“I Stood One Afternoon Gazing at the House of the President & Ruminating on the State of Mankind ”: An 1818 Letter Reflecting on the White House, American Government, and Travel in Virginia.
Richmond, Virginia: January 31, 181. Autograph letter signed, three pages, with integral address leaf directed to Miss Harriet Cary, care of Messrs. Josiah Bradlee & Co., Boston. Blue Richmond circular datestamp and manuscript “25” postal rate. 7 ¾ x 10 inches. Fair condition, with staining, wear and separations along folds, and substantial losses to the final page affecting portions of the text. Detached fragments preserved in a protective sleeve, fair. Item #BK0207 An interesting letter written from Richmond following a visit to Washington, containing an extended reflection on the President’s House and its significance as a symbol of American government and of supremacy over America’s Indigenous people. The writer had seen the building only a few months after James Monroe moved into the reconstructed residence, which had been burned by British troops in 1814 and reopened in 1817. The letter begins: “When I was in Washington I stood one afternoon gazing at the house of the President, & ruminating on the state of mankind in the various stages from savage life to the height of civilization & refinement. On this immense tract of country, thought I, were to be seen, not many years ago, tribes of lawless indians living without rule & little better than the game they hunted. Now we see an elegant building erected for the accommodation of a magistrate to whom millions submit. If we enquire how it comes [to] pass that all men give up their wills in many great points to that of our man, the mind is led through the whole harmonious system of the laws applying to every station + almost to every accident of life. We usually feel as if the right to live unmolested in our own dwellings had never been doubted; but now + then some new spectacle causes us to think how fortunate it is that we live in an age + a nation” He breaks off there, commenting “De breakfast bell has rung Master - –” and promising his recipient that “you shall have my opinion on the state of the nation, + particularly of slavery, at some other time.” The letter then turns to his travels through Virginia, including a dangerous passage near the Occoquan River. Describing a narrow road cut into the side of a steep hill, he writes: “Above us the hill almost overhangs it, & below at a distance of 50 feet nearly perpendicular. If the horses had started one yard we should have been thrown all together into the river. It is the first time in my life that I ever passed one of these terrible places.” He also describes the falls of the James River near Richmond, where the water rushes over a rocky bed, before concluding with personal news and inquiries after mutual acquaintances. The author appears to be William Ferdinand Cary (1795–1881), a Boston native and younger brother of the recipient, Harriet Cary, who established himself in business in New York in 1815 and later became a successful tea merchant. The identification is based on the apparent initials “W. F. Cary” and the family connection, though the signature has not been conclusively verified.
Price: $450.00