Details
DAVIS, JEFFERSON, President C.S.A. Autograph letter signed ("Jefferson Davis") to General C.J. Wright in Chicago, Mississipi City, 8 December 1877, 4 pages, 4to, second leaf neatly inlaid to a larger sheet.
"THE WORD UNION IMPLIES VOLITION AMONG THE MEMBERS..."
A remarkably thoughtful letter, tinged with regret, in which Davis considers his political career, the nature of the Union and the problems of the South within it. "My dear Friend...I...am very sad to perceive that you are so dispirited. We have lived long enough to have few of our earliest friends yet with us. The fewer the more dear and less to be spared...My Wife is with our Daughter in Memphis...I am surprised and mortified that your Daughter should have been in Richmoond during the war a[nd] I not have known of it.
"You may be right as to the political future save as respects myself. I have no purpose or desire ever again to appear in the political arena. Unless with a fair prospect of being useful political life never would have had any attractions for me, and that prospect is closed to me forever. To hold a position of public trust is onerous in proportion to the extent of its power... So in one respect at least the 'Republicans' and I are in accord, they would never trust me, and without that I would never consent to be their agent.
"The general interest of the country requires cointelligence among the sections, that can never be attained by soft phrases which conceal opinions. Whether it is possible to reach a cordial agreement as to the construction of the Constitution is doubtful, but unless that be attained the Union can never wholly serve the purposes for which it was ordained and established. The word Union implies volition among the members and ours was formed for the holy object of doing good to each other, and making the joint power effective for defence against those outside of the Union who should seek to injure any of its members. Sectional strife arose from departure from the fraternal obligation and the growth of rival interests to which it was sought to make the general government tributary. That was the reverse of the Union contemplated. It may be said rivalry was unavoidable, granted, and it would have been harmless if confined to the legitimate action of the State governments and peoples. We may not hope to see the rebuilding of the Temple as our Fathers designed it, but we can live on praying for that event and die with eyes fixed on the promised land. An Union to secure the general welfare, the domestic tranquility and liberty of our posterity...." In closing, Davis furnishes a list of "my personal friends in the U.S. Congress", and expresses hopes for Wright's recovery of good health.
"THE WORD UNION IMPLIES VOLITION AMONG THE MEMBERS..."
A remarkably thoughtful letter, tinged with regret, in which Davis considers his political career, the nature of the Union and the problems of the South within it. "My dear Friend...I...am very sad to perceive that you are so dispirited. We have lived long enough to have few of our earliest friends yet with us. The fewer the more dear and less to be spared...My Wife is with our Daughter in Memphis...I am surprised and mortified that your Daughter should have been in Richmoond during the war a[nd] I not have known of it.
"You may be right as to the political future save as respects myself. I have no purpose or desire ever again to appear in the political arena. Unless with a fair prospect of being useful political life never would have had any attractions for me, and that prospect is closed to me forever. To hold a position of public trust is onerous in proportion to the extent of its power... So in one respect at least the 'Republicans' and I are in accord, they would never trust me, and without that I would never consent to be their agent.
"The general interest of the country requires cointelligence among the sections, that can never be attained by soft phrases which conceal opinions. Whether it is possible to reach a cordial agreement as to the construction of the Constitution is doubtful, but unless that be attained the Union can never wholly serve the purposes for which it was ordained and established. The word Union implies volition among the members and ours was formed for the holy object of doing good to each other, and making the joint power effective for defence against those outside of the Union who should seek to injure any of its members. Sectional strife arose from departure from the fraternal obligation and the growth of rival interests to which it was sought to make the general government tributary. That was the reverse of the Union contemplated. It may be said rivalry was unavoidable, granted, and it would have been harmless if confined to the legitimate action of the State governments and peoples. We may not hope to see the rebuilding of the Temple as our Fathers designed it, but we can live on praying for that event and die with eyes fixed on the promised land. An Union to secure the general welfare, the domestic tranquility and liberty of our posterity...." In closing, Davis furnishes a list of "my personal friends in the U.S. Congress", and expresses hopes for Wright's recovery of good health.
Provenance
Anonymous owner (sale, Christie's New York, 8 December 1989, lot 19).