Delaware State journal and statesman., 1862-06-13

pnon the waning fortunes oil the ihsurgehV
upg nppthorities at Richmond.
.sspAooH FROM REBEL COMMISSIONER.
Osni,,ion uDs, of the Confederate States of Amvica,
MADRID, March 81, 1862.
Han R M. n. HUNTER, &C., &c.
iiSn, s,u I have the honor to inform you
-. aiT arrived in Madrid, accompanied |
Iup hv Mr.. Fearn, as the news OF our re-
,srses was being received. After waiting
.omS or'SD fine in the expectation of learning
~ sO're roal nature and extent through South
on ',a napers, applied for and obtained an
tan ;a,aIview rj with MIR. Calderon Collantes,
,I'Vi ~" snonish Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
n 'rV 'lIosa reception was kind and friendly
""G9l ! told him, at the outset, that my Gov
mani @ had been anxious from the be-
Ginning to form friendly relations with
snoin. and had sent me, in August last
eP p mroeeed TO this court, which the arrest
w Dnd de,ention of Messrs. Mason and Sill
aa 1 had prevented me from obeying
Ooonor stated the nature OF those in
otmctions, and ventured the hope that
n thp ODletl VI my hiieHioi h''t''' ~ ~
ed without too great delay.
After expressing his qualification at my
( sole arrival and the assurance that ! would
Io nleased with the society of Madrid, MS
al Il nreyious American ENJOYS had been,
he asked me whether l had any authentic
asconnts of our recent reyerses, and eX-
nrossed great surprise that fifteen thou
eand Conrederates should have surrender
"A without greater resistance, regrettlng
,he effect that such disaster was ealcu-
lated TO have upon the mordt oil our
troops.
ton Init had no doubt the number of
prisoners was grossly exaggerated, as,
rom what | had seen in various Amerl-
can papers, the real number must be un-
der six thousand that the enemy was
vastly superior in numbers, and the resis-
lance OF General Buckner all that could
be desired.
unfolded before him q map of the
United States, and pointed out the local
U ities Of Somerset, Fort Henry, and Fort
Donelson: showed him the distances from
II those points to New Orleans and Texas
along the line of the Mississippi river,
Which the invading army intended to fol
law. stated that throughout this dis
tance there were no roads upon which the
transport of the mdteriet of an army
could be effected, while we had nearly
three thousand leagues of railway which
could be used for purposes of defence and
4 destroyed as the enemy advanced, and
Il that. besides, the Northern troops could
stand neither the heat of our summer moi
lbe maladies incident to the climate.
concluded by saying that, even with
ont these natural obstacles, / need no
te Spanish Minister that brave ant
united people, fighting for their national
ity and independence, could not be sublu
gated the armies Of Napoleon gaine'
many important victories in Spain, ant
for years occupied its capital and for
tresses, but when the Spanish armies hat
been nearly destroyed the entire peopl
rose in their might and drove the imperi
al legions beyond the Pyrenees. So
would be with us in the end.
He was we'll pleased with the allusior
and said he had no doubt of our ultimat
success, provided our people could stan
the privations which protracted conte'
would bring upon them. He went on t
saw that ON the question of right he ha
no doubt it is clearly with the South, {
much as it had been with Spain in IL
French invasion, or with the present Quee
in the contest with Don Carlos; but ii
question with which foreign Government
had to deal was question OF fact, not
right. We asked TO be recognized as
Government de facto; we must show,
Spain and the Queens party had show
not only that we had the right to cstabli
and had established u Government, b
that we had the power to maintain
against all efforts of our opponents; an
as thus far il could not be said we HI
made that proof, further time must clap
before the Queens Government could
cognize ours.
Continuing the conversation he ask
me what had been the result OF the int,
views of Messrs. Mason and Slidell o
Mr., Thouvenel.
said these interviews had led to
result; that the Emperor Napoleon cC
sidered the disruption of the Union a
of its rising navy as great misfortune
France, and was, of late, inclined to he
that it might be reconstructed and, f
Their, that he would under no circu
stances incur the enmity of the North
taking the lead in recognising us wi
the present Administration in Engla
was to great extent composed of abb
tionists, and wanted the support of
abolition faction for its maintenance
power, deluding itself at the same Ii
with the vain hope that if the civil y
was protracted and the culture Of cot
ceased, in whole or in part, the monop
of that staple would pass from the {
(ederate States to India as a eompel
ton for the present sufferings of the
tish manufacturing population But 81
was differently situated her interest
that North America should be posse'
by two great Powers who would balt
each other; her counsels were not tail
with Puritan fanaticism, and surely
had no interest that the monopoly of
cotton supply should pass from u
England. Spain was our natural
and friend, and her paramount int
was that we should become an inde
dent Power When we were recogn
similarity of institutions, ideas, and SC
habits would form between us n
cordial friendship and alliance than
ever existed between two people.
He said he hoped it might be so
he would not conceal the fact that
Seward was taking great pains to
vince him that the North had always