1William C. Rives to Thomas Jefferson, 20 January 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
I have it in my power to congratulate you, at last, on an event, which constitutes a proud epoch in the history of Virginia . The Bill for the establishment of an University at the Central college was passed on yesterday in the House of Delegates by a majority of 141 to 28. Altho’ the previous votes taken in the committee of the whole had left little doubt as to the final success of the...
2William C. Rives to Thomas Jefferson, 3 April 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the pleasure of receiving, thro’ Col. Randolph , last evening, your kind invitation for myself & my wife to spend the day at Monticello . I regret very much that arrangements previously made, involving the convenience of others as well as ourselves, prevent us, at this time, from paying you a visit, which my own feelings would have promptt prompted me to do, without an invitation. But we...
3To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 19 December 1822 (Jefferson Papers)
It affords me great pleasure to inform you that the temper of the present Legislature, so far as it can be collected from conversation with its members, is one of improved liberality towards the University. The great difficulty we have to encounter is a repugnance on the part of many gentlemen, otherwise friendly to the University, to undertake, at this time, the erection of the additional...
4To Thomas Jefferson from John Winn, 24 June 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
A number of your friends and neighbours intend to celebrate the approaching Anniversary of their country’s Independence at M r D. Fitch’s in Milton; and the undersigned committee of arrangements, in compliance with the wishes of those by whom they were appointed, respectfully invite your attendance. In doing so they feel it unnecessary to express to you the high gratification it will afford...
5To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 10 November 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
I take the liberty of introducing to your acquaintance my brother Robert, who is one of the representatives of the county of Nelson in the next Legislature. He is on a visit to the University, to inspect the plan & condition of that noble establishment, & will be much gratified in the opportunity, which a personal interview will afford, of learning the views of it’s patron & founder.— MHi .
6To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 6 November 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
Your invitation to Monticello, to-day, has just overtaken me on my return home, & I regret exceedingly that my state of health is such, this morning, as to prevent my gratifying the feelings I cherish towards Gen l La Fayette & yourself alike, by the acceptance of it.— MHi .
7To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 30 November 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the pleasure of receiving, a day or two ago, your letter of 25 th instant on the subject of the duties wrongfully demanded of the University on it’s late importation of marble from Italy, accompanied with a series of papers, numbered from 1 to 15, supplying the necessary evidence in support of the application intended to be made to congress for the remission of these duties. I beg leave...
8To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 7 January 1826 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of 30 th ult. was duly received & I availed myself of the earliest opportunity of conferring with the Postmaster-General, in relation to the subject of it. He suggested some objections to the establishment of a post-office at the University, & in lieu of it, proposed an arrangement which, if it should take effect, it is hoped, will attain all the ends you had in view—that is, to...
9To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 13 March 1826 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of 8 th instant, by the last mail, in reply to which I have to inform you that the committee of ways & means, to whom the application on behalf of the University was referred, reported, some time ago, a Bill remitting the whole amount of duties charged upon the late importation of manufactured marble for the use of the University. This Bill, in the...
10To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 25 April 1826 (Jefferson Papers)
I beg leave to introduce to your acquaintance Messrs. Johnson, , & Ashley, members of the House of Representatives from the State of New-York, who, in a visit they are about to make to Virginia, are desirous of paying their personal respects to you. You will find them gentlemen of great respectability, & of liberal sentiments.—I take the occasion to renew to you the expression of my grateful &...
11To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 26 April 1826 (Jefferson Papers)
You will perceive from the enclosed letter of Mr. Lambert that he has presented to the University of Virginia, thro’ me, a printed copy of the calculations made by him to ascertain the longitude of the Capitol in this City. I beg leave to commit these calculations, together with the letter which accompanied them, to your guardianship, that you may dispose of them in such manner as is most...
12To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 5 May 1826 (Jefferson Papers)
I had the pleasure of recieving your letter of 22 nd ult. some days ago; but unwilling to vex & tire you with the repetition of unsatisfactory communications, I have forborne to reply to it, until I could communicate something decisive upon the subject of the duties. I have now the satisfaction to inform you that the Bill, for remitting them, has this day passed the House of Representatives, &...
13To Thomas Jefferson from William Cabell Rives, 13 May 1826 (Jefferson Papers)
I have now the satisfaction to inform you that the Bill, for remitting the duties demanded of the university, has passed the Senate, & has probably, by this time, received it’s consummation as a law by the signature of the President. The committee of the Senate, to which the Bill was referred, reported it with an amendment, the object of which was to provide for another case supposed by the...
14William Cabell Rives to James Madison, 19 April 1828 (Madison Papers)
I beg leave to present to you the Revnd Mr. Jasper Adams, Principal of the Charleston College in South Carolina, a gentleman highly commended to me for his learning & worth by those who have the pleasure of his acquaintance. Mr. Adams proposes a visit to our University, & on his way thither, is desirous of paying his respects to you. With my best salutations to Mrs. Madison, I beg you to...
15William C. Rives to James Madison, 26 June 1828 (Madison Papers)
As the period for the meeting of the visitors of the University is now near at hand, I take the liberty to remind you of your promise, & of our hopes, that, on your way thither, you will do us the favour to spend a day with us. We hope that Mrs. Madison will find, in the pleasure her society would afford to numerous friends in this county, a sufficient inducement to accompany you; & in this...
16William Cabell Rives to James Madison, 23 September 1828 (Madison Papers)
I had hoped to have had it in my power, before this time, to be at Montpelier; but having been deprived of that pleasure by a recent absence of four or five weeks from home, I trouble you with this communication only to say to you that we shall hope to have the pleasure of seeing you here, on your way to the university. If it should not consist with your arrangements to spend a day or two with...
17William Cabell Rives to James Madison, 31 December 1828 (Madison Papers)
Major Hamilton arrived here yesterday, & I had the pleasure, to-day, of placing in his hands the letter for him, which you committed to my care. Since the receipt of your obliging letter of 20th instant, for which I take this occasion to make you my acknowledgments, I have read, with equal pleasure & instruction, your two letters, recently published in the National Intelligencer, on the powers...
18William C. Rives to James Madison, 3 February 1829 (Madison Papers)
The heavy pressure of some public duties here recently, & the occupation of my mind, at the same time, with some painful circumstances of a private nature, have prevented me from heretofore making my acknowledgments to you for the two interesting letters, with which you favoured me in the course of the last month. I had, previously to the receipt of your last communication, investigated the...
19William C. Rives to James Madison, 5 June 1829 (Madison Papers)
It gave me great pleasure, on my return from Washington some days ago, to hear that your health had very much improved. I trust it is now nearly re-established. I found on my arrival in Washington that there would be profitable employment for me among the archives of the State Department for several weeks, & I concluded, therefore, to return home, (after a few days spent in looking over the...
20William Cabell Rives to James Madison, 8 July 1829 (Madison Papers)
Since my arrival here, I have endeavoured to obtain all information respecting the character, designs & claims of Mr. Cooley, (whose letter & papers are herewith returned), that I thought likely to be interesting or useful to you. The impression here is very far from being favorable to him, in any of these regards. The Government is thoroughly possessed with the conviction that his claim is...
21William C. Rives to James Madison, 6 December 1832 (Madison Papers)
It is a great sacrifice & disappointment to us to pass so near you, without having it in our power to pay our respects to Mrs. Madison & yourself. We are travelling in the public stage, with a brood of little ones doubled in number since we had the pleasure of seeing you, & with a cumbrous accumulation of baggage, which render a deviation from the highway entirely impracticable for us. We are...
22William C. Rives to James Madison, 5 March 1833 (Madison Papers)
I take the liberty, at the moment of leaving here, to send you a printed sheet containing some observations made by me on a recent occasion of considerable interest in the Senate. It is not, without great diffidence, that I submit any attempt of mine to interpret the true doctrines of ’98 & ’99, & the just theory of our constitution, to the discriminating view of their founder; an indiscretion...
23William Cabell Rives to James Madison, 18 April 1833 (Madison Papers)
I have trusted to your goodness to suggest the existence of involuntary & uncontrolable causes for the delay which has occurred in acknowledging your kind & most gratifying letter of 12th ult. Immediately after the adjournment of congress. I went to join my family in the county of Nelson, where I had not yet seen, since my return to the country, a numerous circle of friends & relations. In...
24William C. Rives to James Madison, 22 May 1833 (Madison Papers)
The long continued rains have, for the last fortnight, deprived us of the pleasure of our contemplated visit to Montpelier, & the horrible state in which they have left the roads compels us, with regret, still to postpone it, for a few days. We look forward, however, with confidence, to the enjoyment of this satisfaction, in the course of the next week. In the mean time, I send you, in the...
25William C. Rives to James Madison, 28 July 1833 (Madison Papers)
I found it a matter of more difficulty than I anticipated to procure a pamphlet copy of Mr. Tyler’s Speech, which I have now the pleasure to send you. After repeated ineffectual searches for it among my own collections of the last winter, & the failure of other efforts to obtain a copy, I, at length, wrote to a friend in Washington, who with difficulty procured that, which I am much gratified...
26William C. Rives to James Madison, 1 August 1833 (Madison Papers)
Permit me to introduce to you my friend Dr. R. C. Mason, a gentleman of distinguished intelligence & patriotism residing in the county of Fairfax, who is desirous of paying his respects to you, & at the same time, of presenting to you his friend Mr. R<...> of Philadelphia. Dr. Mason, you will doubtless recollect, is the gentleman who received so flattering a testimony of the high estimation of...
27William C. Rives to James Madison, 4 October 1833 (Madison Papers)
I had the satisfaction, on the eve of our departure for the Springs, to receive your kind letter of 2nd Aug. Having just returned home, I avail myself of the earliest moment to express to you the great pleasure I derived from the intimation it contained of your purpose to point to the errors of Mutius & others in their views of a political career, which had conferred so many inestimable &...
28William C. Rives to James Madison, 21 November 1833 (Madison Papers)
The constant hope, from day to day, of being able to make the visit to Montpelier, on which Mrs. Rives & myself have so long set our hearts, has prevented me from troubling you with a written acknowledgment of your most valuable favour of 21st ult. It has so happened, however, that an uninterrupted series of detentions, arising chiefly from the calls of friends, has as constantly occurred to...
29William C. Rives to James Madison, 4 April 1835 (Madison Papers)
I beg leave to present to you my friend Mr. Niles, who was associated with me as Secretary of Legation during my residence at Paris, & was afterwards our Chargé d’affaires there. After spending a few days with us, he is now on his way to the North, preparatory to his return to Europe, & would deem his visit to Virginia altogether unsatisfactory & illusive, without an opportunity of paying his...
30William C. Rives to James Madison, 10 March 1836 (Madison Papers)
I desired very much to have had the pleasure of paying my respects to yourself & Mrs. Madison on my way to Washington, but the necessity of my being there with as little delay as possible & the almost impassable state of the roads, (which has compelled me to leave Mrs. Rives behind, to follow me when she can), have deprived me of that satisfaction. It has given me great pleasure to learn that...
31William Cabell Rives to James Madison, 15 June 1836 (Madison Papers)
Lieut. Hudson of the Navy has just given me in charge for you the enclosed Diploma of Honorary Membership of the United States Naval Lyceum, which, admitting of convenient transmission thro’ the mail, I have now the honor to forward to you. We have seen, with great concern, from some recent notices in the news-papers, that your health, of late, has not been as good as usual. I trust, however,...