"Across the face of the draft is the acceptance of Mason, Lawrence & Co.

"No one, I am sure, could have been more surprised than I at the appearance of the above article. As I had never written to Amos A. Lawrence, Esq., upon the subject of East Tennessee affairs with the view of obtaining either money or other material aid, I saw at a glance that forgery, fraud, and robbery of the mails formed the basis of this mendacious article, and I therefore wrote to Mr. Lawrence, (the first and only letter ever written by me to Mr. L. upon any subject whatever,) requesting him to forward to me the original letter or letters upon which his draft had been predicated.

"I have just received his reply thereto, in which he expresses his regret at the deception practised, and encloses two letters purporting to have been written by me, as follows:

"[Private.]

KNOXVILLE, TENN., May 15, 1861.

"AMOS A. LAWRENCE, ESQ., NEAR BOSTON, MASS. "DEAR SIR:-I received your kind favor on yesterday, and hasten to reply.

"Thank you for the high regard you seem to have for my patriotism and my devotion to my country.

"What assurances can I have from you and your people of material aid in the way of money, men, and arms, if I can succeed in arousing my people to resist

ance to this damnable treason in the South? This is very important. We have a formidable Union element in East Tennessee, which can be judiciously managed if we can obtain the aid alluded to. Harris, Governor of this State, will not let us have arms nor money: therefore we must appeal to you. Let me hear from you forthwith.

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"ANDREW JOHNSON.

"KNOXVILLE, TENN., June 6, 1861.

"AMOS A. LAWRENCE, ESQ., NEAR BOSTON, MASS. "MY DEAR SIR:-I have received your two letters today. Thank you most sincerely for your proffered aid. We need it,-need it badly. As yet I have not been able to use your draft; I am afraid to do so. Send me, if you can, $5000 or $10,000 in New England currency, in large bills, by mail, via Cincinnati. Be sure to do it promptly. Don't delay. I can now purchase a lot of arms if I had the means.

"How do you propose to introduce aid or arms into East Tennessee? By what route, and by what method? Answer soon.

"Respectfully, your obedient servant,
"ANDREW JOHNSON.

"I pronounce both of the above letters deliberate, wilful, and unmitigated forgeries, perpetrated, no doubt,

with the view not only of injuring me, but of damaging the Union party of Tennessee, by connecting me with Northern men and Northern means in a manner supposed to be obnoxious to the noble patriots of my own State.

"The letter of the 15th ultimo, it seems, is the private letter to which Mr. Lawrence refers in his letter as published in the Enquirer, and upon which the draft was drawn. This is the first forgery.

"The letter of the 6th instant clearly shows that the draft-which could not be made available, so palpable was the fraud-was to be retained and used in the work of injuring me just as circumstances might favor; while the call for '$5000 or $10,000 in New England currency, in large bills,' if responded to, would have served individual purposes, and, I doubt not, would have been unhesitatingly used therefor. To make this fraud and bold attempt at robbery still more conclusive, I will state the fact that, on the 15th of May, the date of the first letter, I was present at and addressed a large Union meeting in Elizabethton, one hundred and eighteen miles from Knoxville, where the above letters were written and mailed; and on the 6th of June, the date of the second letter, I was filling one of a series of appointments at Montgomery, about forty miles west of Knoxville. This town of Knoxville, let it be remembered, is about seventy-five miles distant from Greeneville, my post-office address. I will add, further,

that there is not, either in the body of the letters or the signature thereto, the slightest similarity to my handwriting or signature.

"It would have been impossible for such a fraudulent and mail-robbing transaction to have been carried out in the post-office at Knoxville without the knowledge or consent of the postmaster, and he and his confederates must be held responsible for it by an enlightened public judgment. Time may develop all the facts connected with this and other transactions of a similar character perpetrated at this same post-office.

"I have not made this statement of facts for the purpose of exonerating myself from the charge of treachery, treason, and corruption based upon the publication of the Richmond Enquirer, for I feel that I stand beyond the reach of the shafts of calumny and defamation; but my object is to expose the dishonorable and wicked means resorted to by 'Secession' to carry out its nefarious and corrupt designs in attempting to overthrow and break up the best Government the world

ever saw.

"WASHINGTON CITY, June 30, 1861."

"ANDREW JOHNSON.

REMARKS.-Upon the subject of this most infamous transaction on the part of the vile author or authors we shall make but few remarks; but they shall be pointed, and such as the facts call for.

1. The letters purporting to be from Johnson to Lawrence are base forgeries, not in Johnson's handwriting, forged here by Secessionists, and at two several times when Johnson was speaking in Elizabethton, one hundred and eighteen miles east, and at Montgomery, forty-five miles northwest, of Knoxville. When we published the Lawrence letter and the copy of the one-thousand-dollar draft, we charged the corruption of intercepting and the infamy of the forgery upon Nashville and Knoxville; but, from our knowledge of some of the Secession materials here, we give the preference to Knoxville!

2. The scoundrel, cut-throat, and midnight assassin who forged the letters was first aiming to steal money through this medium. He could not use the draft without forging the name of Johnson, and in this he would have been detected by the banker or broker to whom he might have passed it off. But for this, Governor Harris would not have been furnished with the original letter and draft with which to expose Johnson. Now, as Governor Harris is mixed up with this matter, and has furnished copies of the letter and draft for publication, he owes it to himself to tell the world who sent him the original from Knoxville! Will he tell? or will he seek to shield the guilty, and make himself a party to the nefarious transaction?

3. Had the "$5000 or $10,000 in New England currency, in large bills," been furnished by Lawrence, the