To John Jay from John Lansing Jr., 26 March 1801
From John Lansing Jr.
ALBANY, March 26, 1801.
Sir,
SOON after the receipt of your Excellency’s letter of the 18th Instant, addressed to the Chancellor, Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court,1 Judge Lewis left this city, in expectation of returning on Friday or Saturday next.
PREVIOUS to his departure, all the Judges of the Supreme Court had a consultation on the subject matter of that letter, and it was then concluded by them, that a final determination respecting it should be suspended, until the Chancellor could have an opportunity to attend and consult with them on the occasion. A letter communicating this circumstance, and a copy of your letter, was dispatched to the Chancellor— his answer to which, he requested might be transmitted to you, Sir, with their opinion, which I have now the honor to enclose.
AFTER the departure of Judge Lewis, I received a note from him,2 desiring me, in case he did not return in time to unite in an answer to your Excellency’s letter, to signify it as his opinion, that the Chancellor and Judges ought not to answer the question proposed; as it might possibly come before them in the shape of an impeachment.
IT is highly probable that he may upon his return be disposed to express his opinion on this interesting subject more at large; but I did not think myself at liberty, merely on that account, to delay this communication.3 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your Excellency’s most obedient servant,
JOHN LANSING, Jun.
His Excellency John Jay, Esquire, Governor of the state of New-York.
PtD and C, embedded in JJ’s Message to the New York State Assembly, 28 Mar. 1801, below. Reprinted: Albany Gazette, 30 Mar.; Albany Centinel (supplement), 31 Mar., DeWitt Clinton Broadside Collection, NAll; American Citizen, Commercial Advertiser, and Mercantile Advertiser (all New York), 2 Apr.; Spectator (New York) 4 Apr.; Philadelphia Gazette, 6 Apr.; Washington Federalist, (Georgetown), 10 Apr.; Hudson Gazette, 14 Apr. 1801; N.Y. Assembly Journal, 28 Mar. 1801, 24th sess. (1800–1801), 247–48; NYGM, 2: 480–81.
Lansing’s letter is in reply to JJ to the New York State Chancellor (Robert R. Livingston), Chief Justice (John Lansing Jr.), and Associate Justices of the New York State Supreme Court (Egbert Benson, James Kent, Morgan Lewis, and Jacob Radcliff), 18 Mar. 1801, above. See also replies to JJ’s letter by RRL, 21 Mar., above; and John Lansing Jr., Egbert Benson, James Kent, and Jacob Radcliff, 26 Mar. 1801, below.
1. JJ to the New York State Chancellor (Robert R. Livingston), Chief Justice (John Lansing Jr.), and Associate Justices of the New York State Supreme Court (Egbert Benson, James Kent, Morgan Lewis, and Jacob Radcliff), 18 Mar. 1801, above.
2. Morgan Lewis to John Lansing Jr., not found.
3. For more on JJ’s longstanding dispute with the Council of Appointment, and his attempts to resolve the issue, see the editorial note “Conflict with the Council of Appointment,” above.