Augusta County: William Cabell Rives to Alexander H.
H. Stuart, January 7, 1868
Summary:
Citing ill health, William Cabell Rives declines to write a national political
address; the context of the letter links the address with the constitutional
convention of Virginia.
7 Jan. 1868.
Castle-Hill
My dear sir,
Ever since the receipt of your letter of 19th ult., I have
been exceedingly indisposed, & unable to give you a satisfactory answer
on a subject into which the state of my health necessarily intrudes as a ruling
element. Allow me first to address to my very deep sense of the great honor you
did me by placing me at the head of the committee to propose an address to the
people of the United States, & I assure [added: you] of the devoted zeal with which I should assist in the execution
of this most important task, if my health enabled me to undertake it - on my
return from the Springs last autumn, I had a very violent & obstinate
attack of nervous, inter
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mittent fever, from the effects of which I am
still suffering. My health is so precarious that I cannot count upon it to
sustain me in any serious intellectual effort. Unless it should greatly improve,
therefore, it would be impossible for me to engage in the task, which, I
understand from what you say, devolves, in your opinion, on me as chairman of
the committee, unless [deleted: it should be] otherwise ordered by the
committee themselves. - If an address be expected at present, or at any early
period, I must of necessity decline the preparation of it in the actual state of
my health, & turn it over to the able gentlemen you have associated with
me on the committee. If, on the contrary, the address be not expected now, or at
some early period, anx
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ious I am to do whatever might be in my power
to justify your selection. I would still hold the matter under further
advisement. - I observed, from the proceedings of your convention published in
the newspapers, that the central or executive [added: committee] was to designate the time when the address should be
published, and I thought it likely that they would [deleted: think]
[added: consider] it expedient to postpone it, until
the convention now in session in Richmond should close their labours, &
enable us to see what sort of constitution they intend for us. But I infer from
a letter received from Mr. Randolph [unclear: Tucker], a day
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or two ago, that an address is expected from the committee at an early day,
& under these circumstances, I feel constrained to decline a task for
which I have [added: not] now requisite strength,
& cannot expect from my present condition, to have in any short time. I
will, nevertheless, most cheerfully contribute my services as a member of the
committee in consultation with my colleagues when any address which shall be
proposed by any one of them. -
I remain, my dear sir, with the greatest respect most truly yours
W. C. Rives
Honble A. A. Stuart &c &c
