John Jay Papers
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From John Jay to Taher Ben Abdelhack Fennish, 24 July 1787

To Taher Ben Abdelhack Fennish

New York—^office for foreign affairs^ 24 July 1787

Sir

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.1

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 your friendly attentions to their Envoy in the Course of that ^the^ Negotiation, and adm with the Probity Candor & Liberality which distinguished your Conduct on that occasion.2 Permit me to request the Favor of you to signify to his Majesty’s ^Chaplain or^ Preacher that the Letters of the american Envoy make honorable mention of ^him, &^ that his disinterested Candor and Benevolence have impressed Congress with much Esteem for his Character and Person.—

I flatter myself Sir that the Peace so happily concluded between our two Countries will gradually produce advantages to both especially when ^after^ our Commerce to the mediterranean shall cease to be interrupted by the african States who now molest it- ^and you may rest assured that your name and Character^ will always be remembered & respected by these Countries States I have the Honor to be with great Consideration and Respect Sir your most obt. & very hble. Servt.

Mr. Tahir ^Ben Abdelhack^ Fennish

Dft, NNC (EJ: 5898); LbkC, DNA: Foreign Letters description begins Foreign Letters of the Continental Congress and Department of State, 1785–1790, RG 59, item 121, National Archives (M61). Accessed on Fold3.com. description ends , 266–67 (EJ: 2506).

1. JJ transmitted the Moroccan treaty to Congress on 11 Apr. 1787, JCC, description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends 32: 176. See also JJ’s report to Congress on the Moroccan treaty, 5 May 1787 (LS in DNA: PCC, item 81, 3: 109–11), read 8 May (JCC, description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends 32: 273–74), and agreed to by Congress on 18 July 1787, JCC, description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends 32: 355–64; DNA: PCC, item 5, 1619–27; DNA: PCC, item 6, 376–77, 380, 383–90. When Congress ratified the treaty on 18 July, JJ was ordered to draft a letter to the Emperor of Morocco to accompany the ratification. The letter proposed by JJ was agreed upon by Congress on 23 July, LS, DNA: PCC, item 81, 3: 125; JCC, description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends 33: 393–96.

2. Fennish, the Emperor’s “preacher,” was “friendly and important” in the negotiations. Thomas Barclay to U.S. Commissioners, 18 Sept. 1786, PTJ, description begins Julian T. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (41 vols. to date; Princeton, N.J., 1950–) description ends 10: 389–92. JJ proposed a letter of thanks to Fennish.

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    Jay Papers
    Title
    From John Jay to Taher Ben Abdelhack Fennish, 24 July 1787
    Author
    Jay, John
    Recipient
    Fennish, Taher Ben Abdelhack
    Date
    24 July 1787

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From John Jay to Taher Ben Abdelhack Fennish, 24 July 1787,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-04-02-0245. [Original source: The Selected Papers of John Jay, vol. 4, 1785–1788, ed. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, p. 526.]