james murray mason (6 Ergebnisse)

HRD. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

HRD. Zustand: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000.

Bildgröße 11x10 cm.

Self wrappers. First edition. 16 pp. 8vo. In support of Jefferson Davis' Resolutions on the Relations of States. James Murray Mason (1798-1871) was a Senator from Virginia who had drafted the (second) Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and headed the senate committee selected to investigate the (Brown) rebellion, and was one of the first to interview Brown after his failed attack. LCP. Afro-Americana, 2nd ed. Suppl. 1400. Blind stamp on title, chip to one leaf at corner, else a very good copy.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware.

ALS, 1 page. In Very Good condition. A one-page letter accompanied by its original envelope bearing a Washington, D.C. postmark and addressed to Dr. F. C. Randolph. Letter discusses the fate of Virginia at the onset of the Civil War. Letter shows gentle age-toning and light crease folds. The envelope exhibits scattered foxing and a 2 in. x 1 in. open tear to the upper flap. RW Consignment. Shelved at Rockville, Room A, General Ephemera Part 2. James Murray Mason (November 3, 1798 - April 28, 1871) was an American lawyer and politician who became a Confederate diplomat. He served as U.S. Senator from Virginia for fourteen years, having previously represented Virginia's 15th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Frederick County in the Virginia House of Delegates. In this powerful letter written from the Senate chamber just days before Lincoln's inauguration, Senator James M. Mason reflects on the inevitability of secession and the futility of compromise. Explaining that an injured hand allows him only a short note, Mason nonetheless outlines the crisis with stark clarity: "There is no doubt that confederation is permanent - Those states will never return to this session. the ultimate question to Virginia must be - will the State go south, or remain with the free states? On this I have no doubt how Va. will decide. Today the better opinion is, the peace conference will, or can, do nothing." The recipient, Dr. Frederick C. Randolph (1815-1891) of Millwood, Clarke County, Virginia, was a physician and member of the prominent Randolph family of the Shenandoah Valley. His residence and practice placed him within Virginia's secessionist elite; the accompanying envelope is addressed to him at Millwood, confirming this identification. Mason himself was one of the leading pro-secession voices in Virginia. A staunch defender of slavery and Southern rights, he had authored the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and by early 1861 was among the strongest advocates for Virginia's alignment with the Deep South. Just months after writing this letter, Mason would resign his Senate seat and be appointed a Confederate commissioner to Britain and France. His mission abroad became the focus of the international crisis known as the Trent Affair (November 1861), when the U.S. Navy seized Mason and fellow commissioner John Slidell from a British mail steamer en route to Europe. The incident nearly provoked war between the United States and Great Britain before the Lincoln administration released the envoys in December. This letter, written at the height of the secession winter, captures Mason's conviction that the "peace conference" (the last-ditch effort to avert war, then meeting in Washington) would fail, and his certainty that Virginia would inevitably join the Confederacy. In hindsight, his words foreshadow both the collapse of compromise and his own central role in the Confederacy's diplomatic efforts abroad. 1402278. Special Collections - Upstairs. Signed.