A Confederate Colonel in Havana
--
He Predicts the Capture of Mason and Slidell.--The New Orleans
True Delta publishes a very interesting letter from
Havana, under date of December 26, from which we make the following extract:
‘
I have been much pleased with the active diplomacy of
Colonel Charles J. Helm, who, although a private gentleman residing here, having no official recognition, has effected wonders for the advantage and just appreciation of the
South abroad.
’
Some days before the departure of
Slidell and
Mason on the
Trent, he told me in confidence that they would be taken off of that by vessel
Wilkes of the San Jacinto, as my letters to you about that time indicated.
I ridiculed the idea.
His words were in confidence, as he said:
‘
"For the cause of the
South it was better that they should be made prisoners by that violennce than to proceed safely on their mission"--for which reason he would not communicate the information he had obtained through his agents — but the morning of their departure, he told the guests at the hotel where he resides, that they certainly would be captured; that it had been decided upon between
Shufeldt and
Capt. Wilkes before the
San Jacinto left this port.
None believed it; but I was more obdurate than others.
’
Events have justified his knowledge.
His rooms, through the day, are thronged with gentlemen seeking information on various affairs connected with the
South, and all goes blythe as a marriage bell.
I do not know whether he has funds or credits provided by the
Confederate States, but he finds money in abundance to pay all his agents for good services.
Shufeldt does nothing in uttering lies to
Serrano or to his government that
Helm is not instantly informed of, and if he dispatches a steamer to intercept his messengers, he provides means for the safety of his documents and defeats their miserable management of corrupt material.
His bearer of dispatches may be arrested, but his letters will not be taken.
General Serrano is provided with a synopsis of all military news from verified data and facts, so that the mischievous bulletins of the
Northern press, their wire victories, are deprived of the electric evil intended.
