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Cabot, George, 1752-1823 to Jonathan Williams

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05588.01 Author/Creator: Cabot, George, 1752-1823 Place Written: Brookline, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 12 May 1798 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; Height: 22.2 cm, Width: 18.1 cm Order a Copy

Cabot, former United States Senator, informs Williams that he "must decline the Secretaryship of the Navy; to this determination I was ultimately brought by a full conviction that I cou'd not go through the labor of an office so difficult ... in estimating the forces that cou'd be employed to overcome the obstacles in a path hitherto untrod in this country I assure you that my mind constantly resorted to you as the principle, & if I cou'd have been induced to take upon myself so weighty an engagement I shou'd have relied greatly upon your assistance in every part of the performance of it." Referring to President John Adams, relates his regret "to refuse anything of a public nature which the President had thought it expedient to require." States that Mrs. Cabot sends her regards to Mrs. Williams.

Cabot, George, 1752-1823
Williams, Jonathan, 1750-1815
Adams, John, 1735-1826

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