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132 him to proceed. He asked if I was aware that the Confederates were building war vessels in France. * * * He proceeded to state as facts within his own knowledge that there were then building in the ports of Bordeaux and Nantes, for account of the Confederate States of America, several vessels, some of which were armour plated and with rams, which altogether were to cost from twelve to fifteen millions of francs; that the engines for some of them were built and ready to put in, and that for the armament of these vessels artillery and shells had also been ordered. I here remarked that no vessel of war could be built in France without the authorization of the French Government. He replied that the official authorization for the construction, equipment, and arming of these vessels had already been issued from the Department of the Marine. I asked him if he meant seriously to affirm that the vessels he spoke of were building under an official authorization of the Government. He reaffirmed his statement, and added further that he