From John Jay to Charles S. Daveis, 27 October 1826
To Charles S. Daveis
Bedford Bedford—West Chester County—N. York 27 Octr. 1826
Sir
On the 19th. of this month I recieved your Letter of the 14th. ult, together with the a Copy of the address mentioned in it; and I thank you for them both.—1
I have long been and still am too feeble to occupy ^bestow a^ due degree of Attention to the various Topics which are included and disseminated in that work— I cannot however omit mentioning the ^your^ Mistake [illegible] relative to the address ^of Congress^ to the People of Great Britain— There were two of them— The first was written by me in the year 1774. The other was written in 1775, by Robt. R. Livingston Esqr. who was afterwards Chancellor in the State of New York— [illegible] The one to which you allude, is that of 1775.—2 Being Sensible of these ^your^ friendly Attentions, I remain, Sir your obliged & obt Servt Charles. S. Daveis Esqr Portland—New Hampshire ^State of Maine^—
Dft, NNC (EJ: 08808).
1. Daveis to JJ, 14 Sept. 1826, ALS, NNC (EJ: 09129). The pamphlet he enclosed was An address delivered at Portland on the decease of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. August 9, 1826. (Portland, 1825). Charles Stewart Daveis (1788–1865), prominent Maine-based admiralty lawyer, future member of the Maine Senate, and trustee of Bowdoin College.
2. For JJ’s “Address to the People of Great Britain,” and the dispute over its authorship, see the editorial note “Address to the People of Great Britain,” , 1: 95–99, 100–107, 109n1, 134, 137n1, 145n5, and 177. On 3 June 1775, Congress appointed Richard Henry Lee, Robert R. Livingston, and Edmund Pendleton to a committee to draft a second “Address to the People of Great Britain.” On the 27 June, they reported their draft, in Lee’s hand. However, the final version, approved on 8 Jul. differs substantially from that draft. No other drafts survive. JCC, 1: 548–52; JCC, 2: 163–72.