John Jay Papers

From John Jay to Aranda, 25 June 1782

To Aranda

Paris— Hotel de la Chine 25 June 1782 1782

Sir

On leaving Madrid his Excellency the Ct. De Florida[blanca] assured ^informed^ me that the Papers relating to the objects of my mission there had been transmitted to yr. Exy with such instructions & authority & Instructions to treat me with me on the Subjects of them—1

I arrived here ^the Day before^ Yesterday afternoon, & th have the Honor to assure ^acquaint^ your Exy of my ^being^ Readylyness to commence the necessary Conferences at such Time and Place as as your Exy may think proper to name—

Your Exys Character m gives me Reason to hope that the proposed ^that the^ negociations ^in question^ will be conducted and terminated in a manner agreable and useful to both ^our^ Countries,2 & permit me to assure ^you^ that nothing on my Part shall be wanting to manifest the Respect & Consideration with which I have the Honor to be yr Exys most obt. & most hble Servt3

Dft, NNC (EJ: 8200); Cs, FrPMAE: CP-E, 608: 398 (EJ: 4003); SpMaAHN: Estado, leg. 3885, exp. 1, doc. 13 (EJ: 12094); LbkCs, DNA: PCC, item 110, 2: 137, 174 (EJ: 4227, 4234); NNC: JJ Lbk. 1; CSmH (EJ: 3476, 3486).

1. See BF to JJ, 22 Apr. 1782, JJSP, 2 description begins Elizabeth M. Nuxoll et al., eds., The Selected Papers of John Jay, Volume 2, 1780–82 (Charlottesville, Va., 2012) description ends : 725–26; and Floridablanca to Aranda, 17 May 1782, LS, in Spanish, SpMaAHN: Estado, leg. 3885, exp. 3, doc. 1. Aranda is said to have had specific instructions from Floridablanca to negotiate with JJ, but not to conclude a treaty. See María de los Angeles Pérez Samper, “Franklin Y Aranda: Dos Embajadores en París,” in Norteamérica a Finales del Siglo XVIII: España y los Estados Unidos, Eduardo Garrigues López-Chiceri, Coordinador (Madrid, Barcelona, Buenos Aires: 2008), 121.

2. See Aranda’s reply of 27 June 1782, below. Two days later, on French advice, JJ and BF paid a visit to Aranda, which Aranda reciprocated the following day. But because of sudden illness, JJ was unable to accept Aranda’s dinner invitation, and they did not meet again for a month. See JJ to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 17 Nov. 1782, below; and PBF description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (40 vols. to date; New Haven, Conn., 1959–) description ends , 37: 345–46.

3. JJ embedded copies of this letter in his letters to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of 25 June and 17 Nov. 1782, below. In his letter to RRL of 8 July 1782, Carmichael reported that Floridablanca had informed him that he had received a copy of the present letter. RDC description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1889) description ends , 5: 600.

Index Entries

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    Source Project
    Jay Papers
    Title
    From John Jay to Aranda, 25 June 1782
    Author
    Jay, John
    Recipient
    Aranda, Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, conde de
    Date
    25 June 1782

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From John Jay to Aranda, 25 June 1782,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-03-02-0004. [Original source: The Selected Papers of John Jay, vol. 3, 1782–1784, ed. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, p. 12.]

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