The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-06-20
INTERESTING REBEL CONFESSIONS.
The Foreign Commissioners
Giving Up the Ship.
THE LAMENTATIONS AND CONFESSIONS
OF COMMISSIONER ROST. a
Interesting Interview Between Judge
R0st and the Spanish secre-
tary Of War. ..-

Judge Rost, rebel Commissioner in Spain,
has addressed the following letter to r. NJ.
T. Hunter, describing his interview with
the Spanish Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
and closing with disconsolate view of the
uselessness of rebel diplomacy abroad.
1t comes from the State Department at
Washington, which it seems to have
reached instead of the Department at
Richmond, for which it was evidently in.
tended. 1t is most curious and impor.
tant disclosure of the utter hopelessness of
the rebel cause abroad. Mr.. Seward
causes it to be published because, as no
mode of communicating with the rebel
Government has yet been established, this
seems the most speedy method of bringing
the interesting facts embodied in this des-
patch to the President of that concern.
We hope be will be edited by its perusal:
COMMISSION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OFT
AMERICA, Madrid, March 81, 1862. !
Hon. r. M. T. Hunter, &C., &c.:
SIR have the honor to inform you
that ! arrived in Madrid, accompanied by
Mr.. Fearn, as the news of our reverses was
being received. After waiting some time
in the expectation of learning its real ma
ture and extent through southern papers,
applied for and obtained an interview with
Mr.. Calderon Collantes, the Spanish Sec
tetary of Foreign Affairs, whose reception
was kind and friendly. told him at the
outset that my government had been anx-
ions from the beginning to form friendly
relations with Spain, and had sent me in
August last instructions to proceed to
the court, which the arrest and detention of
Messrs. Mason and Slidell had prevented
me from obeyiDg sooner. stated the ma.
ture of these instructions, and ventured the
hope that the object of my mission might be
attained without too great delay. After
expressing his qualification at my safe ar.
rival and the assurance that / would be
pleased with the society of Madrid, as all
previous American ENJOYS had been, he
asked me whether I had any authentic &C.
counts of our recent reverses, and expressed
great surprise that fifteen thousand Coined.
crates should have surrendered without
greater resistance, regretting the effect that
such disaster was calculated to have upon
the morale of our troops. / told him had
no authentic information, but l had no
doubt the number of prisoners was grossly
exaggerated, as from what had seen in
various American papers the real number
must be under six thousand; that the enc
my was vastly superior in numbers and the
resistance of General Buckner all that could
be desired. unfolded before him map OF
the United States and pointed out the 10.
calities of Somerset, Fort Henry and Fort
Donelson, showed him the distance from
these points to New Orleans and Texas,
along the line of the Mississippi river, which
the invading army intended to follow. l
stated that throughout this distance there
were no roads upon which the transport of
the materiel of an army could be effected,
while we had nearly three thousand leagues
of railway which could be used for purposes
of defence, and destroyed as the enemy adj
vanced, and that, besides, the northern
troops could stand neither the heat of our
summer, nor the maladies incident to
the climate. / concluded by saying
that, even without these natural obstacles,
need not tell Spanish Minister that q
brave and united people, fighting for their
nationality and independence, could not be
subjugated; the armies of Napoleon gained
many important victories in Spain, and for
years occupied its capital and fortresses;
but when the Spanish armies had been
nearly destroyed the entire people rose in
their might and drove the imperial legions
beyond the Pyrenees; so it would be with
US in the cad. He was we'll pleased with
the allusion, and said he had no doubt of
our ultimate success, provided our people
could stand the privations which protract-
ed contest would bring upon them. He
went on to say, that on the question of right
be had no doubt it is clearly with the South,
as much as it had been with Spain in the
French invasion, or with the present Queen
in the contest with Den Carlos; but the
question with which foreign governments
had to deal was question of fact, not of
right. We asked to be recognized as a
government de .factO. We must show, as
Spain and the Queens party had shown, not
only that we had the right to establish, and
had established a government. but that we
had the power to maintain il against all
efforts of our opponets; and as thus TAR it
CCulO Dol Dc Salu We haC UGUC iiidt pfUOi,
further time must elapse before the Queens
government could recognise ours.
Continuing the conversation, he asked
me what had been the result OF the i ter
view OF Messrs. Mason and SldeI and M.
Thouvenel. said these interviews had led
to 70 result that the Emperor Napoleon
considered the disruption of the Union and
OF its rising navy as great misfortune to
France, and was, of late, inclined to hope
that it might be reconstructed and fur
Their, that he would, under no circumstan-
ces, incur the enmity OF the North bg TAX
ing the lead in recognizing us while the
present administration in England was to a
great extent composed Of abolitionists, and
wanted the support of she abolition faction
for its maintenance in power, deludiug itself
at the same time with the vain hope that il
the civil war was protracted, and the cul'
ture of cotton ceased, in whole or 10 part,
the monopoly of that staple would pass
from the Confederate States to India, as