184351The Case of Cadwallader Colden II Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
One of the most influential Loyalists imprisoned by the New York authorities was Cadwallader Colden II (1722–97), son of the former lieutenant governor. Although he repeatedly insisted that he be classified as a neutral, Colden felt himself bound by his oath to the king and was openly hostile to the notion of independence. If left at large, many Whigs believed he could become a focal point for...
184352From Benjamin Franklin to William Franklin, [10 May 1766] (Franklin Papers)
Extract: reprinted from [Jared Sparks, ed.,] A Collection of the Familiar Letters and Miscellaneous Papers of Benjamin Franklin (Boston, 1833), p. 275. I like the project of a colony in the Ilinois country, and will forward it to my utmost here. The original letter has not been found. On the relationship between this extract and those immediately above and below, see the headnote to the one...
184353The Dancing Assembly: An Invitation to a Duel Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Dancing assemblies, which were generally held every two weeks during the fall and winter, had been a regular feature of the New York social season since as early as 1740. The city’s most fashionable residents patronized these subscription parties, and John Jay was naturally among those who attended. By 1772 he had become one of the three managers, along with John Reade and Robert R....
184354To Benjamin Franklin from Benjamin Kent, 19 January 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society With a pleasing pride I often recollect, your former complaisance in calling me Brother Ben and agreable to the Old saying non Animam Mutant, qui trans mare Currunt. I still challenge the Honour of being your Friend: but I should be but a miserable private Friend, If I was not the Friend of all men: and it is from that, principle, as well an especial Love...
184355John Jay and the Constitutional Convention of 1787: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Although not in attendance at the meeting convened at Annapolis in September 1786 for the ostensible purpose of resolving interstate commercial disputes, Jay anticipated by almost a month the address to the states drafted by Alexander Hamilton and adopted on 14 September. That address called upon all the states to send commissioners to a new convention at Philadelphia in May 1787 to discuss...
184356Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
E ditorial N ote The Society of the Cincinnati was instituted at Fishkill-on-Hudson on 13 May 1783 when a group of army officers adopted an Institution (or constitution) based on a draft drawn up by Henry Knox the month before. On 19 June 1783 the founders of the society elected GW its president. Although GW signed the Institution, he appears to have done nothing about the society until 23...
184357Appendixes Nos. XXV–XL: Letters from various authors, 5 July 1797–21 July 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
XXV To James Monroe July 5, 1797 XXVI To Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg, James Monroe, and Abraham Venable December 17, 1792 XXVII From Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg December 18, 1792 XXVIII From James Monroe December 20, 1792 XXIX From Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg July 10, 1797 XXX From Abraham Venable July 9, 1797 XXXII From James Monroe
184358Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
The following opinions concerning the defense of Philadelphia and the Delaware River apparently were solicited by GW on or before 6 Aug. 1777, when the first one was written, although no direct evidence has been found of GW requesting the opinions, or that the matter was discussed in a formal council of war. GW used these opinions and referred to them when writing to John Hancock on the...
184359Enclosure: [Observations on “An Act for Regulating the Military Establishment of the United States”], [27 January 1794] (Hamilton Papers)
By the Act of Congress 30th. April 1790. The commissioned officers are allowed to receive their daily rations in provisions , “or money in lieu thereof at the option of the said officers at the contract price at the posts respective where the rations shall become due.” By this latitude granted to the officers, the Accountant finds it difficult to ascertain whether the officers have drawn or...
184360Editorial Note on Franklin’s Accounts, 1779 (Franklin Papers)
Of the accounts discussed throughout the French period, the following still apply: VI, XII, XIII, XVI, XVII, XIX, XXI–XXIII. We offer here a summary of entries which have not found a place elsewhere in our annotation, but which provide insights into Franklin’s private and public life during the course of this volume. Account VI ( XXIII , 21) records an Oct. 13 payment of 32 l.t. for Franklin’s...
184361Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold recruited Joshua Hett Smith—who came from a family with significant Loyalist connections but had served as a spy for the Continental army—to assist with the consummation of his Fig. 3. The Beverly Robinson House, on the east bank of the Hudson and just downriver from West Point, played a key role in the Arnold conspiracy (see map 5). (Appleton’s Cyclopædia of American...
184362To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 1 July 1811 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
1 July 1811, Maryland. “I advise you as a Friend to arouse from your Lethargy. Look at the Nation. The People are all but ready to Burst into a Flame. A Flame of Discord. This is the Hour Of Trial—it is more Dangerous than the Time that tried Men’s Soul’s.… Do not slumber at the Helm in the Storm lest Our ship may Broach too & founder. May God be your Comfort and give you Consolation in the...
184363Exchange of Henderson Land by Eli Alexander and Thomas Jefferson, 28 March 1818 (Jefferson Papers)
This Indenture tripartite of exchange, bargain and sale made on the 28 th day of March 1818 between Eli Alexander of the one part and Thomas Jefferson of the other, both of the County of Albemarle Witnesseth, that wherein the said Eli hath become seised and possessed by lawful conveyances in fee simple of certain portions of land in the said County of Albemarle , near or adjacent to the town...
184364Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
GW’s Farewell Address, published on 19 Sept. 1796, officially announced his decision not to seek re-election to the U.S. presidency. In his final days in office, which ended on 3 March 1797, GW compared himself to a “wearied traveller.” This sentiment likely was occasioned by the events of the last half of GW’s second term, during which he faced heavy opposition to, and slow implementation of,...
184365To Benjamin Franklin from Benjamin Kent, [c. September 1766] (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I Assure you I am not so mercinary as to expect the undeserv’d favour of A Line from you; but agreable to An old Observation, on which I much rely viz Non animam Mutant qui trans mare Currunt I shall make my self as free with you, as when you used to flatter me, with the kind appellation of, “Brother” Ben. And If these should Interrupt your grand Concerns...
184366Editorial Note: Polytype and Other Methods of Printing (Jefferson Papers)
New discoveries and inventions in the arts and sciences had a powerful appeal for Jefferson because of their promise of the improvement of society in general, but none had so immediate or so personal an impact as those affecting the multiplication of copies of the written word. The enthusiasm with which he presented to friends in America and Europe copying presses for making duplicates or...
184367Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
“I was concerned in several Causes in which Negroes sued for their Freedom before the Revolution,” Adams wrote in 1795. “The Arguments in Favour of their Liberty were much the same as have been urged since in Pamphlets and Newspapers, in Debates in Parliament &c. arising from the Rights of Mankind. . . . I never knew a Jury by a Verdict, to determine a Negro to be a Slave. They always found...
184368Introductory Note: To James Gunn, [22 December 1798] (Hamilton Papers)
This letter concerns proposals for reorganizing the Army. This is a complicated subject, for it involves a series of bewildering statutes enacted by Congress concerning the Regular Army, Additional Army, Provisional Army, and Eventual Army. When the Constitution went into effect in 1789, the new government inherited an army which had served under the Continental Congress and which was the...
184369Record of Birth, 6 January 1706 (Franklin Papers)
MS Record, Boston Births, V , 113: City Registry, Boston Benjamen Son of Josiah Frankling & Abiah his Wife born 6 Janry 1706 This entry is taken from an official compilation, made at some later time, from the original book of record. The clerk used the year dates of the New Style calendar (adopted by Great Britain in 1752), recording the year of BF ’s birth as a simple 1706 instead...
184370Response to a Memorandum of Sabatier fils & Després, [c. 29 August? 1783] (Franklin Papers)
D : Archives du Ministère des affaires étrangères Apostille proposée par Monsieur Le Docteur Francklin Sur le Mémoire de MM. Sabatier fils et Desprez. Jepense que MM. Sabatier fils et Desprez dirigent Irrégulierement Leur demande Sur moy qui n’ayant jamais eté partie dans le marché dont il Sagit, et n’ayant pas dû m’attendre à La répétition de La somme qui en est L’objet, n’ait fait aucune...
184371From Benjamin Franklin to Deborah Franklin, 11 October 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I received your kind little Letter of August 26. per Packet. Scarce any one else wrote to me by that Opportunity. I suppose they imagin’d I should not be return’d from Germany. You mention writing to me by a Son of Mr. Potts’s. A Ship is come from Philadelphia, Capt. Golley. But I have only one Letter in her, and that is from Mr. Hall, to whom my Respects....
184372John Jay and Dutch Affairs: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
During his years abroad as envoy and peace commissioner, Jay was not directly involved in negotiations with the Dutch. John Adams, assisted by American agent C. W. F. Dumas, bore the brunt of such responsibilities. The connections they forged resulted in support for American independence from the Dutch Patriotic faction; loans to the United States in June 1782, the first obtained by the United...
184373Editorial Note on Franklin’s Accounts (Franklin Papers)
The following accounts, identified in earlier volumes, continue to apply to the current period: VI and VII ( XXIII , 21); XVII ( XXVI , 3); XIX and XXII ( XXVIII , 3–4); XXV, XXVII ( XXXII , 3–4); XXX ( XXXVI , 3); XXXI ( XXXVIII , 3). We offer here a summary of entries that have not found a place elsewhere in our annotation but provide insights into Franklin’s private and public life. Account...
184374Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
The Commissioners’ letter or memorial to Vergennes of early January 1779 is highly significant. Despite its long dissertation on the evils of the Carlisle Commission’s manifesto of 3 October 1778 and its appeal for a French declaration to counter the manifesto’s effects, the principal object of the letter was the dispatch of naval reinforcements to America. John Adams later wrote to Elbridge...
184375Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
The network of spies and couriers that has come to be known as the Culper ring, on account of the code names of its spies, had its genesis in GW’s need to provide reliable intelligence to Vice Admiral d’Estaing on British naval movements at New York during the fall of 1778. Recognizing the provision of quality intelligence as a critical aspect of the new military partnership, GW sought...
184376Address from Rhode Island Federalists, 2 April 1789 (Adams Papers)
The Federalists of this State though denied the Priviledge of giving you their Suffrages, are peculiarly happy, to find your Excellency by so decided a Majority, One of the Gentlemen placed at the Head of that August Body, to which, with Anxious expectation, this Country now looks up to rescue it from that Anarchy & Prostration which have So long degraded the American Character, and rendered...
184377To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 4 June 1815 (Madison Papers)
As Christians you all profess to be upon an equality with all other men, inasmuch as you rest your hopes for eternal life in the world to come, upon the Grace of God revealed in his son Jesus Christ. Therefore, as Christians I presume to address you. God hath given you much, may you be good stewards for the Lord of hosts. War is contrary to the spirit of Christianity, which is universal...
184378Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
In the bitter verbal battling which rumbled beneath the physical violence of the pre-Revolutionary years, the heavy advantage rested with the radical press. Led by such pseudonymous journalistic swordsmen as Samuel Adams, Joseph Hawley, and Joseph Warren, the patriots skewered the administration and the loyal faction without restraint, and almost without opposition. Only one tory printer...
184379Report of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, 21 December 1790 (Jay Papers)
The Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate, The Chief Justice, The Secretary of State, The Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General Respectfully report to the Congress of the United States of America: That pursuant to the Act intitled an Act making provision for the Reduction of the Public Debt, They on the 26th day of August last convened at the City of New...
184380“A Republican” to Thomas Jefferson, [ca. 5 February 1820] (Jefferson Papers)
It is for no trifling end that I venture to intrude upon the honourable retirement in which you have placed yourself. The authority of your name has been used to advocate sentiments that are entirely opposed to those conveyed in your writings. It has been asserted that you have abandoned your former opinions, and that your silence is conclusive proof of it. It is, sir, with a full belief that...
184381Introductory Note: From Andrew G. Fraunces, 16 May 1793 (Hamilton Papers)
This letter from Andrew Fraunces initiated a controversy over the payment of two warrants issued by the Board of Treasury in 1787 and 1789. Although Fraunces maintained that he had purchased these warrants in early May, 1793, it cannot be stated with certainty just how he obtained them or whether he ever actually owned them. During June, July, and August, 1793, Fraunces wrote to both Hamilton...
184382Circular Letter from the Officers of the Massachusetts Line of the Late Army, 28 February 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
We have had the honour to be appointed a Committee, by the Officers of the Massachusetts line of the late Army, to attend to and prosecute their memorial to the Congress of the United States, on the subject of compensation for the losses sustained by them and the soldiers who served during the war, in consequence of the singular manner in which their services have been acknowledged and...
184383From Benjamin Franklin to Joseph Fox, 1 March 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : William Logan Fox, Philadelphia (1956) I wrote to you of the 22d past, via Maryland. Inclos’d I send a Copy of the late Votes on the Affair of the American Stamp-Act. The Repeal is now in a fair way of being compleated, on which I congratulate you and the Assembly. I am, Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant, P.S. An Act will pass at the same time with the Repeal of the Stamp Act,...
184384Editorial Note on a Charity Appeal, [before 15 April 1778] (Franklin Papers)
Broadside: American Philosophical Society Among Franklin’s papers in the American Philosophical Society is a one-page printed invitation to the “Assemblées de Charité,” held at the Grand Châtelet on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon of Holy Week, April 15–17, 1778; it was in a packet that Franklin endorsed “Notes and Invitations.” The assembly was a religious service followed by a...
184385Indian Affairs under Jay’s Governorship: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Like his longstanding predecessor, George Clinton, Jay used the governor’s office to carry out policies that favored state growth over the needs of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and other Indian groups residing in present-day central and western New York and neighboring Canada. Motivated primarily by the goals of financial gain, commercial development, and expanded white settlement, Jay’s...
184386Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
The two documents which follow are virtually all that have survived pertinent to Adams’ early law studies, except for accounts in his diary. Document I, a fragment entitled “Ld Cokes Sayings,” cannot be dated with certainty, but the content suggests that it is some kind of epitome made by Adams during his early reading of Coke on Littleton. Document II is Adams’ Commonplace Book, a compendium...
184387Minutes of the Committee for Detecting Conspiracies, 23 December 1776 (Jay Papers)
[Present: Leonard Gansevoort Esq r . Chairman; John Jay, Zephaniah Platt, Nathaniel Sacket, Esq rs .] . . . Resolved that Enoch Crosby assuming the Name of John do forthwith do forthwith repair to Mount Ephraim and use his Utm and use his utmost Art to ^ discover the ^ designs, Places of Resort, and Route, of certain disaffected Persons in that Quarter, who have form’d a Design of Joining the...
184388To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 3 August 1795 (Madison Papers)
Letter not found. 3 August 1795, Philadelphia. Acknowledged in JM to an unidentified correspondent, 23 Aug. 1795 . Enjoys improved health. Will forward “Features of Mr. Jay’s Treaty” to JM; asks for JM’s views on the treaty.
184389Editorial Note: Documents Concerning the Residence of Congress (Jefferson Papers)
Except for Document iii in this series, all of the notes and memoranda pertaining to the embittered question of finding a permanent seat for Congress were printed by Ford, iii , 458–62, as if they proceeded entirely from Jefferson’s hand, and were assigned the conjectural date of 13 Apr. 1784 on the belief that they were drafted at the time of the renewed discussion of the question. But most...
184390Enclosure: [Account Statement with the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures], [18 July 1793] (Hamilton Papers)
Dr. Alexander Hamilton Esqr: In A/C with The Society for Establishing useful Manufactures Cr: 1793 1793 Feby. 20 To paid his draft on Benjamin Walker 300.00 Feby. 26 By Cash Advanced Wm. Pearce in Phila. at sundry times 2,340.90 June 8 To Wm. Duer’s Order on F. Ingraham 500 “ “ By ditto ditto George Parkinson