From John Jay to Lindley Murray, 22 August 1794
To Lindley Murray
Royal Hotel— Pall Mall 22 augt. 1794
Dear Sir
I thank you very sincerely for the kind Letter you was so obliging as to write to me on the 15th. of this month.1 The Sentiments of Esteem and Regard which are expressed in it, afford additional Enducements to my Endeavours to deserve them.
To see things as being what they are, to estimate them aright, and to act accordingly, are of all attainments, the most important—circumstanced as we are, it is exceedingly difficult to acquire either of these ^and especially the last^ in any eminent Degree; but in proportion to our Progress, so will be our wisdom, and our Prospect of Happiness. I perceive that we concur in testament ^thinking^, that we must go Home to be happy, and that our Home is not in this world. Here we have nothing to do but our Duty, and by it to
regulate our Business and our Pleasures: for there are innocent as well as vicious Pleasures, and Travellers thro’ the World (as we all are) may without Scruple gratefully enjoy the good Roads, pleasant Scenes and agreable accommodations, with which Providence may be pleased to render our Journey more chearful and comfortable, but in search of these we are not to deviate from the main Road, nor when they occur should we permit them to detain or retard us. The theory of Prudence is sublime, and in many Respects simple,— The Practice is difficult; and it necessarily must be so, or this would cease to be a State of Probation.
The Sentiments diffused thro’ your Book2 are just striking and useful— but my good Friend! our opinions are oftener right than our Conduct; and among the strange things of the world, nothing seems more strange, than that men pursuing Happiness, should knowing^ly^ quit the right & take a wrong Road; and frequently do what their Judgments neither approve or nor prefer. Yet so is the fact: and this Fact points strongly to the necessity of our being healed, or restored or regenerated by a power more energetic than any of those which belong properly belong to the human mind. We percieve that a great Breach has been made in the moral and physical Systems, by the Introduction of moral and physical Evil— how, or why, we know not—so however it is— & it certainly seems proper that this Breach shd. be closed, and order restored. For this purpose only one adequate plan has ever appeared in the world, and that is the Christian Dispensation— in this ^plan^ I have full faith.— Man in his natural present state is but appears to be a degraded creature—his best Gold is mixed with Dross, and his best Motives ^are^ very far from being pure and free from Earth & Impurity—
I mention these things that you may see the State of my Mind relative to these interesting Subjects; and to relieve yours from Doubts wh. your friendship for me might render disagreable.
I regret your want of Health, and the bodily afflictions with wh. you are visited— God only knows what is best— Many will have Reason to rejoice in the End for the Days wherein they have seen adversity. Your Mind is in full Strength & vigour and that is an inestimable Blessing.
It really wd. give me great pleasure to see ^visit^ you before I return, ^but^ I dare not promise myself that Satisfaction being so much and so constantly under the Direction of Circumstances wh. I cannot controul
As to the Wars now waging— They appear to me to be of a different Description from ordinary ones— They are in my opinion as unlike common Wars, as the great plague in London was unlike common Sicknesses. I think
we are just entering on the Age of Revolutions; and that the Impurities of our moral atmosphere (if I may use the Expression) are about to be purified by a Succession of political Storms. I sincerely wish for general peace and good will among Men, but I shall be mistaken if (short Intervals excepted) the Season for those Blessings is not at some Distance— If any Country escapes I am inclined to think it will be our own; and I am led to this opinion by general Principles & Reasoning, and not by particular Facts or Occurrences, some of which certainly ^so strongly^ favor a contrary Idea, as to produce in my Mind much Doubt & Apprehensions— I am Dear Sir your affte. Friend Lindley Murray Esqr.
Dft, NNC (EJ: 09607). Endorsed: “… in anr. 15 [Aug.] 1794”. , 1: 344–46; , 4: 50–53.
1. Lindley Murray to JJ, 15 July 1794, ALS, NNC (EJ: 09606). Murray (1745–1826) and JJ became friends when they both clerked for Benjamin Kissam. See , 1: 28–29, 50–51. Murray was the son of Robert Murray, a wealthy Quaker merchant and shipowner, nephew of John Murray (the Presbyterian) and brother of John Murray Jr., all of whom had been members of the NYMS. See , 4: 30. The Murrays were also in partnership with London merchant Philip Sansom. During the American Revolution, Lindley Murray spent the early part of the conflict on Long Island, returning to occupied New York City in 1779 as a merchant. Murray maintained that he was neutral in the conflict, although the Murray family had a mixed reputation politically. In December 1784, citing the health problems that would continue the rest of his life, Murray and his wife Hannah departed for England, settling in York. However, he remained an American citizen, refrained from socializing with other exiles, and continued to own property in New York. In England, he began his second, very successful career as a writer and grammarian. His English Grammar, Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners (London, 1795), for example, sold an estimated million copies in both the United States and Great Britain. ANBO.
In his letter to JJ, Murray invited him to visit in York, apologizing for not being able to go to London because of his health. He congratulated JJ on his appointment, writing, “When I first heard of the commission of my much esteemed Friend, John Jay, as Envoy Extraordinary to the British Court, I rejoiced in the prospect which his known abilities, integrity, and benevolence afforded, of a speedy and happy dispersion of those clouds of hostility, which have been for some time gathering, and which seemed of late ready to involve the two countries in confusion and distress.” He also expressed the wish that once JJ had successfully completed his mission, he would negotiate a peace with France. Newspapers had reported rumors to this effect beginning in early July. See, for example, Morning Post and Fashionable World (London), 2 July 1794. See also the editorial note “John Jay’s Mission to London,” above.
2. The expanded edition of The power of religion on the mind, in retirement, sickness, and at death; exemplified in the testimonies and experience of persons, distinguished by their greatness, learning, or virtue (London, 1793). Murray had sent JJ a copy of the first edition in 1787. See JJ to Murray, 17 Oct. 1787, Dft, NNC (EJ: 12420).