From John Jay to Silas Deane, 2 October 1780
To Silas Deane
Madd 2 Octr 1780
Dr Sir
Since mine to you written at ^from^ St. Ildefonso & enclosed to Doctr Franklin,1 I have had the pleasure of recievg yours of the 4 and 13th. of Septr. a few Days ago.2 The one you mention to have written on the 28th. August I have not seen, nor do I ^ever^ expect ever to see—3 Many Letters directed to me have met with the same Fate—^So circumstanced^ It is impossible for me to give you any opinion relative to the Success of the Business you allude to, and therefore cannot advise as to the Expediency of the journey you propose.4 I can nevertheless with great Sincerity assure ^tell^ you that it wd will always give me pleasure to be useful to you, and that your Company ^your company^ would be a great satisfaction to all my family.
Had the Confederacy arrived ^[Captain] Harding arrived^ before you left Philadelphia?5 Send your Letters under Cover to some Person here. They may then come safe. [Carmichael] cannot acct for B[ancroft] not an[swering] his letters &c.6 when I here hereafter ^we^ write in cypher for the future add 20 to each [number].7
I hope your next will give me some Intelligence from America will ^which^ I shall not be able to find in News Papers— There are many little Circumstances you know respecting our Friends and indeed our Enemies which tho no otherwise important are in a certain Degree interesting, and ^with^ which we have few Opportunities of becoming acquainted—
My sincere good ^best^ Wishes to the ^good^ Doctr.— Mrs. Jay and the Col present theirs to you, and I need not add how much I am you possess those of, Your Friend ^Dr. Sir, your obt.^ Servt,
J.J.
DftS, partly in code, partly decoded by JJ, NNC (EJ: 7778). Endorsed by JJ. Additional decoding by the editors of JJUP using cipher and code in NNC (EJ: 7590).
1. JJ to Deane, 8 Sept., which had been enclosed in JJ to BF, 8 Sept., Dft, NNC (EJ: 7797); , 33: 268–70. ALS not found. Dft, NNC (EJ: 7775); LbkC, CtY (EJ: 5225); , 4: 49–50; Deane Papers, 4: 224. Therein, JJ, anxious for news of America, wrote, “Your Silence is unkind. . . . [I]t would be wrong to extend to a whole Nation the Resentments excited by a few.”
2. Deane to JJ, 4 Sept., LbkC, CtHi (EJ: 2899); and 13 Sept. 1780, above; both in , 4: 218–19, 225–26.
3. The actual date of Deane’s letter is 23 Aug. ALS, NNC (EJ: 7776), endorsed as received on 5 Oct.; enclosure not found; LbkC, CtHi (EJ: 2900); , 4: 195–97. For JJ’s action on the letter, see JJ to Deane, 1 Nov., below, note 5.
4. In his letter of 4 Sept., Deane mentioned that on 23 Aug. he had enclosed to JJ for transmittal to Floridablanca a proposed contract for masts, with an endorsement from the late Don Juan de Miralles obtained by Deane before departing from America, on which he was anxious to have a decision. On 13 Sept., Deane proposed that, if necessary for the acceptance of the contract, he would plan to come to Madrid.
5. See Deane to JJ, 16 Oct. 1780, below.
6. There is no discussion of this matter in Carmichael’s letters to JJ around this time, but as Carmichael was in Madrid on 2 Oct., he no doubt mentioned it to JJ in person. For Deane’s reply, see Deane to JJ, 16 Oct.; for JJ’s explanation, see JJ to Deane, 1 Nov. 1780, both below.