I find that Congress were pleased on the 22 d . Ult: to order me, “to transmit to the Executives of the States, Abstracts of the Numbers, Names and Owners of Negroes carried away by the British in contravention to the late Treaty of Peace, and which were the Property of the Citizens of such States respectively.”— I suspect that Congress were not apprized of the Length of this Account. A very...
152From John Jay to Richard Price, 24 August 1785 (Jay Papers)
Having since my coming into office, found it necessary to apply very closely to the Business of it, which from its having been long vacant, had greatly accumulated; I was obliged to suspend that attention & Punctuality, which I observe in my private Correspondences, whenever my private whenever a due Regard to public Business, will admit of sufficient Leisure for the Purpose— Hence it happened...
153To George Washington from John Jay, 24 April 1788 (Washington Papers)
It occurs to me that you would probably be glad to know when and in what manner the Letters you sent to me to be forwarded were sent on. The large Packet for the Marqs de la Fayette was committed to the Care of the french minister, who was so obliging as to take Charge of it. Those for Count de Rochambeau, Countess d’Essarts, Gen: Duplessis, Mesdames Van Winter Van Merken &c: Monsr de Bourden,...
154To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 15 March 1785 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the Honor of transmitting to you, herewith enclosed, an Extract from the Journal of Congress respecting your Appointment to represent the United States at the Court of Versailles as their Minister. On which be pleased to accept my sincere Congratulations. The next Packet will bring you a Letter of Credence, and such other Papers as this Appointment may in the Opinion of Congress render...
155To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 7 December 1785 (Jefferson Papers)
The last Letter I have had the Pleasure of receiving from you is dated the 14th. August last. My last to you is dated the 2d. Ult: by Mr. Houdon who I hope has by this Time safely arrived. Nothing of importance has since occurred except the Arrival of Mr. Temple, respecting whom I enclose the Copy of an Act of Congress of 2d. Instant. With great Esteem & Regard I have the Honor to be &ca., You...
156From John Jay to Robert R. Livingston, 18 December 1786 (Jay Papers)
The inclosed are Copies of Papers I rec d . from the Presid t . of the Council of Maryland. Expecting the pleasure of seeing you here, I delayed my answer ’till Yesterday, when I wrote to the Presid t . that I would be an arbitrator in the Case mentioned in his Letter, if the Matter could be settled here. As he will be anxious to recieve your answer also, the sooner you write the more he will...
157From John Jay to Benjamin Rush, 24 March 1785 (Jay Papers)
Such has been the State of my official Business, & of that which arose from my long neglected private affairs, that ever since the Removal of Congress to this Place, I have been obliged to trespass on my usual Punctuality in private Correspondences. Hence it happened that I have so long denied myself the Pleasure of replying to your friendly Letter of the 16 Jan y .— Accept my warmest...
158From John Jay to Henry Remsen Jr., 27 June 1788 (Jay Papers)
I have had the Pleasure of rec gv . your Favor of the 18 Inst. with the news Papers. Let S r . John have the enclosed Letter without Delay. I leave it open for your Information, and that you may make a Copy to enter in the Book of Letters. Our Affairs here go on slowly but with more Temper than I expected. The Issue however appears so uncertain as that no very probable Conjectures respecting...
159To George Washington from John Jay, 6 September 1787 (Washington Papers)
I was yesterday honored with your Letter of the 2d Inst., inclosing one for Commodore Jones, which was immediately conveyed to him. New York entertained Hopes of seeing you here, and wishd for such an occasion of giving you fresh Proofs of Esteem & attachment, for your consenting to take a Seat in the Convention has given your Country fresh Reasons for both. You will oblige me by putting it in...
160From John Jay to Taher Ben Abdelhack Fennish, 24 July 1787 (Jay Papers)
I am this moment employed in transmitting a Letter from Congress to his Majesty the Emperor of Morocco with a Ratification of the Treaty concluded by him between him & the United States. It gives me great Pleasure ^ to obey ^ ^ in obedience to ^ the Orders of Congress to take this opportunity of assuring ^ of informing ^ you that they are much pleased with and will remember the
I have the Honor of transmitting to your Excellency herewith enclosed, a Memorial and Petition of Pierre du Calvet of Montreal and a Letter of 14 th . June last from D r . Franklin recommending him to me.— He presented to me the Account mentioned in it and the Vouchers he has to authenticate it—But as both the one and the other must be referred to the proper Department to report, I advised him...
162From John Jay to Charles Thomson, 3 March 1786 (Jay Papers)
M r Gardoqui who views the Affair of the Horse, as a Spaniard, and as a politician, is uneasy, and ^ neither ^ You and nor I can easily ^ be ^ surprized that he sh d . be so They [ illegible ] in my opinion do not judge ill who think the article [
163To Alexander Hamilton from John Jay, 15 May 1788 (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Richard Laurence of Staten Island has complained to Congress, and to the King of Great Britain, that Judgments have been obtained and executed against him in certain Actions of Trespass, which he says were commenced and prosecuted in Violation of the Treaty of Peace. In these Actions I understand you was concerned for him, and as it is important that the Facts which concern the Merits of...
164From John Jay to Peter Jay Munro, 26 October 1783 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d ., and am pleased with, your Letter of the 16 Instant—it is well written as to Matter and Stile, and tolerably as to hand writing and spelling—in both of which however—there is still Room for Improvement. You will learn from my Letters to your Aunt, that I have been sick, and that I am recovered. As you say nothing of your own Health, I presume it is good, and you have my best...
165Extracts from John McKesson’s Notes of Debates, 2 July 1788 (Jay Papers)
[ JJ details his objections to John Lansing’s amendment placing a limit on Congress’s power to borrow money “without the assent of two thirds of the members of both houses present.” JJ differentiates between the powers of the lower house in money matters and that of the Senate in treaty making. In case of war, “will it be wise to put it in the power of five Men to disarm the Continent.” News...
166From John Jay to Benjamin Lincoln, 17 August 1784 (Jay Papers)
I have just been honored with a Letter from General Knox of the 29 Ult, requesting to be informed “Whose map of the River S t Croix was used as an authority by the ministers who negociated the Peace” and desiring me to address my answer to You. This Letter arrived during my absence in the Country, from whence I returned the Day before Yesterday. The Map which the Ministers used, and on which...
The Season when the Legislatures usually meet to do Business is at Hand. It is highly probable that Congress will find it expedient to call their Attention to certain Objects of general Concern and particularly to some which the present State of our foreign Affairs present. The late Advices I have received from Europe demand the attentive Consideration of Congress, and in my Opinion will give...
168From John Jay to Benjamin Vaughan, 2 September 1784 (Jay Papers)
The far greater part of our ^ my ^ Time since our ^ my ^ arrival has been passed in the Country so that several Vessels have lately gone to Europe without Letters from us ^ me ^ to our Friends there. During my Absence your Family passed thro here on their way to Albany—they carried ^
169From John Jay to François de Barbé-Marbois, 2 September 1785 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . the Letter you did me the Honor to write on the 25 th . ult. and laid it before congress. I shall take the earliest opportunity of comm communicating to you the opinion they may direct me to give on the Subject, together with such ^ the ^ Information respecting it which you request on that Head. Whenever Questions arise on the Construction of an article of the Treaty, I think it...
170From John Jay to George Washington, 25 July 1787 (Jay Papers)
I was this morning honored with your Excellency’s Favor of the 22 d Inst: & immediately delivered the Letter it enclosed to Commodore Jones, who being detained by Business, did not go in the french Packet, which sailed Yesterday— Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise & Seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the Administration of our national...
171From John Jay to François de Barbé-Marbois, 5 September 1785 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d the Letter which you did me the Honor to write on the 2 d . Inst. enclosing an Extract from one to Count de Vergennes. Your Solicitude for the Pardon of M r Longchamps is generous, and it w d give me pleasure to co operate in Measures for obtaining it if public Considerations w d permit me to indulge my personal Feelings— Noth In my Judgment nothing tends more to invigorate and...
172From John Jay to Lafayette, 1 September 1788 (Jay Papers)
The Society in this City for promoting the Manumission of Slaves & c . were much pleased to find that you was a Member of a Similar one at Paris. They have admitted you an Honorary Member of theirs, and I they will be happy sincerely wish that your Success ^generous^ Exertions in the Cause of Liberty ^Freedom^ & Humanity may continue to be crowned with Success— With Sentiments of real Esteem &...
173To George Washington from John Jay, 25 August 1785 (Washington Papers)
In pursuance of an Act of Congress of the 19th Instant, of which a Copy is herewith enclosed, I have desired Mr Taylor, one of the Clerks of this Office, to wait upon your Excellency, and agreeable to your Letter of the 5th April last to Mr Thomson, to take Copies of the papers mentioned in it, and in the enclosed Act of Congress. With the best and most sincere Wishes for your Health and...
I have this Moment received an Order of Congress in the following Words viz t . “That the Secretary for foreign Affairs state to Congress without Delay any Information he may have received respecting the sentiments of the Court of France touching our Right of navigating the Mississippi, also that he state to Congress the territorial Claims of Spain on the east Side of the Mississippi.—[”]...
175From John Jay to Peter Van Schaack, 3 September 1784 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your favor of the 21 June last— Doctor Drummond may perhaps have an internal Sense of the Propriety of his Doubts & Scruples but on every other Principle they appear ^ to ^ me very extraordinary unaccountable. Above a Week has been employed here in Discussions between [ Brother Fœdy & myself on the one hand and ?] ^ with ^ our infallible Knight
176From John Jay to Vergennes, 6 September 1785 (Jay Papers)
I have received the Letter which your Excellency did me the Honor to write on the 20 th . June last. His Majesty having appointed the S r . De Marbois to an Intendancy in his Colonies, it gives me Pleasure to be informed that a Chargé des Affaires has been named to supply his Place, during the Absence of Chev r . de la Luzerne. My Confidence in your Excellency’s Attachment to the United...
177From John Jay to Sarah Livingston Jay, 2 January 1785 (Jay Papers)
How ^ happens it ^ my dear Sally that not a Line from You has reached me since we parted. This is my fourth Letter to You. A Copy of my last went by M r G. Morris last Friday. I hope you have rec d . it and seen him—It inform d . you that my Brother had divided his Home with us, and that I flattered myself with the pleasure of seeing you as soon as the weather w d . admit of y r . travelling...
178From John Jay to George Washington, 16 March 1786 (Jay Papers)
Under the same Cover with my Letter to You of 2 Instant, I transmitted a Pamphlet, in which I have since remarked the Errors mentioned in the inclosed printed Paper. altho you have wisely retired from public Employments, and calmly view from the Temple of Fame, the various Exertions of that Sovereignty and Independence which Providence has enabled You to be so greatly & gloriously instrumental...
179To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 9 December 1785 (Jefferson Papers)
From the public papers which will go by the Packet you will percieve that a very indecent attack has been made upon me by a Mr. Littlepage, who was formerly in my family, and from whom I merit better things. It has so happened, however among the few Enemies I have the far greater Part are men on whom I have conferred essential Benefits. This young man does not stand single. I have no Reason to...
180John Jay to the American Commissioners, 14 January 1785 (Jefferson Papers)
On the 21st. Ultimo I accepted the Place of Secretary for foreign Affairs. All the foreign letters which had been received during the recess of Congress were then and are still in the hands of a Committee to whom they had been referred—none have since arrived. The adjournment from Trenton to this Place necessarily occasioned delay in business. Congress yesterday made a House, and I expect that...
By The United States in Congress Assembled— May 7th, 1784. Congress proceeded to the election,& being this day informed by a Letter of the 9 th March last from the Hon Doctor Franklin that M r . J. Jay proposed to embark for America in the month of April and this information corresponding with the intelligence communicated to Congress by Mr. Jay himself in his Letters of last year, Mr. Jay was...
182From John Jay to George Washington, 4[–8] July 1788 (Jay Papers)
I congratulate you my dear Sir! on the Adoption of the Constitution by Virginia. That Event has disappointed the Expectations of Opposition here, which nevertheless continues pertinacious. The unanimity of the southern District, and their apparent Determination to continue under the Wings of the union operates powerfully on the Minds of the opposite Party. The Constitution constantly gains...
183From John Jay to Robert R. Livingston, 5 September 1784 (Jay Papers)
On the 17 Aug t . I rec d . from M r . Lewis your Favor of the 30 July, and on the 18 Aug t . I answered it. The Day before Yesterday Your’s of the 26 Ult. reached me, and I am mortified to learn from it that mine to you had not come to Hand—it went by the Post, and was put into the office with my own Hands. I flatter myself that You have since rec d . it— As to the Letters rec d . from You...
184From John Jay to Ferdinand Grand, December 1785 (Jay Papers)
I thank you sincerely for your [ obli ?] friendly Letter of the 27 Aug t . and for the obliging attention you have paid to the Commission which I requested you to execute. I wish your Design of shipping ^ sending ^ the Glass by the Vessel which is to bring over Doct r Franklin’s Baggage may take place, for my windows are now ready to recieve it. If no opportunity should offer directly from...
185To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 24 April 1788 (Jefferson Papers)
Since the 3d. November last I have been honored with your Favors of the 19th. 22d. and 24th. September, 8th. and 27th October, 3d and 7th November, 21st and 31st December and 5th. February last—all of which have been laid before Congress; but they have given me no Orders respecting the Subjects of them. The State of my Health was for a long Time such as to oblige me to omit some good...
186From John Jay to Floridablanca, 21 September 1785 (Jay Papers)
When Count de Galvez lately came to the Government of the Havanna, he found there several Americans who, during the Administration of his Predecessor, had experienced much Rigour, and been exposed to various and unusual Hardships. The Intelligence of these Transactions had reached Congress, and given them Concern, when shortly afterwards they were informed that Count de Galvez had pursued...
187To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 22 March 1785 (Jefferson Papers)
The Packet being still here, I have the Honor of transmitting to you herewith enclosed your Commission and Letter of Credence. Mr. Randall who goes as a Passenger in the Packet has my other Letters, and will be the Bearer of this. Permit me to recommend him to your Attention. I have the Honor to be &ca., FC ( DNA : PCC , No. 80); in clerk’s hand, signed by Jay. Entry in SJL of its receipt on 2...
188From James Duane, John Jay, and Robert R. Livingston to Alexander Hamilton and Samuel Jones, 9 June 1785 (Hamilton Papers)
At a meeting of the agents appointed by the state of New York to manage their controversy with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts —it is agreed that a general retaining fee be given to Alexander Hamilton and Samuel Jones Esqrs. as Counsellors and Solicitors on the part of this State that the brief already prepared together with the necessary papers be put in their hands—That they compleat the...
189Franklin and John Jay to Thomas Mifflin, 16 April 1784 (Franklin Papers)
ALS and copy: National Archives; press copy of ALS : Library of Congress We duly received the Letters your Excellency did us the honour of writing to us the 14th of January by Colonel Harmar & Lieut. Col. David Franks, with the Ratification of the Definitive Treaty, the Proclamation, & the Recommendatory Resolves of Congress. On the Arrival of Col. Harmar, we immediately wrote to Mr Hartley,...
190From John Jay to Lafayette, 16 February 1787 (Jay Papers)
Congress being again convened, I have communicated to them the Letter you did me the Honor to write on the 28 Oct r last. The Paper ^ it ^ enclosed had been laid before M r Gardoqui, & made known to his court, but it seems the minister Count De Florida Blanca does not ^ consider ^ it in the same point of Light that he ^ we
Resolved ^ Unanimously ^ . Eight States only being represented that his Ex y the President inform the Minister plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of France that it is the Desire but not the Instruction of Congress that in Case the Convention proposed for regulating and ascertaining the Powers and Priviledges of Consuls sh d . not be already signed, that he delay signing it until...
192From John Jay to Charles Thomson, 14 November 1783 (Jay Papers)
I have been here a month, & well only two Days—first a bloody flux, & now a sore throat— I came in Quest of health, but seek & you shall find does not it seems always extend to that of the Body. The Parliam t . is sitting. The Kings Speech & its Echos, you will see in the papers— in my opin I have not had any Conversation on politics with either of the ministers—in my opinion no plan or System...
193To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 24 October 1787 (Jefferson Papers)
The Dispatches alluded to in my late Letters together with others of some importance are ready, and were intended to be conveyed to you by this Packet; but the Gentleman to whose care they were committed declining to go in her, they must pass to you by some other Route. An opinion prevails that hostilities have probably commenced between France and Britain, and such is its Impression that some...
Your Excellency’s ^ Letter ^ was delivered ^ to ^ me this morning. The interpretation of the Council appears to me to be right. I however regret that there was room for doubt; for in my opinion the command of American Vessels should be confined to American Citizens. I have the honor to be with great Respect & c . LbkC , DNA: Domestic Letters Domestic Letters of the Department of State,...
195From John Jay to Thomas Jefferson, 9 December 1785 (Jay Papers)
You will learn that a virulent att ^ From ^ the public papers which will go by the Packet you will percieve that a very indecent attack has been made upon me by a M r Littlepage who was formerly in my Family & from whom I merit better things— It has so happened however that almost all the Enemies ^ among ^ the few Enemies I have the far greater Part are men on whom I have conferred great...
196To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 10 May 1786 (Jefferson Papers)
This will be delivered to you by the Revd. Doctr. Samuel Wales, Professor in Yale College in Connecticut, who for the Recovery of his Health is advised by his Physicians to make a Voyage to Europe. This Gentleman is recommended to me in such strong and advantageous Terms, that I cannot forbear taking the Liberty of introducing him to you, and requesting the Favor of you to shew him those...
197From John Jay to William Livingston, 6 September 1787 (Jay Papers)
I have been favored with yours of the 28 of last Month enclosing a letter for M r Kempe, which I have forwarded by the Packet. It is with Pleasure we learn that the Convention will probably rise next week—Their Session has been of sufficient Duration to give their Proceedings the advantage of every argument that can be drawn from due Time spent in maturing them— M rs . Jay & our little Folks...
I have received from the Chargé des Affaires of France a Letter dated the 28 th . Instant, which I herewith enclose.— He called upon me and spoke on a variety of Subjects. It appeared to me prudent to request the favor of him to reduce his Communications to writing, in a summary way. He did so, but prefered doing it in an unformal manner, and therefore did not sign it.— I think it my duty to...
199To Thomas Jefferson from John Jay, 9 March 1789 (Jefferson Papers)
Since the thirteenth Day of September nine States have not been represented in Congress, and since the tenth Day of October last a sufficient Number for ordinary Business have not convened. No Progress therefore could be made in the Affairs of this Department, and that will continue to be the Case unless the Government shall be organized. Many Members of the new Congress are now here, but not...
200To George Washington from John Jay, 16 March 1786 (Washington Papers)
Under the same cover with my Letter to You of 2 Instant, I transmitted a Pamphlet, in which I have since remarked the Errors mentioned in the inclosed printed Paper. altho’ you have wisely retired from public Employments, and calmly view from the Temple of Fame, the various Exertions of the Sovereignty and Independence which Providence has enabled You to be so greatly & gloriously instrumental...