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[Letter 1] [Page 1] City of London 4th Friday night 31st July 1863 Dear Ann I enclose a note (unread) from Elizabeth, a letter recd yesterday for you from Mrs Turner, & press copy of a letter to James I am still without any answer to my [invi?]= -tation to Miss Sippitt; so I suppose she is not in Providence at present but likely enough at Newport, with some of her Providence friends – at least I hope so, as such an out would do her more good than a visit to N. York at this time of year. I had a note yesterday of 27th from [Caved?] Spencer at Montreal. He & Mr Mather are to return to England & Scotia on the 12th Agt. You need not be in any furry to write to Mrs Turner, unless you should have received something of special interest to her from [Dinie?] via [Nassan?]; for I fancy you will be getting a letter by that channel one of these days from Nan. I wrote to Mrs Turner in your stead last night & inflicted 8 pages (at this sign) upon her, giving some history of your move= -ments & [?] from 6th May to 14 July; & I told her that our last tidings of Nan ever up to 11 May, when all was well with her. Sarah cross-questioned Jody as to his intelligence of our common kindred at the South; but he had none, he said later than Nan’s last letter to us, except that Mrs. W. A. Maury at [Page 2] Richmond has had another baby, & that Tom & Bob war with the So. Army at Gettys- =burg; but how they fared he did not know. He would like to know whether W. A.’s father in law recd a certain bill £70 [in?] E. Heath & br. remitted for him to our cousin Tom at School. Yesterday on my way to dinner I rode up in the car in company with Edwd King. He had no mark of the wound on his hand from the [paving?] [stone?] in the Riots; & said he was very well; & he made the same report of his Mother & of all at Highwood & Hawksharst. I wrote a note of sympathy & condolence to Mrs. King last night, & gave it to “the Judge” at noon today, on my way to our office. He also told me that his Mother & all the rest are well. I have Mrs. King an extract of what you said on the 17th as to [Fredinen?] & said that altho’ the book you had bot [sic] for [Mrs Duer?] could not have been of any use to her, you would regret its not coming here when she was still alive. It was only this evening, in a talk with Sarah after [T?]. that I learnt the fact that Mrs. [Duer’s?] eldest son had unexpectedly & most opportunely arrived here from N. O. several weeks before she died. This must have been a great comfort to her. All her sons even at the funeral except the one who [Page 3] is in the Navy. Sarah said that but for the very warm damp & showery weather we have had a con- =tinuance of this week, she would in this have paid a visit to Highwood since the funeral. Perhaps she may go then to- =morrow, tho’ she is busy all day long with her sewing machine, preparing articles for Louisa. I wrote a note to Harriet yesterday after- =noon’s mail, addressed to St. Louis, telling her of the letter to you from [Tobin?]; his lay spell of sickness & his determination to remain in China. I expect some to hear of her hav- =ing reached St. Louis & found (as I hope) all well there. I have nothing yet later than 15th from N. Orleans. Up to 24th (as [Fontaine?] may say he is sorry to hear) there had been no case of Yellow Fever there. The same rigid & thorough sani- =tary regulations, that where introduced by Genl. Butter, are still kept up. On the 24th inst 4 steamers had arrived there from St. Louis. A regular convoy by gunboats over a week, has been established for trading steamers between Cairo & N. O. The more I think of the consequences of the [reopening?] of the Missi. the stronger is my belief that it must destroy Secession & produce Reunion. So. Ca. & E. Va. will of course be the last to come back. The siege of Ft. Sumter seems to now to be costing more life than [Page 4] it is worth. The grand aim should be the capture of Mobile, Apalachicola & Galveston. The campaign in Va., between the 2 armies of the Potomac is at an end. I rejoice in the capture of Morgan at last. The Ballot-boxes both No. & So. will bring about Reunion. The newspaper Editors No. & So. do not represent correctly the feelings of the mass of the people in either section. Those in Richmond are raving Madmen, like our cousin Mr. F. Common Sense, Utilitarianism, Com- =mon Interest, & right feelings in a Christian point of view, will carry the day. We all want peace, & if the people at the South find they cannot get it with- =out Reunion, they will accept it on these terms. But we must abandon the Negro, & so we must be content to wait until Mr. Lincoln’s term has expired. No man of right feeling at the North can fail to respect those of the South all the more for their extraordinary gallantry & self-sacrifice in this terrible contest. The men of American birth at the North would have acted just the same part, under similar circumstances. So. Independence would be simply So. Ruin; in consequence of the enormous taxation it would involve, for they [Page 5] must keep up in that case a huge standing Army, & Navy. & these would bear with 3 fold greater weight of Taxes individually at the South than at the North. And the dis- =parity in population between the Free States & the Slave States will all the time be enlarging; so that Peace & Independence would assuredly involve another Civil War, where the odds against the South would be very much greater than they now are. We at the North want the Aristocratic element of the South in the councils of the Nation; & the South want the Utili- =tarian, practical, business-like element of the North not less in their councils. If we have Reunion as the accompani- =ment of Peace, there is every reason to expect the Peace will be lasting; for we shall then have learnt the value of Peace thro’ the terrible consequences of this War. Why is it that we find $10 in Gold worth $13 in paper at the North, but $85 in paper at the South? To me it is the clearest proof that the rich men at the South are convinced that this contest is all in vain; that [Page 6] the needful Taxes cannot be imposed & collected; that the War is the only source of Union at the South; that after Peace & Independence, the So. Union would be the same mere “rope of Sand”, that it was for the Nation at large after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, & before the adoption of the Constitution. The extreme notions of the South in the matter of States Rights precludes the possibility of the formation of a separate Union there possessed of the necessary force & power. And at the North we are all the while drifting towards the oppo- =site extreme, of too much consolida- =tion, too much central power, & too little of States rights & of individual liberty & freedom of action. The negroes must be left to the management of the States in which they live. The North will not fight for their emancipation, & that is not the proper way to bring it about. But it will be brought about in some way or another I have never doubted. [Page 7] They cannot be moved out of the Country without miraculous action, as in the case of the Israelites under Moses; & I cannot think it is the design of Provi- =dence that they should be. There is the most ample scope for their employment in parts entirely unsuited to white men as field labourers [sic]; & they will be more & more concentrated in those parts, & they will cut their masters’ throats some day if their masters insist on looking on them as more beasts of burthen. The South has found out that Cotton is not King, & cannot be made so. The next thing they have to find out is that it is for the interest of the white man that the negro shall become free. Truth & justice are sure to prevail in the end, unless we are to suppose that Christianity is to become extinct. The late Riots in this City are another proof that “Charity should begin at home.” We have enough to employ our philanthropy in looking after the debased condition of the masses in our largest cities. yours affectionately Rutson Maury

[Letter 2] 1 Aug – 10 ½ am All well. A letter from Miss Sippett [at?] Newport [could not read rest – pdf too faded]

[Letter 3] [Page 1] [at?] Evening Star New York 29 July 1863 [?] [?] [?] Noon (or rather 11am) Dear James On the 24th inst I recd simultaneously Rutson’s letter [at?] [Creole?] of 15th inst. by [post?], [?] your 9 pages (!) of 8/15th left by Mr. [?], who is very [?], left word that he would call again & [?] me, but he has not been. I suppose it was some friend of his & not himself who brot [sic] this letter from you inasmuch as I saw him one day among the Bulls & Bears in Wm. St. (without speaking to him) & this was I believe some days prior to the [Creole's?] arrival. As soon as you [wrote?] M had read your letter. I kept it to my- -self, and with great labour [sic] I made an entire copy of it, which I enclosed to your Aunt [at?] Persia today, under cover to another party in [School?]. I divided it up into 2 portions, each upon a separate sheet, one containing what relates to Fontaine, to the War etc; which she is to show to him, & the other relating to Rutson & Wm & your own [?] affairs of 1860 etc; this other sheet she is instructed to keep altogether to herself. Before I go any farther, let me [?] that Walker has ad- -dressed by this vessel (The Evening Star) a letter to “Mr. Wm. Harding, or, &, James Maury”, containing Adam’s Express receipt for some Clothes in a box recently recd from [?]. The carriage to N. O. ($2) is prepaid. The box does not go by Evening Star but by a steamer to said on Saturday 1st Augt. I heard that Louisa has recd a little note I sent to her about a week, or so, ago, containing [my?] free-will appearing in the shape of a $50 greenback; & I now hand you another one for the same sum & object – [?] to [?] at the expense incidental to her approaching confinement, in which I hope all may go on as favorably as she & you could desire or expect. Sarah is still busy preparing [drivers?] contributions in Clothes etc; for this event, & I hope she will have them ready to be sent on Saturday next, but I cannot say how this will be; – it is her affair, not mine. I enclose a little note from your Aunt for Louisa, which [Page 2] reached me [at?] City of N. York last Saturday evening. I also enclose a letter for Mrs. Cox, which I beg Rutson to do the needful with. It is from a Northern lady arr- -ived with her in the capacity of Governess or Housekeeper, I for- -get which, & I know it will be much prized by Mrs. C. & I also know that it cost me an [infinity?] of labour to discover the whereabouts of this lady, some mos. ago, when I had a letter to send her from Mrs. Cox. We have [?] been very uneasy & anxious about [Tobin?], in the absence of all tidings of him for the span of nearly or quite 2 mos.; whereas he had been in the habit of wri- -ting regularly twice a month. At last a letter from him of 22nd May arrived [?] Scotia yesterday morning, of which I now hand you the press copy of my manuscript copy; & from it you will see we had good cause for anxiety. It seems to me that you have lost sight of the fact that you have a Brother called Tobin, & that he is now a man & acting a truly manly part in the great bat- -tle of life. Your Aunt would never have consented to his going off to China, but for the dread she had that he might find his way to N. Orleans. You may say & think as you please about [Fontaine's?] going to N. O.; but I know that since he went there his character & feelings have undergone a most extra- -ordinary change – & in my opinion it has been great- -ly for the worse; & that is my chief reason for wishing that he would look elsewhere for a living; but I am well aware that all I can say on this subject is only like talking to the winds. I had a letter from him 6 days ago [?] Africa, dated 11 July, when he like most other people on the other side, expected [Page 3] Genl. Lee to capture Phila. on Balto. & Washington, and in fulfillment of Southern prophecy, to dictate terms of Peace between No. & So. With their expectations Fontaine winds up his letter with the following P.S. – "I think I shall sail for N. Orleans in Octo. late". What may be his plans upon learning the sub- -sequent disasters to the South, I cannot say. I suppose he will go on killing time until I shall have become tired out with maintaining him in idleness. On the supposition of Re-union there is nothing to hinder you earning a living at N. O., except a want of compromise of some sort or other with your various Creditors. But I suppose Fontaine has no wish to live in the South unless there be an independent Southern Confederacy, & recognized by the world at large. Until you are clear of your old debts, common sense would tell me that it would be inexpedient for Fontaine to become your [partner?]; for you cannot thrive until you are released of their debts by some means or other; – and it is for you to devise the means. I cannot promise you any more than a clean discharge on the part of Maury [Bevs.?] I enclose a copy of a letter I lately had from Harriet. You have acted a generous part towards Rutson & his Wife & Child; – then why do you persist in behaving so unnaturally towards Harriet & her Husband? They have done you no wrong; they have brought no disgrace upon the family; & they have acted very kindly towards various members of it when in need of aid. Your behavior towards t hem is unbrotherly & un-Christian. Do think over this matter, & let your better feelings get the better of your pride & prejudice. Yours affectionately Rutson Maury