1From John Jay to Peter Augustus Jay, 17 January 1809 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your Letter of the 10 Inst.— The Intent and Meaning of the 9 th . Article of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Great alien Britain always appeared to me to be plain and obvious, nor have any Doubts of that kind ever occurred to been suggested to me before. Among the Instructions given ^to^ me when I went to England, there was one in these Words, viz...
2From John Jay to Timothy Pickering, 24 December 1808 (Jay Papers)
Accept my thanks for your friendly Letter of the 10 th . Inst: and for the Papers which you was so obliging to send me; and which I assure you did not “intrude on my Retirement”. When I withdrew from public Life, I carried with me the same cordial attachment to the Honor and Welfare of our Country, by which I had uniformly been activated. From early Youth it was my Desire and Intention to live...
3From John Jay to Richard Peters, 30 August 1808 (Jay Papers)
Accept my Thanks for your obliging Letter of the 9 th . ult: which was lately sent to me, and for the Memoirs of your agricultural Society which accompanied it. Marks of friendly Attention from those we esteem, are particularly grateful; and I have delayed making my acknowledgm ts . to you only because I wished first to read the memoirs— this I have done with pleasure— some of them are...
4From John Jay to William Coleman, 18 June 1807 (Jay Papers)
I have recieved your Letter of the 6 Inst. My Letter to Judge Benson of the 19th in answer to his of the 2d May, states the substance of the Conversation between him and me, which he considered as authority for the Paragraph in the Herald of the 29 April last. If you have seen that Letter, you are apprized of all that is necessary for me to remark on that Head. In his Reply of the 19 May, to...
5From John Jay to Egbert Benson, 2 June 1807 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your Letter of the 19 ult. — In my opinion the Paragraph in Question would be sufficiently explained by M r . Colemans publishing the following Remark upon it viz t [“]In the Herald of the 29 April last it is stated ‘that Governor Jay had ^has^ said, that he cannot possibly conceive that any man who calls himself a Fœderalist, can ever give a Vote for a Candidate set up by the...
6From John Jay to Egbert Benson, 12 May 1807 (Jay Papers)
I rec d . on Saturday last your Letter dated “Wednesday,” relative to the Paragraph in the Herald of the 29 th April—in which the Editor says: “ I am authorized to declare, that Gov r . Jay has said that he cannot possibly conceive that any Man who calls himself a Fœderalist, can ever give a vote for a Candidate set up by the Clinton Party. ” My Son, apprehending that this had been an...
7From John Jay to William P. Beers, 18 April 1807 (Jay Papers)
Your Letter of the 2 d Instant ^by M r . Isaacs^ gave me great pleasure, and the more as it permits ^ leads me to ^ me to indulge the ^leads me to^ Expect ation ^that^ of seeing you here, when some ^a^ favorable opportunity shall offer— I apprehend that several of your Remarks relative to public affairs are too well founded, and it is natural that they sh d
8From John Jay to Sarah Louisa Jay, 28 November 1806 (Jay Papers)
I had last Evening the Pleasure of recieving your Letter of the 20 th . Inst:— The Appology contained in it is so handsomely made, that I accept it; notwithstanding the well founded opinion, that there are but few occurrences which can with propriety, excuse our not writing those Letters which ought to be written.— The complaint in your wrist was a disagreable one, and I am glad you are now...
9From John Jay to William Wilberforce, 14 April 1806 (Jay Papers)
It was not until within a week that I rec d . your friendly Letter of the 7 of Nov r . last— it expresses Sentiments of Esteem and Regard which, being mutual, excite agreable Recollections and Emotions— “War in Disguise” of which you was so good as to enclose a Copy, has given occasion to uneasiness relative to the Matter and Design of it— it contains Marks of ability, but the author has not...
10From John Jay to John Murray Jr., 18 October 1805 (Jay Papers)
I have been fav d . with your Letter of the 2 d . Ult. respecting the “African free School” in the City of New York— it is in my opinion a charitable & useful Institution, & well entitled to Encouragement. & Support. From your Account of its present Embarrassments, I am induced to think that, in order to its being & remaining on a respectable ^& permanent^ Footing, some vigorous & well devised...
11From John Jay to Philip Schuyler, 25 July 1804 (Jay Papers)
The Friendship and attachment which I have so long and so uniformly experienced from you, will not permit me to delay expressing how deeply and sincerely I participate with you in the afflicting Event which the Public are now lamenting, and which you have so many domestic and particular Reasons to bewail. The phylosophic Topics of Consolation are familiar to You, and we all know by Experience...
12From John Jay to Benjamin Moore, 22 April 1804 (Jay Papers)
I have been favored with your Letter of the 13 Inst. communicating to me the following Resolution of the Vestry of Trinity Church— “Resolved that the R t . Rev d . the Bishop be requested to return the thanks of this Board to M r . Jay, for his obliging offer to accommodate them with his Lots in order to have a new church built on them; & to inform him that upon a full Consideration of the...
13From John Jay to Timothy Dwight, 10 February 1803 (Jay Papers)
In a Letter written you the 11 Ult. by the post, in answer to the one I had the pleasure of rec g . from you, I mentioned that in pursuance of y r . advice I sh d . send my Son to M r Davis, in the course of this month— If the Weather be fair he will set out Tomorrow, & I have directed him to wait upon you with this Letter. On this subject I can express no sentiments w h . will not occur to...
14From John Jay to Henry Davis, 10 February 1803 (Jay Papers)
This Letter will be delivered to you by my Son W m ., whom agreable to President Dwights Recommendation and advice I commit to your Care. He has hitherto been so good a Boy as to render any Degree of Severity unnecessary,—even private and gentle admonitions have very rarely been requisite, & have in no Instance proved ineffectual. I regret that since the Death of the Rev d . M r Ellison,...
15From John Jay to Rufus King, 20 January 1803 (Jay Papers)
I ought to have written to you long ago, but a Series of Occurances have for two Years past, left me little Leisure for epistolary Correspondence— I allude to M rs . Jay’s long and painful Illness, and (when she appeared to be fast recovering) her unexpected Death— the Vicissitudes in my own Health— the Removal of my Family to this place, and the many things to be done for their Accommodation—...
16From John Jay to Timothy Dwight, 11 January 1803 (Jay Papers)
I had the pleasure of recieving by the last post your obliging Letter of the 4 th . Instant— The Explanations contained in it are perfectly satisfactory, and I thank You for the Information relative to M r Davis, and the Terms on which he would take my Son into his Family and prepare him for College— my Confidence in your Judgm t . and Candor induces me to rely on your Recommendation of that...
17From John Jay to Timothy Dwight, 16 December 1802 (Jay Papers)
I take the Liberty of addressing you on a Subject w h . is not a little interesting to me— on leaving Albany I committed to the Rev d . M r Ellison the Care & Education of a Son whom I think a good & promising Boy, and who is now ab t . 13 Years old. That ^On that^ Gentleman’s Death he returned to me— I have tried to ^As was my wish to have him^ placed here in a proper Situation near
18To Alexander Hamilton from John Jay, 25 September 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Bedford, New York, September 25, 1801. Letter not found. ] “List of Letters from Mr. Jay …” to H, Columbia University Libraries.
19From John Jay to Peter Augustus Jay, 17 May 1801 (Jay Papers)
We left Albany last Wednesday near night— The next Day we Stopped for an hour at Oak Hill— You[r] Mama was not worse, but still very feeble. We arrived at Sinsing on Friday Morning, and last Evening came here, where we found every thing that we could expect had been done to accommodate us— Sam l . will take this Letter in the morning to Sinsing to put in the post office there. Inform your...
20Message to the New York State Assembly, 28 March 1801 (Jay Papers)
FOR the reasons mentioned in it, I wrote the following letter to the Chancellor, and to the Chief Justice and other Judge of the Supreme Court, viz. [ Here Jay embedded a copy of his letter to the New York State Chancellor (Robert R. Livingston), Chief Justice (John Lansing Jr.), and Associate Justices of the New York State Supreme Court (Egbert Benson, James Kent, Morgan Lewis, and Jacob...
21From John Jay to Peter Augustus Jay, 21 March 1801 (Jay Papers)
The overtures for Reconciliation which had taken place before left us were terminated by two Letters of which the comb following are Copies— here insert M r Livingstons Letter of the 16 th . Instant & mine in answer to it of the same Date It being proper that our Conduct should harmonize with Reconciliation, the sooner you make a Visit to M r . Livingston the better- He wants to purposes to...
22From John Jay to the New York State Chancellor (Robert R. Livingston), Chief Justice (John Lansing Jr.), and Associate … (Jay Papers)
To secure the Liberties of the People and the legitimate Rights of their Government, against Encroachment and usurpation, it has from Experience been found necessary to divide the powers of Government into three distinct and independent Departments— aggregately considered, they possess all the power of Government; and are always in Capacity to defend their respective authorities against...