Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-01-17
SATURDAY, JANUARY IL, 1868.
INTERCEPTED CORRESPONDENCE.


We need not direct the attention of our readers
to the novel /" FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE" which
will be found in another part Of to-day's Inteligcn-
GER These official papers, which make up curl
GUS and interesting exposition of affairs in the
Southern Confederacy," were recently intercepted
by the Government, and have been placed in our
hands for publication.
The documents naturally fall under several classi
fcations according +, the Executive Departments
from which they cmanate at Richmond, and the
subjcct-matters on which they treat. Wegiye pri-
GRITTY, as first in political dignity and interest, to
the dispatches addressed by the Hon JUDAH p.
BENJAMIN, the Confederate Secretary of State to
the diplomatic agents commissioned to represent
"the Confederacy" in Europe, and especially at
the Courts of London and Paris These commu-
nicatons, as We have elsewhere said, will be found
to give "South-side view" of political and mill
tary affairs as apprchended at Richmond at the
several dates on which they we're written. The
report they make of "military operations" is
equally remarkable for the exaggerated statements
with which the correspondence opens in regard to
the Virginia campaign of the last summer and
autumn, and for the tone Of dependency with
which it closes in view of the confessed failure
attending the movements of Gen. Bragg in Ken
lucky.
But perhaps the most interesting portion Of this
diplomatic correspondence will be found in the ex-
position it makes respecting the supposed discovery
of political intrigue believed to have been set
on foot by consular agent of the French Govern
ment resident at Galveston for the purpose of de-
tachiug the State of Texas from the Southern
Confederation. Grave reasons Of State aggrandize-
ment confirmed by historical traditions Of French
policy, and by present military operations in Next
Co, are assigned by Dir. Benjamin as the probable
motives which may have induced the French En-
peror to countenance this plot against the integrity
of the Confederate Government, if, indeed, it
shall be found, as the Confederate Secretary fears,
that the consular agent at Galveston has not acted
eminent he represents. Mr. Sldell, while cautioned
to proceed crcumspectly, is accordingly instructed
to give this matter thorough investigation, and
arguments are furnished by which the suscepti-
blities and ambition of England may be played off
against the probable schemes of the French EN-
peror.
1t further appears from this interesting CORE
spondence that the reception awarded by Earl Rus
sell to Mr. Commissioner Mason at London is not
such as COMFORTS with the latter's sense of pro-
pretty or with the expectations of the Confederate
authorities at Richmond. Mr.. Mason is, however,
xoIr e.. IL
to remain at his post notwithstanding the can
noyances" to which he conceives himself subjected
by the evident GOODNESS of the British Secretary Of
State for Foreign Affairs.
The second portion of this correspondence re-
ates to the European operations of the Confederate
Treasury aud Navy Departments. Mr.. Memmin-
ger explains the schemes devised for raising money
in England by the hypothecation of cotton in the
Confederate States. The modus operandi by which
that coin may be transmitted in British naval
vessels, from the blockadcd ports, to be employed
in England for war purchases and payments, re-
ceives elucidaton at the hands of the Confederate
Secretary of the Treasury, while the use to which
portion of the funds is to be put finds explana
tion in the accompanying correspondence of Mr.
Mallory, the Confederate Secretary of the Navy
The utility of irou-clad vessels, and the means by
which they are to be procured in England, form
the burden of these interesting papers. From
them we learn, too, the names of the /" financial
agents" of the "Southern Confederacy" in Eng
land, and what "houses" are ready to gil the
military and naval orders recsived from Rich
mopd.
It is gratifying to observe that the literary zeal
Of Mr.. Spence in the cause of the insurgents has
not gone unrewarded. Whether this q al has pro-
cured for him the appointment he holds at the
hand of the Richmond authorities, or whether the
appointment explains his zeal, We will not under
take to say.
1t may surprise some persons to find Mr.. Geo
N Sanders playing "top part in the negotia-
tions looking to the construction of "iron-clads"
in England. He figures also as the diplomatic
courier of the Richmond Government
II is not necessary for us to interpret the sig
nfcance or comment on the revelations of these
curious and instructive papers They may be
regarded in many aspects, and will furnish mate
rial for future discussion For the present we re-
NIT them to the pcrusal and appreciation Of our
readers, who will not fail to find in them food for
n A.. ~ 4 IL u