[1] Mr. Ruffin stated the substance of the amendments he proposed in a voice so low, as not to be audible to the greater part of the Conference. They are not to be found in the Journal, nor in the documents printed by order of the Conference, nor were they heard by me.

[2] The speech of Mr. Davis is, I believe, the only one delivered in the Conference which I did not hear, and of which I did not preserve minutes more or less full. The reason for the omission was this: The morning session was protracted until a late hour, and the labor of reporting the remarks of the members had been very severe. The evening session commenced with some observations of my own; and after reporting the remarks of Mr. Logan, which followed mine, I found myself in such a condition of physical exhaustion that I was obliged to retire to my room. It was during this temporary absence that the remarks of Mr. Davis were made. I was informed that his speech was very animated and in excellent temper—that he took the position that North Carolina was loyal to the Union, but that he fully concurred with the Southern States in the necessity of demanding constitutional guarantees; and that if these were not given, her relations were such with South Carolina and the Gulf States that, however much she might regret the necessity, she could not do otherwise than to leave the Union and unite her future with those of the seceded States.

I have been unable to communicate by letter with any of the members representing the States now in insurrection. As Mr. Davis was the only representative from North Carolina who entered into a general discussion of the reports of the majority and minority of the Committee of One from each State, I was the more desirous of securing some report of his remarks. But in all the material which has been furnished me, by the many members with whom I have corresponded, I find that none of them preserved notes of his speech.

[3] This was a verbal amendment. I was not able to note it at the time, nor have I since been able to procure it.

[4] I suppose these amendments offered by Mr. Brockenbrough were never printed; certainly no printed copy of them was ever distributed to the members of the Conference, and they were never inserted in the Journal. In preserving my notes, I naturally assumed that I could rely upon the printed copies distributed to the members, for the various amendments offered. At the period of writing out these notes communication with Mr. Brockenbrough is impossible, and I am obliged to omit farther notice of his amendments. I am not even able to state the subjects to which they referred.

[5] The published Journal states that Mr. Alexander dissented from the vote of New Jersey. My notes do not show that he dissented, and I think the Journal may be erroneous in this particular.

[6] I relied upon the Journal for the individual list of the votes. In this respect the Journal is defective, and does not give the names of the States voting. My minutes show that the vote was taken by States with the foregoing result.

[7] The closing remarks of Mr. Baldwin were committed to writing. I am able through the kindness of a member of his family to avail myself of a copy.

[8] I have not heretofore expressed my own opinions upon the action of the Conference or of delegations; but as much has been said about the vote given by New York, or rather the division of the delegation, under which no vote was given, it is due to the parties concerned that I should state my own understanding of the practice of the Conference in this respect. After the rejection of the motion of Mr. Chase (found on page 209), and the adoption of the proposition of Mr. Dent, so far as my own knowledge goes it was never deemed necessary that the entire delegation from a State should be present in order to cast its vote. I was present all the time, and frequently cast the vote of my own State upon previous consultation with my colleagues, when a majority of the delegation was absent. This was frequently done, to my personal knowledge, by other States: by none more frequently than Virginia. During several of the sessions the President himself was absent, and the chair was filled for the greater part of the time by Mr. Alexander, or Mr. Morehead, of Kentucky. I can recall to mind several occasions when the vote of Virginia was cast by Mr. Seddon alone, no other member of his delegation being present. When the question arose upon the vote of New York, I was surprised that this point was not insisted upon; but deeming it a matter exclusively for the delegation from that State to settle, I did not think the case one in which others should interfere. L.E.C.

[9] See page 64, Proceedings of the Conference.

[10] An authentic copy of the Journal was not received until the 21st instant and the Commissioners did not feel prepared to make a report without an opportunity for consulting it.