From John Jay to Robert Liston, 6 May 1796
To Robert Liston
[Friday Morning 8 oC[loc]k. 6 May 1796]
The Govr. presents his Compts. to Mr Liston— The enclosed affidavit of Richd. 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.1
Mr Liston will readily percieve the Influence wh. such Complaints never fail to have on public opinion and Sensibility, and how strongly Justice as well as prudence recommend that the merits of them be ascertained, and right done, without Delay—
The Govr. purposing to have the Honor of paying his Respects to Mr & Mrs. Liston in the Course of this Day, had concluded to take that opportunity of communicating & conversing on ^the Subject of^ this aff[ai]r.— but as public Business makes it necessary for him first to visit one of the Islands in the Harbour, where he may perhaps be detained untill one or two oC[loc]k. he on further Reflection thinks it better to avoid Delay, and to transmit it at this early Hour—2
Dft, NNC (EJ: 08956). Robert Liston, who served as the British minister plenipotentiary to the United States, and his wife Henrietta Marchant Liston (1752–1828), sailed from Portsmouth, England, in March 1796 on the HMS Assistance, a fifty-gun ship captained by Henry Mowat. Liston received the above letter from JJ upon his arrival in New York City.
1. The HMS Assistance stopped and boarded the Amphion under command of Capt. Williams, and removed two of the sailors, reported as American-born, and eight passengers. Minerva (New York), 16 May 1796. See also Liston to John Temple, 6 May 1796, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06782).
2. In her travel diary, Henrietta Marchant Liston recorded her impression on first meeting the Jays: “We met here the present Governor Mr. Jay, formerly American Minister to Great Britain & the framer of the British Treaty, his appearance is rather singular, in dress & manners strikingly like a Quaker. His eye is penetrating, his conversation sensible & intelligent; his deportment grave & though his Political Character is firm & decided, there seems to be a general indecision in his manner of expressing his Sentiments. I visited Mrs. Jay, who, as wife to the Governor was entitled to it, otherwise it is the fashion here, as in England, that Strangers receive the first visit. Mrs. Jay’s claim was strengthened by her being confined to her Chamber with a hurt on her Leg. I found her young & pretty, & more affable than is common amongst her Country Women.” Louise V. North, The Travel Journals of Henrietta Marchant Liston: North America and Lower Canada, 1796–1800 (Lanham, Boulder, New York, London, 2014), 4.