51From George Washington to John Jay, 8 May 1796 (Washington Papers)
You judged very right when in your letter of the 18th Ulto you observed I “can have very little time for private letters.” But if my friends will put up with the hasty and indigested ones I can write, under such circumstances, there are a few of them (among whom allow me the gratification to place you) with whom I should feel very happy to corrispond: and while I hold my present Office, to...
52From John Jay to Robert Liston, 6 May 1796 (Jay Papers)
The Gov r . presents his Comp ts . to M r Liston— The enclosed affidavit of Rich d . Van Dyke respecting certain Americans whom he mentions to have been impressed, and to be now detained on Board the Assistance , was delivered to the Governor last night. M r Liston will readily percieve the Influence w h . such Complaints never fail to have on public opinion and Sensibility, and how strongly...
53From John Jay to Grenville, 1 May 1796 (Jay Papers)
The great Questions which have agitated this Country since my arrival, may I think be considered as determined: I will therefore no longer postpone thanking your Lordship for the Letter which you did me the Honor to write on the 11 th . of may last; respecting which I shall omit saying any thing further by this opportunity. The Treaty will go into operation, and be supported by a great...
54From John Jay to James McHenry, 28 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
I have been honored with Yours of the 25 th . Instant— The Chiefs have just left me— They insist on their having plenary powers, & seem much to regret that the Instrument expressing those powers cannot be found— The Interpreter as well as the Chiefs are certain that it was presented to the President. For my own part I perceive no reason to doubt, but on the contrary I beleive that they are...
55From John Jay to John Charlton, 22 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
I take the liberty of enclosing a Plan of a Lazaretto shown by D r . Bard with his Letters to me on the subject— Be so obliging as the lay them before the Medical Society, and request them to favor me without delay with their opinion and Plan of such a Building as they may judge the best calculated for the purpose; in case the one offered by D r . Bard should be thought defective.— This is a...
56To George Washington from John Jay, 18 April 1796 (Washington Papers)
private You can have very little Time for private Letters, and therefore I am the more obliged by the one you honored me with on the 31 of last month. I was not without apprehensions that on Enquiry it might not appear adviseable to gratify Mr Pickman’s wishes; for altho’ Integrity and amiable manners are great, yet they are not the only Qualifications for office. Your answer to the Call for...
57From John Jay to George Washington, 18 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
John Jay, by Ellen Sharples (probably after James Sharples), c. 1795. Pencil on paper. (£ Bristol Culture/Bristol Museum & Art Gallery) You can have very little Time for private Letters, and therefore I am the more obliged by the one you honored me with on the 31 of last Month. I was not without apprehensions that on Inquiry it might not appear adviseable to gratify M r Pickman’s wishes, for...
58To John Jay from Walter Robertson, 15 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
Mr Walter Robertson presents his respects to the Governor & begs leave to inform him that he is very desirous of having his portrait, for the purpose of being engraved as a comparison to two prints of the President and Co l . Hamilton. M r Robertson has already sketched the Governors features from an unfinished portrait of M r Stewart’s and now takes the liberty of requesting to know at what...
59From John Jay to Walter Robertson, 15 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
The Gov r presents his Comp ts . to M r Robertson & would with great pleasure comply with his Request, and is so far constantly engaged but the Session being just concluded so many public affairs remain to be dispatched that he fears it he will not for some time yet be sufficiently at Leisure— The Gov r . has two Portraits drawn by Stewart, one of which is finished, and M r Robertson may at...
60From John Jay to Timothy Pickering, 14 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
An Act of the Legislature of this State to prevent the bringing in and spreading of infectious Diseases in this State, authorizes the Governor to assign the Stations where vessels made subject to Quarantine shall come to Anchor and remain, until visited by the Health Officer and reported to be free from Infection. As difficulties and embarrassments of a delicate nature would arise in case it...
61From John Jay to James McHenry, 13 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
The Letter which You did me the Honor to write, respecting the claim of the S t . Regis Indians to Lands in this State together with the Report of the Secretary of State on that Subject were immediately laid before the Legislature; and give occasion to a Concurrent Resolution of which the enclosed is a Copy. But as the Chiefs of those Indians who were with You have represented to me that they...
62From John Jay to Lady Elizabeth Amherst, 12 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
M r Jay presents his respectful comp ts . to Lady Amherst, and returns many thanks to her Ladyship for the prints which she did him the Honor to send. it was not untill last week that they came to his Hands. The Respect entertained in this Country for his Lordships Character & Services renders them ^very^ interesting. Among the agreable Hours ^moments^ which Mr Jay passed in London his...
63From John Jay to Lord Jeffrey Amherst, 12 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
The Letter you did me the Honor to write on the 27 Sept r . last was ^here^ delivered to me a few weeks ago by M r Austin— He was He was unfortunate in his voyage, and yet happy in surviving the many disast erous occurrances ^[disast] ers^ he met with— He seems an amiable young man, and is now on his way to Canada— Our Legislature being in Session I have endeavoured but without Success to...
64From John Jay to Philip Schuyler, 12 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
In pursuance of what passed between us the Day before Yesterday, I now enclose the Boundaries of the Tract granted to L d . amherst. It has been so long neglected, that I sh d . not be surprized if a number of Intruders have settled on it. I think with You that the best Way of obtaining correct Information will be to employ a Surveyor to visit it, and to instruct him to ascertain and report...
65From John Jay to Daniel Coxe, 4 April 1796 (Jay Papers)
On the 28 of last month ^Ult:^ I had the pleasure of rec g your friendly Letter of the 14 of Nov r . last by M r Bewsher who arrived at Norfolk on the 16 of last Month & from thence sent it to me by post— on his arrival here it will give me pleasure to manifest my Respect for your Recommend [atio] n . by attentions to him— The Letter that you enclosed for General Schuyler was immediately deliv...
66From George Washington to John Jay, 31 March 1796 (Washington Papers)
Accept, my dear Sir, my thanks for your note of the 25th Instant—enclosing a copy of Mr Bayards letter to you. The purport of it is pleasing; but the conduct of the British armed Vessels in the West Indies, is intolerable beyond all forbearance. My answer, given yesterday, to the House of Representatives’ request of Papers, will, I expect, set a host of Scribblers to work: but I shall proceed...
67To John Jay from George Washington, 31 March 1796 (Jay Papers)
Accept, my dear Sir, my thanks for your note of the 25 th . Instant— enclosing a copy of M r . Bayards letter to you.— The purport of it is pleasing; but the conduct of the British armed Vessels in the West Indies, is intolerable beyond all forbearance. My answer, given yesterday, to the House of Representatives’ request of Papers, will, I expect, set a host of Scribblers to work:—but I shall...
68To George Washington from John Jay, 25 March 1796 (Washington Papers)
Govr Jay presents his respectful Compliments to the president of the United States, & takes the Liberty of sending the enclosed Copy of a Letter which he this Day recd from Mr S. Bayard. AL , DLC:GW . In his letter from London of 6 Jan., Samuel Bayard informed Jay “of the favourable disposition which has lately been evinced both in Court of appeals and of admiralty in cases where our citizens...
69From John Jay to George Washington, 25 March 1796, enclosing Samuel Bayard to John Jay, 6 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
Gov r . Jay presents his respectful Compliments to the President of the United States, & takes the Liberty of sending the enclosed Copy of a Letter which he this Day rec d . from M r S. Bayard. I am honored with your favour of the 11 Nov r . for which I beg you will accept my acknowledg ts : the one enclosed for Col: Trumbull I sent immediately to Mr. Deas, who has almost daily opportunities...
70From John Jay to Samuel Bayard, 25 March 1796 (Jay Papers)
I had this afternoon the pleasure of recieving your obliging Letter of the 6 th . Jan y last, and am happy to learn from it that the Decrees in the Capture Cases will probably be satisfactory— This Information appeared to me to be interesting, and therefore I have communicated it to the President : altho I presume you have written fully to the Secretary of State about it, either by the packet...
71To John Jay from Grenville, 17 March 1796 (Jay Papers)
I cannot let M r Liston go without taking the occasion of his departure to recommend him to you, and to express my hope that his character & conduct will be found well calculated to continue & promote that harmony which it was the object of our labours to establish. I have, since you left us, taken one occasion to renew to you my assurances of the sincere esteem & friendship with which your...
72To John Jay from John Sinclair, 14 March 1796 (Jay Papers)
Your favor on the use of Salt as a Manure, & on an extraordinary Sort of Apple, was read to the Board of Agriculture at its last Meeting. The Communication was deemed very valuable, particularly the experiments on Salt, which seems in various Cases to have had a decided effect. Should any farther information on this, or similar Topics occur to you, we shall be very happy if you would, at your...
Whereas the Honorable the House of Assembly now in Session were pleased on the tenth day of this month to declare and resolve in the words following, to wit, [“]Whereas the Deliberations of this House were interrupted by the tumultous Shouts and clamors of People within the Bar of the same on the ninth day of March instant. And Whereas an Attempt to controul the proceedings of the...
74From Alexander Hamilton to John Jay, 10 March 1796 (Hamilton Papers)
I had the honor duely to receive Your Excellency’s letter of the 4th instant. I did not immediately answer it from an indistinct and confused recollection that a state of things existed in reference to the opposite party which did not permit my being concerned for the State. It now appears that I was not mistaken, and that I cannot with propriety execute Your Excellency’s desire. With perfect...
75To John Jay from William Hamilton, 8 March 1796 (Jay Papers)
Be pleased to pardon my presumption in presuming to take the liberty of thus writing to you but I would not have gone so far had I not Believed you to be a person that would listen to the meanest persons who would wish to address themselves to you being confident that you will not refuse to hear my simple address. I have therefore attempted to write the following. I am dear Sir one of those...
76To Alexander Hamilton from John Jay, 4 March 1796 (Hamilton Papers)
In pursuance of a concurrent Resolution of the two Houses of the Legislature of the third and fourth instant I desire You as a Counsellor at Law to defend in behalf of this State a certain Suit brought against Lewis Cornwall by or in behalf of Alexander Colden for the Recovery of a Farm sold to the said Lewis by the Commissioners of Forfeitures for the Southern District. You will herewith...
77From John Jay to John Lowell, 29 February 1796 (Jay Papers)
I have been fav[ore] d . with your’s of the 15 Inst: by Mr Parkman, and am much pleased with him and his fellow Traveller Mr. Coolidge. Their Representation of the State of Things in Massachusetts, corresponds with the Hints on that Head suggested in your Letter. There is too much Intelligence in the northern States to admit of their being greatly and long decieved and misled; and I hope the...
I was this morning fav d . with your’s of the 21 Inst: requesting me as one of the Commissioners of the Land Office to inform you, if you are not entitled to a Grant of Lands for your military Services? Officially circumstanced as I am in Relation to the Legislature and to the Land Office, I doubt the propriety of my expressing any opinion on the merits of claims which as a ^if pursued I may...
79To John Jay from Samuel Bayard, 25 February 1796 (Jay Papers)
I had the honor of writing you by the January Packet in answer to your favour of Nov r . last. By the present conveyance (The Hope Cap t . Haley) I have the pleasure to forward you the 3 last parts of Madame Rolands work—& a letter from M r Burke to the Duke of Bedford which made its first appearance yesterday— it is perfectly of a peice with all the productions of this extraordinary man— It...
80To John Adams from John Jay, 2 February 1796 (Adams Papers)
I was this morning favored with your obliging Letter of the 31 ult.—D’Ivernois is very industrious.—I hear no more of his plan of transplanting the University of Geneva into the united States. He is a sensible diligent man, and I suspect that his Correspondence with Mr Gallatin has done no Harm— It gives me pleasure to find that in your opinion no great mischief will be done by the combustable...
81From John Adams to John Jay, 31 January 1796 (Adams Papers)
Dr D’Ivernois continues to send Us his Speculations, which I value the more for giving me an opportunity to congratulate you, on the Durability and impenetrability of the Anvil, while so many hammers are wearing themselves out by their strokes upon it. The Treaty is not arrived and Congress will do nothing with spirit till they have vented themselves upon that. But all their Hammers will be as...
82To John Jay from John Adams, 31 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
D’Ivernois continues to send Us his Speculations, which I value the more for giving me an Opportunity to congratulate you, upon the Durability and impenetrability of the Anvil, while so many hammers are wearing themselves out by their Strokes upon it. The Treaty is not arrived and Congress will do nothing with spirit till they have vented themselves upon that. But all their Hammers will be as...
83To John Jay from Oliver Wolcott, 30 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
In consequence of the death of our late Worthy Governor, the duties of that office have devolved upon me, as Lieu t . Governor of the State. And I therefore take the liberty to inclose to your Excellency, the Copy of a Bill, authenticated by George Pitkin Esq r . the Clerk of our Superior Court, found by the G[rand]. Jury of Litchfield County, against Ahimaaz C. Punderson and James Chandler...
84To John Jay from Rufus King, 29 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
M r . Harper concurs in the idea of printing by way of note, your return Letter to him, and by this post will transmit a copy to M r . Morris for that purpose— We are yet without the ratification from England, & I am not wholly free from an apprehension that the instructions given to M r . Deas may have been so misconceived by him, that a still further Delay may happen before we can receive...
85To George Washington from John Jay, 26 January 1796 (Washington Papers)
the British Ratification of the Treaty not having arrived and consequently the Time for appointing the Commissioners mentioned in it not being come, I have thus long postponed replying to yours of the 21 of last month. It certainly is important that the Commissioners relative to the Debts, and also the captures, be men the best qualified for those places. Probably it would be adviseable to...
86From John Jay to George Washington, 26 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
The British Ratification of the Treaty not having arrived and consequently the time for appointing the Commissioners mentioned in it not being come, I have this long postponed replying to yours of 21 last month. It certainly is important that the Commissioners relative to the Debts, and also the Captures, be men the best qualified for those places. Probably it would be adviseable to appoint...
87From John Jay to John Vaughan, 21 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
My Friendship for Doct. Bancroft has enduced me to turn my attention consider with great attention the Plan most adviseable to adopt relative to the placing of ^preparing^ his Son in a Lawyers office, ^for the Profession of the Law^ and for especially the place where. The Doct r ., for whose Judgm t . I have great Respect, appearing to prefer some Place at a Distance from our Capital, was is a...
88From John Jay to Robert Goodloe Harper, 19 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
A Friend of mine lately sent me your address to your constituents relative to the Treaty. I have read it with Pleasure— Had all the publications on that Subject been written with with equal Knowledge and Attention, or with equal Candor and Decorum, more Truth would have been disseminated, and less Irritation excited. I observe in it the following Paragraph—viz t . “Objections both personal and...
89Message to the New York State Assembly, 15 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
You have already been apprized that the Sum granted by the Act respecting infectious Distempers, proved incompetent to the Expences (of which an Account is preparing) occasioned by the late calamitous Sickness in this City. And also that the precautions taken in Albany against the introduction of it into that City caused Expenditures which yet remain to be provided for. To the end that the...
90Address to the New York State Legislature, 6 January 1796 (Jay Papers)
PERMIT me to avail myself of this first opportunity, which has occurred, of expressing through you to my constituents, the high sense I entertain of that esteem and confidence which prompted them to place me in the station I now fill. Fully apprized of the duties which it imposes upon me, my best endeavours shall be exerted to fulfill them; and I flatter myself, that in the course of my...
91From George Washington to John Jay, 1 January 1796 (Washington Papers)
The enclosed, under cover from Sir John Sinclair, came to my hands a few days since. I sincerely wish, as well for the zealous supporter, as for the cause itself, that some measure could be devised to facilitate Sir John’s views. Can you suggest any? Aid me if you can, for I am at a loss what to say in answer to his present plan; and the Extracts relative to Mr Elkington’s discoveries in the...
92From George Washington to John Jay, 21 December 1795 (Washington Papers)
Your two letters of the 14th instant came duly to hand. With respect to Mr Pickman, I beg you to be persuaded that if all things in his favor are equal, your mentioning of him will have its weight. But, in appointments of the sort he solicits, many matters must be attended to; and as I am sure we have the same wishes respecting them—namely—to fix on characters who, under all circumstances, are...
93To George Washington from John Jay, 14 December 1795 (Washington Papers)
apprehensive that my Letter to you (herewith enclosed) is not exactly such an one, as the Gentleman mentioned in it, may perhaps wish and expect it to be, I think it adviseable to send him a copy of it: and that you may have the more perfect and accurate Information, I enclose a copy of my Letter to him. I have lately received much Intelligence from several Quarters—some allowances are to be...
94From John Jay to Edmund Burke, 12 December 1795 (Jay Papers)
The last time I had the pleasure of seeing you we conversed among other things, and spea^eing of the apples of this Country I promised to send you a few ^some apple^ Trees of some of the best Sorts — Fifty Trees have been put ^of five different Sorts are now^ on Board the Rosanna Cap t . John Pollard, whose Rec[eip] t . for them you will find herewith enclosed Ten of these Trees are in the New...
95To John Jay from John Sloss Hobart, 18–19 November 1795 (Jay Papers)
I intended to have acknowledged the receipt of your favor by M r . Munro, while at Albany; but he did not return from Washington before I set out for home; I was obliged by your hint respecting the corn, and availed myself of the opportunity to procure a supply of seed against another year, should it come to hand, I shall have enough for myself and a friend. I have read with pleasure your...
96From John Jay to Abraham Cuyler, 13 November 1795 (Jay Papers)
I was this morning favored with your’s of the 5 th . of this month, mentioning M r . Harison’s opinion that the Debts in question were not recoverable by Virtue either of the Treaty of Peace, or of the Treaty of amity between the United States and Great Britain— As to M r . Harison’s opinion, I do not hesitate to say that I concur in it— But whether the Subjects of it were or were not...
97From John Jay to John Sinclair, 12 November 1795 (Jay Papers)
Since my arrival my Time has been so much occupied by public Concerns, as that neither my Friends nor private affairs have rec d . from me the Degree of attention that was due to them. Accept my thanks for the Letters and Papers with which you have favored me. They shall be the Subject of another Letter— You may remember my mentioning to you that common Salt had been used with Success as a...
98Proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving, 11 November 1795 (Jay Papers)
By His Excellency John Jay Esquire Governor and Commander in Chief of the State of New York Whereas the Great Creator and Preserver of the Universe is the Supreme Sovereign of Nations, and does, when and as he pleases, reward or punish them by temporal Blessings or Calamities, according as their National Conduct recommends them to his Favor and Beneficence, or excites his Displeasure and...
99From John Jay to Edward Bancroft, 30 October 1795 (Jay Papers)
On my Return two Days ago from a little Excursion into the Country I had the pleasure of recieving your Letter of the 24 of Aug t . last; and thank you very sincerely for the friendly congratulations and Sentiments expressed in it— Your Son soon after his arrival at Philadelphia, and also M r . J. Vaughan wrote to me relative to the object of his coming to this Country; but the State of the...
100From John Jay to Timothy Pickering, 14 October 1795 (Jay Papers)
I was Yesterday ^afternoon^ honored with yours of the 10 Inst. enclosing ^a^ copy of your Letter to Mess rs . Lewis and Rawle and ^of^ their opinion on the points stated in it.— Notwithstanding my Respect for the Talents & Candor of those Gen t . I do not ^yet I do not hesitate to say that^ the Cognizance and Powers given to the Commissioners designated in the 6 and 7 articles of the Treaty...