From John Jay to Edward Nicoll and Alexander McDougall, 17 February 1776
To Edward Nicoll and Alexander McDougall
[Eliz. Town 17 Feb. 1776]
Dear Ned,
Your Letter1 Mr Averys Certificate2 & Mr Troup’s Information gave me much Satisfaction. You always shared my good Wishes, & I have often lamented, yr. putting it out of my power to be useful to you.
If you are not decd. in yr. Opinion of the Stability & Permanence of yr. present Resolutions, you yet may be a respectable & usefull Member of Society. But remember that old Habits are not as easily put offas old Cloaths, & therefore I fancy you shd. rather consider the Business of Reformation as began than compleated. If Religion was not out of Fashion I wd. tell you to watch, and pray that shd. you again be led into temptation you may have a way to escape & be able to bear it.
Be so kind as to deliver a Letter Mr. Troup will give you to Coll. MacDougal, & command any Services I can with propriety render you. As to any little Improprieties in yr. Conduct towards me—do as I have done—forget them. At least be assured that you cannot more effectually apologize for them, as by enabling me, by a proper Course of Conduct, to be not merely a well wisher, but a Friend to you. Adieu yours &
J. Jay
[Attachment]
To Alexander McDougall
[Eliz. Town 17 Feb. 1776]
Sir
This Letter will be delivered to you by Mr. Edw. Nicoll. An Early Acquaintance with him at College, an Opinion of his Abilities, and a Respect for the Memory of his Father unite in actuating me to consult his Interest & promote his welfare. It can be no secret to you that his Behaviour for many Years past has been reprehensible—he has several Times attempted Reformation but never succeeded, unless at present. Mr. Avery at Rye to whose certificate Mr. Nicoll will shew you a Certificate from Mr. Avery in his Favor—I think it merits Respect, & induces me to hope Mr. Nicoll has at Length began to make use of the good Sense with wh. Providence has blessed him. He has a mind for ^is desirous of^ a Commission in one of the Regts. now to [be] raised in N.York—I am persuaded no Argumts. will be wanting ^necessary^
to his prevail upon you to procure him some Commission. That ^Wh. tho of no great Consequence^ may for the present to ^serve to^ put him in a State of Probation—And Should he stand the Tryal It will [endeavour?] to obtain ^for^ him some ^will encourage^ his Friends to recommend & advance him with great Confidence. I wont press you to attend to this Matter because I know Mr. Nicoll will find a Successful ^Better^ Advocate in your Benevolence & Sensibility. I am Sir your Frd & very hble Servt
J. J.
Dft, NNC (EJ: 7033). The drafts of both letters appear on the same sheet of paper.
1. Nicoll to JJ, February 1776, NNC (EJ: 7032). Edward Nicoll, a member of a prominent New York family based primarily on Long Island, received a bachelor’s degree from King’s College in 1766 and a master’s degree in 1769. His father, Benjamin Nicoll (1718–60), was a stepson of President Samuel Johnson of King’s College, a founder and governor of the college, and an acquaintance of JJ’s father (see Johnson to Peter Jay, 29 Dec. 1739, NNC, EJ: 6672, and 21 Aug. 1740, NNC, EJ: 6674). Edward Nicoll’s three brothers, Samuel (B.M., 1774), Henry (B.A., 1774), and Matthias (B.A., 1776), also attended King’s College. Nicoll was commissioned a lieutenant in the 1st New York Regiment in 1776, but nothing is known of his subsequent fate. See McDougall to JJ, 20 Mar., and Robert Troup to JJ, 23 Nov. 1778, below; , 100, 103, 106; Thompson, History of Long Island, 2: 395–96.
2. Certificate not found. Mr. Avery may refer to the Reverend Ephraim Avery (1741–76), an Anglican clergyman with a B.A. from Yale and an M.A. from King’s College, who served as a Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Missionary in the parish of Rye, New York, 1765–76, and operated a boarding school in his house there. In 1776 he was harshly treated for his Loyalist views. He was reported in February 1776 as in correspondence with the British fleet, his horses were seized, his cattle driven off, and his property plundered. In the spring of 1776 he suffered a stroke and the loss of his wife; he was found dead with his throat cut in November 1776, with the cause variously attributed to Patriot attack or suicide. See , 2: 685–86; JJ to Mr. Nixon, 23 Mar. 1790, NNC (EJ: 8874).