Protest of Bills of Exchange, 16 March 1782
Protest of Bills of Exchange
[Madrid, 16 March 1782]
Mr. Jay says that when he accepted the Bills hereunto annexed, he had good reason to expect to be supplied with the funds necessary to pay them; That he has been disappointed in the Expectations he was encouraged to entertain on this Subject,1 and that his Endeavors to obtain Monies for the purpose both here and elsewhere, have been unsuccessful, although the Bills which remain to be paid by him, together with all his other Engagements, do not exceed twenty five thousand pounds Sterling— That these disappointments being unexpected— He cannot, for want of Time, have recourse to Congress, and therefore finds himself reduced to the mortifying necessity of Permitting them to be Protested.2
LbkCs, embedded in JJ to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 28 Apr. 1782, below, DNA: PCC, item 110, 2: 101 (EJ: 4184); NNC: JJ Lbks. 1 and 6; CSmH.
1. In the course of a conference with Montmorin on 26 Jan., JJ hinted that he would mention assurances of assistance he had received from Spain. Montmorin objected, but JJ insisted that he was more obliged to defend American honor than to respect the feelings of a court whose actions had called it into question. See JJ to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 28 Apr. 1782, below.
2. On this same day, BF wrote JJ to inform him that he had obtained sufficient funds to cover these bills. See his letter of this date, below. This protest should not be confused with JJ’s earlier protest of bills drawn by Francis Hopkinson and negotiated through Great Britain, on which see , 7: 268. According to JJ’s letter to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 28 Apr., below, this text was translated into Spanish by Gardoqui and shown to the chevalier de Bourgoing, who approved but suggested omitting reference to the exact sum involved.