To John Jay from George Washington, 14 July 1789
From George Washington
New York July 14th 1789
Dear Sir,
I find myself incompetent to form any decided opinion upon the paper I received from you the other day without having a view of the transactions which have been had with the Spanish Minister.1
I wish also to know whether, if the negotiations are renewed, it can be made to appear from any thing that that Gentl[ema]n has said, as the result of an advance towards it from him, in his official character? Unless this is the case, and prima facia the reverse, will it not convey to him & his Court an idea that a change of sentiment has taken place in the governing powers of this Country?2 Will it be expedient & proper (at this moment) for the President to encourage such an idea? At any rate without previously advising with the Senate?3 With very sincere esteem & regard, I am Dr Sir, Yr Affectionate
G. Washington
C, DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters; LbkCs (2), marked “Private”, DLC: Washington.
1. Early in June, GW had asked JJ and other heads of executive departments to provide him with a clear account of the situation of their respective departments. GW then fell ill and postponed all public business on the advice of his doctors, so that it was only recently that JJ had delivered the unidentified “paper,” not found, mentioned above. In response to GW’s request for fuller information on negotiations with Spain, JJ “communicated” to the president the Office of Foreign Affairs book recording his transactions with Gardoqui. See GW to JJ, [4] June 1789, ALS, NNC (EJ: 07243); and the , 19 June and 14 July 1789 (EJ: 03800; EJ: 03801). For the book referred to, see DNA: PCC, item 125, Transcripts of the Correspondence Between John Jay and Don Diego de Gardoqui, and Sundry Acts and Proceedings of Congress Pertaining to the Negotiations, 1785–89; C, NNC: JJ Lbk. 7. For the careful notes GW took on the correspondence provided him by JJ, see “Negotiations with Spain” (notes in GW’s hand on JJ’s negotiations with Gardoqui), n.d., DLC: Washington, ser. 4 (EJ: 10604). This and other undated memoranda in GW’s hand on major foreign affairs issues were probably compiled from JJ’s missing reports as well as from conversations with him. See , 3: 21; and DLC: Washington.
2. Congress’s act of 16 Sept. 1788 had deferred the stalemated negotiations with Spain until the new government was in place. See JJ’s Report to Congress on the Navigation of the Mississippi River, 2 Sept. 1788, above.
3. GW evidently decided that the Senate had to be informed and instructed JJ to draft an address to the Senate for him on the matter. GW was to have reported that negotiations begun by the Continental Congress for an advantageous commercial treaty with Spain and satisfactory settlement of other points of difference between the two nations had progressed until they were suspended by the transition to a new government. The Senate was then to have been asked whether these negotiations should be resumed and what terms the United States should insist on. The draft address closed with a request that Congress respond without delay since relations with Spain were in a delicate condition and with a promise that JJ would provide the Senate with the necessary papers about the matter. Dft, in the hand of JJ, DLC: Washington (EJ: 10606). Before this could be acted upon, however, Gardoqui announced that he had received permission to return to Spain. See JJ to GW, 24 July 1789, below. JJ then prepared a second draft address, but it too was never sent to Congress. See JJ’s Draft of Washington’s Address to the Senate, [post 24 July 1789], below.