To John Jay from Samuel Johnson, 27 October 1763
From Samuel Johnson
Stratford Oct. 27 1763
Dear Mr. Jay
I should long since have answered your kind Letter1 but heard you & Benson2 intended me a Visit in the Vacation, which I should have been very glad of, & since that, I have been much engaged either in Company riding or writing.— It was with much pleasure that I received your Letter & the Account you gave me of the good Condition of things at the College since I left it,3 for which I am no less solicitous that it may do well & flourish, than while I was there.—I hope the Studiousness & good Conduct of all of you that are members of it, will be such, as will always be a Credit & Honr to it.—I desire you to give my love to them all, & assure them that I retain the same affection & tenderness for them & concern for their best good & welfare, as I had while I was among them.—I gave Brooks4 a much better & more correct Copy of what I had added to Ossian’s Address to the Sun,5 than what you had had before, from which I would wish you & all them would exactly transcribe for the Future—I give you Joy of the Honor done your Brother in England, & the great success he has had in collecting for the College, which must greatly contribute to make it flourish.—6 If you write to him remember me to him very affectionately & tell him I heartily give him Joy.—I thank God, I enjoy My self here in much Health & Tranquility, & with my best prayers & wishes that you may continue to act a good part & prosper in the Course of your whole Life, &c., I remain yr hearty Friend
S. Johnson
ALS, NNC (EJ: 6677). Addressed: “To Mr. John Jay / at / King’s College. / N. York.” Endorsed in an unidentified hand.
1. JJ’s letter to Johnson has not been located.
2. Egbert Benson, B.A. King’s College 1765, M.A. King’s College 1768. Benson served as law clerk under John Morin Scott and was admitted to the bar in 1769.
3. Johnson retired as president of King’s College on 1 Mar. 1763.
4. David Brooks, attended King’s College from 1761 to 1763; A.B. Yale 1768, A.M. 1771; member, Connecticut General Assembly, 1777, 1780; delegate, Conn. Convention to Ratify the U.S. Constitution, 1788. Thomas, Columbia University Officers and Alumni, 1754–1857, 100.
5. The first of James MacPherson’s “translations” of the nonexistent Gaelic bard Ossian were published in London in 1761. The “Address to the Sun” is the closing portion of the Ossianic poem “Carthon,” and the draft version of Johnson’s notes “Added to Ossian’s Address to the Sun” is in NNC, Samuel Johnson Correspondence, 1: 15.
6. The honor Johnson refers to is James Jay’s knighthood.