From John Jay to Robert Morris, 1 September 1781
To Robert Morris
St. Ildefonso 1 Septr. 1781
Dear Sir
Major Franks arrived here last Evening. I have not yet got thro the Dispatches he brought.1 I have read sufficient however to percieve that I am soon to have the Pleasure of writing long Letters to Congress & yourself.2 I shall dispatch the Major as soon as possible— I cannot say precisely when, because it will depend in some Measure on others.3
No. 1— The bills on me [Far]4 exceed the Funds for their Payment and unless other than funds in the air are affordd. me Protests will probably on end this game of hazard. dr. franklin has as yet saved that necessity, but unless by express order of congress he can not advance much [more].5
Spain has less money than urgent calls for it her finances being ill managed and her Credit low. I have but little hopes of loans or subsidies from her. every thing in my power shall be done—
Congress should know that their Ship[s] on the Stocks are neither sold nor engaged.6 This court seems determined to do nothing untill the campaign ends. I am &.
John Jay
Hon’ble Rob. Morris Esqr7
ALS, partly in code, decoded in the hand of Gouverneur Morris, facsimile in Charles Hamilton catalog (1971) (EJ: 11814). Dft, encoded interlinearly, NNC (EJ: 9325). Encoded in “Office of Finance Cipher Number 1” (WE006). See “John Jay’s Use of Codes and Ciphers” (editorial note) on pp. 10–11. On 1 Sept., JJ also wrote a private letter to Morris, sending in his care goods for Peter Jay’s family. Dft, NNC (EJ: 9326).
1. On Franks, see Morris to JJ, 13 July 1781, above. JJ variously indicated that Franks had arrived on 29, 30, and 31 Aug. See JJ to Floridablanca, 3 Sept., and to the President of Congress, 20 Sept. and 3 and 18 Oct. 1781, all below. Among the dispatches he carried were Congress’s commissions and instructions to JJ as peace commissioner of 15 June 1781; Morris to JJ, 29 June and 4, 7, 9, and 13 July, all above except a second (private) letter of 13 July, Dft, NNC (EJ: 7006); Morris to BF, 13 and 14 July 1781 (, 1: 282–86, 295–96); the President of Congress to JJ, 5 July 1781, above; Gouverneur Morris to JJ, 10 July (not found but mentioned in JJ to Gouverneur Morris, 28 Sept. 1781, below); Bingham to JJ, 13 July; and probably the Secretary of Congress to JJ, 11 July, both above.
3. In his letter of 20 Sept., JJ complained that Floridablanca’s procrastination had prevented him from dispatching Franks to Paris. Franks was apparently detained until 3 Oct. See JJ to BF, 3 Oct. 1781, Dft, NNC (EJ: 7809).
4. This word, present in the Dft, is not deciphered in the ALS, but the pertinent cipher appears in the manuscript.
5. Gouverneur Morris deciphered this word as any, rather than more, the word used in the Dft; JJ appears to have erroneously entered the code 229 (any) instead of 429 (mor).
6. JJ had mentioned that Congress might sell Spain at “prime cost” an unfinished “74 Gun Ship” at the first San Ildefonso conference of 23 Sept. 1780. See the notes to Notes on John Jay’s Conference with Floridablanca of that date, above.
7. Here in the Dft, JJ added and encoded a postscript: “8 Sep. 1781 / P.S. ^Bills amg to [illegible]^ between 68 and 70 thousand Dollars are now in Jeopardy and absolutely ^utterly^ unprovided for.”