| Summary: | In the letter Lapsley mentions a European gun maker in Selma ("one of the most skillful gun makers I doubt not, in the Confederate states"), who would be willing to oversee an armory if the Confederate government were to establish one in the city. Lapsley also makes predictions about the future of the war. He thinks that the North will soon end or loosen its blockade of Southern ports to meet the cotton demands of European markets. In exchange for open trade routes, European governments will agree not to supply the Confederacy with arms and munitions: "They would thus be relieved of their fears of English or French interference, and feel more at ease to push the war inland from the North and West. If my conclusions should be correct, how important is it that we should be resorting to all practicable means to develope [sic] our internal resources, and provide ourselves with the means of defence [sic] with the least possible delay?"
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