1William 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,...
2William 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...
3William 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...
4William 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...
5William 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 &...
6William 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...
7William 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...
8William 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...
9William 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...
10William 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...