From John Jay to Diego de Gardoqui, 1 March 1786

To Diego de Gardoqui

NYork 1 March 1786

Dr Sr

I have recd the Letter which You did me the Honor to write yesterday, informing me that instead of granting a Permit as you requested for me to purchase and export a Horse, his Majesty has been pleased to order one to be sent to You for me.1 This is indeed doing a Favor in a royal Manner—It demands my sincere and respectful acknowledgements, and I shall take the Liberty of requesting the Count de FloridaBlanca to express to the King the Sense I entertain of it.

I ought however to apprize you that I do not consider myself at Liberty to accept the Horse without the previous Permission of Congress—I shall immediately lay your Letter before them,2 and acquaint you without Delay of the answer they may be pleased to give.3

Your application for the Permit was friendly & obliging—accept my thanks for it, and be assured of the Esteem & Regard with which I have the Honor to be Dr Sir your most obt. & very hble Servt

Senr Dn. Diego de Gardoqui the Encargado de Negocios of his Catholic Majesty

Dft, NNC (5799); C, in English with Spanish translation, SpMaAHN: Estado, leg. 3884, exp. 8, doc. 29; C, enclosed in JJ to the President of Congress, 1 Mar. 1786, DNA: PCC, item 80, 2: 169–73 (EJ: 188); LbkC, DNA: Domestic Letters description begins Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1784–1906, RG59, item 120, National Archives (M40). Accessed on Fold3.com. description ends , 2: 122 (EJ: 1887).

1. Gardoqui to JJ, 28 Feb. 1786: “You may remember that in one of the conversations which we had soon after I arrived here, you said that if you had returned directly from Spain to America you would have asked for a Permit to export a spanish Horse for Breed, and that I offered to write and request such a Permit. I accordingly did write in June last to his Excellency Count de Florida Blanca who was pleased to mention it to the King; but his Majesty instead of Granting the Permit ordered a Horse to be sent to me for you. One was chosen afterwards and sent to Cadiz where he has been many months expecting a Vessel that might carry him to this Place. He has arrived at last after a voyage of 75 Days, and will be disembarked as soon as part of the Cargo is taken out, all which I communicate to you for your Information.” C, in Spanish and English trans., DNA: PCC, item 80, 2: 128–32 (EJ: 3638); DNA: Domestic Letters description begins Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1784–1906, RG59, item 120, National Archives (M40). Accessed on Fold3.com. description ends , 2: 120, 124 (EJ: 1886); in Spanish, DNA: PCC, item 97, 128, 132 and in SpMaAHN: Estado, leg. 3884, exp. 8, doc. 29; DC, description begins William A. Weaver, ed., Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America, from the Signing of the Definitive Treaty of Peace, 10th September, 1783, to the Adoption of the Constitution, March 4, 1789 (7 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1833–34) description ends 6: 141–42.

2. JJ sent a covering letter to the President of Congress, 1 Mar. 1786: “The Subject of this [Gardoqui’s] Letter makes it my Duty to request, and be governed by, the Orders of Congress respecting it.” DNA: PCC, item 80, 2: 169–73 (EJ: 188); LbkC, DNA: Domestic Letters description begins Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1784–1906, RG59, item 120, National Archives (M40). Accessed on Fold3.com. description ends , 2: 122 (EJ: 1887), enclosing Gardoqui’s of 28 Feb., and JJ’s reply of 1 Mar. This was read in Congress on 1 Mar. and referred to Rufus King, Charles Pinckney, and Zephaniah Platt. 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 30, 90n.

3. For the congressional response, see JJ to CT, 3 Mar., and notes, below.

Index Entries

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Jay Papers
Title: From John Jay to Diego de Gardoqui, 1 March 1786
Author: Jay, John
Recipient: Gardoqui, Diego de
Date: 1 March 1786

Reference

Cite as: “From John Jay to Diego de Gardoqui, 1 March 1786,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-04-02-0140. [Original source: The Selected Papers of John Jay, vol. 4, 1785–1788, ed. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, pp. 304–305.]

More between these correspondents