1862 November 24 "Castle Hill," Albemarle County,Va.

Castle Hill 24 Nov. 1862

My dear sir,
I received a few days
ago your letter of 8th instant, accom-
-panied by a pamphlet copy of your
letter to certain gentlemen, with whom
you had been associated in a peace
effort one or two years ago.--I have
read the pamphlet with great interest;
and though not concurring in some
of its view with regard to the possibility
      of the union at any time or
of a re-constitution ^, under any form,
I heartily respect & sincerely sym-
-pathize in the spirit of Christian patri-
-otism & benevolence which pervades it.
  I do not consider it now as a
matter of any importance whether the
Crittenden resolutions or the propositions
of the Peace Conference offered, in the
main, the best terms for the South.
But since you desire my opinion
I will merely say that I always con-
-sidered the propositions of the peace con-
-ference the better adjustment for

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the South; the reasons of which
opinion were fully stated in a
speech made by me in Richmond
in March 1861, a copy of which I
will send you, if I can lay my
hands on one:--
                    With great respect,
I remain very truly yours
                                       W[illiam] C[abell] Rives

E[dwin].G[illiam]. Booth Esq.

P.S.  Though I believed as
stated above, that a reconstruction
of the late union, under any form
is wholly out of the question, I will
add that my hopes of peace now rest
mainly on the obvious interest & I
trust, policy of the leading north-western
states to draw off from the war;
and it is quite possible that some
arrangement of mutual advantage
between them & the Confederate
States might, if pressed in a
proper spirit on both sides, be
brough[t] about, at no very distant

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day

MSS 6122