1To John Jay from Peter Thacher, 19 April 1797 (Jay Papers)
The board of commissioners in Boston from the society in Scotland for propagating christian knowledge have directed me to address your excellency, upon a subject which is important to the interests of christianity and of the society whom they represent. This society have, for a number of years past, supported a mission to the Oneida indians who live in your state. M r . Kirkland, who has been...
2To John Jay from Jedidiah Morse, 21 April 1797 (Jay Papers)
I should have acknowledged the receipt of your obliging & acceptable Letter of the 28th of Feby. earlier, but for the great & unremitting attention I have been obliged to pay to my Gazetteer wh[ic]h is in the press. The plan of a History of our Revolution wh[ic]h you, Sir, have suggested, is certainly natural, plain, concise, comprehensive & judicious— & your directions, as to the objects of...
3To John Jay from Sebastian Bauman, [15 May 1797] (Jay Papers)
To his Excellency John Jay Esq r . Governor and Commander in chief of the Militia of the State of New York & c & c I am sorry that circumstances have finally brought me to quit and give up my Military Commission, which I cannot hold any longer without the greatest degradation, inadmissable and incoherent with the Character of a Soldier. The Appointment of Brigadier General Hughes who was a...
4To John Jay from Timothy Pickering, 8 June 1797 (Jay Papers)
The manner in which you have noticed my letter to General Pinckney, at its first publication, and recently in your letter of the 27th ult. has given me the truest satisfaction; while the reproaches of the whole body of democrats, of French Devotees , excite no other sensation than that of regret for the mischief their lies and misrepresentations produce thro’ the country. I am well informed...
5To John Jay from John Trumbull, 10 June 1797 (Jay Papers)
You will permit me to present to your acquaintance the Bearer of this Letter. M r . Neimsiwits a Polish Gentleman the Friend & Companion of the unfortunate Kosciusko. M r Neimsiwits was a member of the constitutional Assembly of Poland;— was afterwards wounded by the Gen ls . side:—and carried with him a Prisoner to Petersburg, where, so long as the Empress lived, He was confined & treated in...
6To John Jay from John Trumbull, 20 July 1797 (Jay Papers)
On the 9 th . instant, M r . King put into my hands your Letter of the 3 d . June, containing duplicate of one dated 20 th . October the original of which never came to hand.— I beg you to accept my thanks for both, and particularly for the wise reflexions & Counsel contained in that of October:— Experience has shewn that my apprehensions of delicate and high responsibility, were not...
7To John Jay from John Trumbull, 7 August 1797 (Jay Papers)
Lest Kemp , by whom the original of the above was sent, should be taken, I have written duplicate— Our Awards had all been drawn payable at the Treasury here on the First of July:— for want of proper previous arrangements, they remained unpaid , at the date of the foregoing:— Of course, as there was I believe only one, in which the Board had been unanimous—and many ^in^ which there had been...
8To John Jay from Rufus King, 16 August 1797 (Jay Papers)
I had the pleasure to receive your Letter by M r . Flemming; that for Lord Amherst was but just in time to be delivered before his Death.— From the very great Reserve that every where exists concerning the negotiations in Italy and at Lisle, it is not easy to form a satisfactory opinion respecting their termination; indeed the great struggle that exists between the Directory and the two...
9To John Jay from Timothy Pickering, 9 September 1797 (Jay Papers)
Perhaps you may think the rude and insolent letter of the Chevalier de Yrujo to me, dated the 11th of July, not entitled to an answer, especially as the documents which had been made public proved to every well informed man and attentive reader that his observations were either futile or unfounded. But I thought it would be necessary to make some remarks on his letter, to be eventually...
10To John Jay from Rufus King, 9 September 1797 (Jay Papers)
What we know of the negotiations between france Austria and England, gives little encouragement to hope that their issue will be pacific— The internal Situation of france is alarming; instead of a Reconciliation between the Directory & the Councils, the breach appears to grow wider— Both sides court the Armies, and a civil war seems to be organizing itself— I send you a posthumous work of M r...
11To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 24 October 1797 (Jay Papers)
On Saturday Cæsar put on board Capt Hanson’s Sloop several Articles which Mama requested me to send viz a Jug of Oil, the Racks for the Spit a Box of Rush-lights & the Safe— in the latter was a Bag containing Salt Petre Isinglass &c and also a small Pot of Ointment for you which Doctor Charlton had given me a day or two before,— The enclosed Letter accompanied it, but I thought it would go...
12To John Jay from Timothy Pickering, 28 October 1797 (Jay Papers)
Last evening I received the inclosed letter for you from M r . King. With His dispatches by the W m . Penn I received a copy of the treaty of commerce & navigation between G. Britain & Russia, concluded the 21st of February last. There is no provision, that free ships shall make free goods. The articles of contraband are confined to those immediately relating to war, and do not comprehend...
13To John Jay from Rufus King, 31 October 1797 (Jay Papers)
Our Envoys have been at Paris from the first of the month— during the last fortnight there has been no Person from France by whom I could have heard from them— Col. Trumbull is at Paris on his Return from Germany, and we expect him here in a day or two; we shall be better able after his arrival than at present to form an Opinion concerning the issue of our Negociation— It remains still...
14To John Jay from Rufus King, 12 November 1797 (Jay Papers)
By M r . Seton I sent you the Dec[larati]on of this Government on the rupture of the Negociation at Lisle— I now send you Lord Malmesburys correspondence with a number of News Papers— The treaty between Portugal & France has been annulled by the latter, because it had not been ratified by the former within the time first prescribed for that Purpose, tho it is asserted that this time had been...
15To John Jay from Christopher Gore, 13 November 1797 (Jay Papers)
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your friendly letter of June last— Since that time you have doubtless heard, how far our board has progressed, in the business of their commission. There is little prospect of our doing much more in relation to claims, on the Brit. Govt, until next April; when the term of 18 M[onth]s, limited, by the article, for the reception of complaints,...
16To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 26 November 1797 (Jay Papers)
I have been amused for a week past with daily promisses by the Agents of two Furnaces respecting the Stove you wrote for, there being none of that Kind to be had ready made— As I am informed the River is closed for a Distance below Albany, and as from the weather it is doubtful whether it will again be open I do not think it will be prudent to wait any longer— You had better therefore provide...
17To John Jay from Timothy Pickering, 13 December 1797 (Jay Papers)
Yesterday, in conversation with M r . FitzSimons (who, you will doubtless recollect, is one of the commissioners on the claims of British debts) he mentioned two questions of vast importance which were presented at the threshold of the business: one, ^on^ which side lay the onus probandi respecting the solvency or insolvency of the debtor—the other, whether interest should or should not be...
18To John Jay from Josiah Ogden Hoffman, 14 December 1797 (Jay Papers)
I concieve it my Duty to state to Your Excellency the Situation of and proceedings in the two Suits instituted against Mary Lindsley and others, and against Abraham Miller, by Samuel Fowler and Jonathan Lyman Citizens of the State of Massachusets for the Recovery of Lands situate within the Counties of Steuben and Tioga in this State, to which the Plaintiffs claim Title by Virtue of and under...
19To John Jay from Ebenezer Stevens, 6 January 1798 (Jay Papers)
I have the honor to enclose Your excellency a return of the field artillery ammunition and small arms which I have received from the Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to procure the same and also of the issues therefrom to the different counties agreeable to your Excellency’s orders— I beg leave to inform your Excellency that fifty cases small arms recently missorted were damaged and...
20To John Jay from Richard Varick, 10 January 1798 (Jay Papers)
I have the Honor of once more troubling Your Excellency & perhaps calling a Moments Attention from more important public Concerns, to inform You of a Measure proposed to the Common Council of this City this Day by the Recorder & myself & by them unanimously adopted, to wit, We have discovered by Experience that the public Business of the Sessions could not be dispatched in four Terms only of 7...
21To John Jay from John Trumbull, 6 March 1798 (Jay Papers)
The last letter which I have had the honor to receive from you is dated in Albany the 27 th . Oct r . and the last which I wrote to you was of the 10 th . December.— Our Commissioners have not ^been^ received to an Audience in Paris, nor has any Negotiation with them been fairly opened:— Decrees more offensive than all the acts of which they had to complain have been passed under their...
22To John Jay from Timothy Pickering, 9 April 1798 (Jay Papers)
The dispatches from our envoys in Paris being published this morning, I do myself the pleasure to inclose you a copy. Unless the corruption of the French Government and their unjust, tyrannical, rapacious and insulting conduct towards the U. States shall rouse the indignant spirit of the people , our independence is at an end. The leaders of the opposition in Congress, while thunderstruck with...
23To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 15 April 1798 (Jay Papers)
I had the pleasure of rec g : your Letters of the 6th, 7th, & 9th. inst on Friday, & another which accompanied the Pardon for M r . Meeks’s Man yesterday— I shall immediately attend to the different directions contained in them— Most of the Prints are already very neatly boxed; the Cases containing Copies of the U. S. Laws I have put on board Bleeckers Sloop (the same in which Maria came down)...
24To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 19 April 1798 (Jay Papers)
I yesterday rec d . your Letter of the 16th inst: & the Bundle which accompanied it— The latter shall be sent to Rye by the Boat— I am almost sorry you intend to dispose of the Coach, & should prefer parting with the Chariot which in a few years more will be unfit for use, or at any Rate a constant Bill of Cost— Besides that the former will probably sell for much less than its Value— I shall...
25From Alexander Hamilton to John Jay, 24 April 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
I have received your two favours of the 19th instant. I feel as I ought the mark of confidence they announce. But I am obliged by my situation to decline the appointment. This situation you are too well acquainted with to render it necessary for me to enter into explanation. There may arrive a crisis when I may conceive myself bound once more to sacrifice the interest of my family to public...
26To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 26 April 1798 (Jay Papers)
I have this Afternoon put on board Capt Lansings Sloop 15 Barrels of Wine, 1 Case of Flasks with d o Nine Boxes of Prints & Pictures & small Articles of Glass & China & one small black trunk— I have sent you all the wine except two Barrels whose hoops appeared too insecure to be trusted— I will send you a List of the Contents in a Letter by Capt. Lansing— I have just returned from the Society...
27To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 6 May 1798 (Jay Papers)
I have at length compleated the evacuation of the Gov t . House & taken Possession of my Rooms at M rs . Wests from whence I now write— The Trouble of moving which was much greater than I expected to find it, prevented my writing during the last week. I sent you a number of Articles by Capt: Dusenberry, all those that remain are at M r . Munro’s, who has had one of his unfinished rooms floored...
28To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 13 May 1798 (Jay Papers)
It is now some time since I had the pleasure of hearing from you— this I attribute to your having been at Schenectady where I perceive by the Papers you was present at the Commencement— M r . Seth Marvin some time ago applied to me to purchase your Share of Lot N o . 18 in Cheesecocks Patent (containing as he says 195 Acres) for which he offered 24/pr. Acre, but it appeared during our...
29To John Jay from Ebenezer Stevens, 30 May 1798 (Jay Papers)
I am honoured with your favour of the 26 th . instant, and sincerely thank you, for the attention paid to M r . Smith— I agree with you that we ought to be united in our Councils, and uninfluenced by Considerations in which the public has little interest: be assured, it is my sincere wish, that the greatest unanimity take place, for it is absolutely necessary; and no Steps should be neglected,...
30To John Jay from Matthew Clarkson, 10 June 1798 (Jay Papers)
The Citizens of New York, anxious and disquieted on account of the imperfect state of defence of this port and City, and fearing from the great and complicated objects which engage the attention of the General Government at this juncture, that measures for their security may not be executed as promptly as the danger may require:—have been induced to appoint Committees to devise and pursue such...