Peter Augustus Jay to Sarah Livingston Jay, 2 January 1795
Peter Augustus Jay to Sarah Livingston Jay
London 2d. January 1795
Dear Mama
I had yesterday the pleasure of recg. your letter of the 15 Novr.1 upon my return to town from a very pleasant journey to Edinburgh, where I have been for the purpose of becoming a witness to a deed to Cousin P. Munro from his Father.2 As I went in the Mail Coach which travels without ceasing even in the night, I stopped a day at York to recover from the fatigue & see the curiosities of the place. Another day was spent in the same manner between Durham and Newcastle, & yet I reached Edinburgh (400 miles distant from London) in 4 1/2 days. While there I was introduced to most of the remarkable people, & heard a sermon from Dr. Blair—3 Dr. Adair our fellow passenger to England, who had been some days in London, returned with me to Edinburgh & was exceedingly useful to me indeed; he means to return with us in The spring in order to settle in America.4 You will perhaps expect me to give you a description of Edinburgh, but this I assure you is utterly impossible, as it is entirely different from any thing of it’s kind. One part however which has been lately built is an exception. It is called the New Town & far exceeds in beauty any thing I have seen— I remained there about ten days—
A Circumstance which you mention in one of your letters afforded us very great pleasure you say that you have not had occasion for the Doctor since our departure— We have been equally favored— Papa has indeed been several times indisposed but never seriously & excepting a little Rheumatism is now perfectly well— As for myself I have not experienced a single hour of sickness even of the slightest kind since I landed at Falmouth—
As our letters are to go by the Packet & it is now high time to put them in the Post Office, I shall not be able to write to my Uncles or to sisters, I must therefore beg you to wish them all ^in^ my name a merry Christmas & Happy New Year— With my earnest prayers that you may enjoy very, very, many of both I remain, Your Affectionte. Son,
Peter Augustus Jay
Mrs. S. Jay
ALS, NNC (EJ: 06052). Addressed: “Mrs. Jay / Broadway / New York”. Endorsed, by SLJ: “… recd. 23d. April Do 1795”; second endorsement in different hand: “P.A. Jay / 2 Jany. 1795.” Dft, CSmH (EJ: 11228).
2. For PAJ’s journey to Edinburgh, see PJM to JJ, 16 Oct. 1794, and the editorial note “John Jay’s Mission to London,” both above.
3. Hugh Blair (1718–1800), of Edinburgh, was a noted minister of the Church of Scotland and former professor of rhetoric and belle lettres at the University of Edinburgh. Blair’s multivolume publications, Sermons (Edinburgh, 1777), and Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres (London, 1783), proved highly popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
4. James Makittrick Adair (1728–1802), Scottish physician and reformer. An acquaintance of John Sinclair and Edward Newenham, Adair owned lands in the U.S. and wished to immigrate. He accompanied the Jays on their voyage to Great Britain. See RK to JJ, 2 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06688), and Robert Morris to JJ, 2 May 1794, ALS, NNC (EJ: 07024), both introducing Adair. See also James Adair to JJ, 19 Dec. 1794, ALS, NNC (EJ: 05403), in which he notifies JJ of PAJ’s safe arrival and recommends barristers for the Admiralty cases.