Washington, March 26, 1861.
My Dear Sir:
Yours of the 23rd did not reach me until last night.
More than ever I cherish old friends, those whom I knew and esteemed in my early years. Of that number, now unhappily rapidly dimimishing, I include yourself. I wish I could see you before I cross the wide water; but in view of my present engagements I am at a loss to know how I can arrange for a meeting.
I honor you for your inflexible devotion to the great cause of the South — a cause which at last has been gloriously won. You eminently deserve remunerative public employment, and as far as my influence extends I am not only willing but anxious to assist you in obtaining it.
The Congress of the Confederate States will re-assemble at Montgomery on the second Monday in May. The permanent government will probably be inaugurated about the beginning of December. I may be back by that time. If so I will argue in person your capacity and your claims, otherwise, for such a place as you may designate. The present provisional salaries are all low. They will perhaps be increased after a while.
What will suit you? Inform me at London. Direct your letter to the care of Messrs. Baring Brothers & Co. I leave here tomorrow.
Your Friend Truly,
A. DudIey Mann
John B. Jones, Esq.
Burlington, N.J.
1. Mann, Abrose Dudley; Correspondence to John Beauchamp Jones; March 26, 1861; Samuel W. Richey Collection of the Southern Confederacy, Miami University Libraries digital collections, Oxford, Ohio