallant soldiers, and I give you the copy for what it is worth. There is no doubt of the genuiness of the paper, as I picked it up and did not receive it from any second hand. Yours fraternally, JOHN H. KEeatley. Reminiscences of the Army of Northern Virginia, or the Boys in Gray, as I saw them from Harper's Ferry in 1861 to Appomattox Courthouse in 1865. By J. WM. JONES. [Prefatory Note.-The readers of our Papers will bear witness that the Secretary has not often troubled them with his own writing, preferring that our valuable space should be filled by other pens. As I have been, however, frequently urged by gentlemen, in whose judg ment I have great confidence, to publish a series of papers which shall attempt a sketch of army life as I saw it, I have decided to yield to their solicitation, so far, at least, as to present several papers on different phases of the history of our grand old army. It is for others to say how far it may be desirable to continue them. My general design is (while preserving the strictest historic accuracy as to our great campaigns and battles, bringing out especially the great odds against which we fought) to draw a series of pictures of the prominent leaders, and of the private soldiers of that army, showing who they were, what they were, what they did, and what they said on the march, in the camp, the bivouac, the hospital, and on the battlefield.] PAPER NO. 1. EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR. It was my proud privilege to follow the fortunes of the Army of Northern Virginia, from Harper's Ferry, in 1861, to Appomattox Courthouse, in 1865. Entering the service as "high private in the rear rank," and afterward acting as chaplain in both Stonewall Jackson's and A. P. Hill's corps, I had some peculiar facilities for seeing and knowing what occurred. Personally acquainted with Robert E. Lee, J. E. Johnston, Beaureguard, Jackson, Stuart, Ewell, A. P. Hill, Early, Edward Johnson, Rodes, Pender, Heth, Wilcox, Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee, W. H. F. Lee, John B. Gordon, Pegram, J. A. Walker, and a large number of others of our leading officers, I at the same time made it my duty to know thoroughly the unknown private of the rank and file. I marched with him along the weary road; I bivouaced with him in the pelting storm; I shared with him the rough delights of the camp; I joined with him in those delightful services which proved that Jesus was often in the army with a power rarely witnessed at home. I went with him into the leaden and iron hail of battle, and I ministered to him in the loathsome hospital. I saw him in the hour of victory giving a right royal greeting to his loved and honored chief-and I saw him when he wept bitter tears, upon being "compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources." It will be for me, therefore, a privilege and a pleasure to recall a few reminiscences of our grand old army, as I saw it, and to give some pen pictures of it, which I trust will be true to life, of interest to old comrades and others, and not devoid of historic value. I will not dwell upon the details of leaving home-at sundown on the memorable 17th day of April, 1861-in obedience to a telegram from the governor of Virginia, of the ovation along the route to Manassas, Front Royal, Strausburg, and Winchester to Harper's Ferry, nor of the bloodless victory in the capture of the armory, arsenal, and an invaluable quantity of arms, machinery, etc., which were safely sent to Richmond. The world has rarely seen a more splendid body of men than the volunteer companies who composed the troops which captured Harper's Ferry. Among the rank and file were the very flower of our Virginia men, and, perhaps, half of those who afterwards attained the highest rank in the Virginia forces were in the rank and file of those brave fellows who rushed to the frontier at the first tap of the drum. The gallant gentlemen who at first commanded at Harper's Ferry were totally inexperienced in the art of war, and there was a great deal of confusion in the management of affairs, the camps being filled with wild rumors, and the whole force being frequently turned out on false alarms. Soon, however, a master hand took the reins-" Major T. J. Jackson," of the Virginia Military Institute, having been commissioned Colonel of the Virginia forces and sent to take command at Harper's Ferry. This promotion was a surprise, and a grief, to people who only knew Jackson as a quiet professor in Lexington. But Governor Letcher knew the story of his brilliant career in Mexico, and had faith in his soldierly qualities. When his name was presented to the Virginia Convention for confirmation a member rose and asked "who is this Major Jackson?" and the delegate from Rockbridge replied, "He is a man of whom you may be certain that if you tell him to hold a position he will never leave it alive." I remember that we, too, asked when he first got to Harper's Ferry, the last of April, "Who is Colonel Jackson?" but during the month he held the command he showed so clearly that he knew just what he was about that we were almost sorry when we first heard, the last of May, that the command had been turned over to that great strategist, General J. E. Johnston. Frequent guard and picket duty, almost constant drilling (I remem |