Scope and Contents

Encloses a note from Elizabeth, a letter from Mrs. Turner, and a copy of a letter from James [the first two are not present]; has not heard from Miss Lippettt, so he assumes she is not in Providence, Rhode Island right now; thinks she will receive a letter from Nan soon via Nassau; wrote an 8-page letter Mrs Turner; Sarah asked Jody what he knew about their family in the South; the only thing he knew was that Mrs. W.A. Maury has had another baby and that Tom and Bob were at Gettysburg; wrote a letter to Mrs. King; Sarah told him that Mrs. Duer's oldest son had returned home before she died; all of her sons were at the funeral except the one in the Navy; wrote to Harriet, telling her that they had recieved a letter from Tobin, who had been sick and plans to stay in China; thinks that the opening of the Miss[issipp]i [River] will bring about Reunion; So[uth] C[arolin]a and E[astern] V[irginia] will be the last to come back; is glad that Morgan has finally been captured; newspaper editors do not represent the true views of the people; the ones in Richmond are crazy like their cousin Matthew Fontaine; everyone wants Peace and when the South realizes they can't get it without Reunion, they will give in; they [the North] must abandon the Negro, so they will have to wait until Lincoln is out of office; admired the Southern gallantry and self-sacrifice; if the So[uth] were to become independent, they would collapse under the weight of taxation; the Slave States would increase, which would mean another Civil War; the Southern Aristocratic element balanced the utilitarian, practical element of the North, the war is the only thing holding the South together; the strong support for State's Rights would make the formation of a separate Union impossible; the NOrth is going toward the opposite extreme; centralizing power too much; Negroes must be managed by the states they live in; the North will not fight to have them freed; thinks they will be freed somehow, though; they cannot all be made to leave, nor should they be; they can find emlpoyment as field laborers, a job which is unsuited for white men; if their masters keep treating them like animals, they will cut their masters' throats one day; the South now needs to understand that freeing the slaves is in the interest of the white man; (1 August) Miss Lippett wrote to say she will come visit in the Fall. 8pp ALS Including Cy of ALS from Rutson Maury, 5 Hanover Street, New York, New York, to his nephew, James Maury, [New Orleans, La..], 29 July 1863. Received his letter and a letter from rutson on 24 [July]; copied his letter, divided it into two portions, one to be shown to Fontaine and the other sheet for Aunt Ann to keep to herself; Walker is forwarding a box of clothes to New O[rleans]; assumes that Louisa received a letter from him including $50; encloses another $50 [not present] to help pay for expenses related to her confinement; Sarah plans to send a package of baby clothes; encloses a note for Louisa from Aunt Ann and a letter for Mrs. Cox [neither are present]; they are worried because they had not heard from Tobin in 2 months; gives hjim a copy of the letter they finally received from him [not present]; thinks that he [JM] has forgotten about Tobin; Fontaine's character has changed for the worse since he went to New O[rleans]; Fontaine wrote that he expected Lee to be victorious in the North and that he planned to return to New Orleans in October; thinks that Fontaine would only want to live in an independent southern nation; does not think it would be a good idea for Fontaine to become his partner until he [JM] straightens out his financial situation; encloses a letter from Harriet [not present]; asks why he is so generous to Rutson and his family but so cold to Harriet and her family. 3pp