To John Jay from John Trumbull, 20 September 1798
From John Trumbull
72 Welbeck St. London Septr. 20th. 1798
Dear Sir,
I wrote you a long letter on the 10th. of December last, which with many others was lost with the Ship Fame, which foundered at Sea:1 a similar fate may also have attended letters from you to me, since it is very long since I have had the Honour to receive a line from you;— I have written several times since.
In one of mine of last year I hinted to you a difficulty which was likely to occur in the business of the Commission on the 10th. of October—2 We met this question, on the 10th. of April, and after much discussion and difficulty have at length succeeded to establish a Rule under which I trust that the Business will be entirely concluded within Two Years.— The Doctrine very obstinately insisted on by Doctors Commons would have rendered our Board, like their Courts, perennial.
The Government of France see that they played a bad game with our Commissioners; & finding that bullying does not succeed, have already begun to flatter; I think however in a very bungling manner.—3 The parting proposition made to Mr. Gerry of recalling & renewing all Commissions to Privateers in the West Indies signifies nothing, since it is not of illegal Commissions, but of improper Instructions that we have to complain.— The second measure, the Arretée taking off the Embargo which had been laid on American Ships is of as little moment and as easily seen thro:— the treatment which our Merchants had long met, had so far discouraged them from the French Commerce, that the Embargo did not affect more than 20 Ships in all the Republic, and those of little value:— It was natural therefore that they should be willing to exchange this trifling plunder for the much greater advantage which they must expect to derive from such a display of seeming liberality and Moderation accompanied as it is with such sugared Words of good will, and professions of an ardent desire for the Continuance of Harmony.— As the War will probably be renewed in Europe, we must expect to see this game played in its full extent, and with the deepest Art;— but I trust that the Fate of Venice, Switzerland &c &c who have been ruined by their silly confidence in similar professions will guard us against adding ourselves to the number of deluded Slaves.
The Friendship of that Government is infinitely more to be dreaded by us than their Arms;— distant as we are I do not fear the latter but the influence of their Intrigues appears to be as boundless and dangerous as their Ambition.
The Redacteur of the 15th. and other Paris papers of the 16th. announce in a pompous and silly message of the Directory, the safe arrival of Buonaparte with his Army in Egypt,—of his having been at Grand Cairo on the 23rd. July, and of his having continued his March— I presume to the Red Sea and India— the same papers state that the Fleet which carried him, has been attacked by Admiral Neilson in a Fort at the Mouth of the Nile, and after an obstinate defence, entirely destroyed or captured. We hope that this News coming from such Authority will prove true,— altho we have been so often deluded by similar Accounts, that we are become a little slow of Faith.4
Ireland has been in Arms;— happily their friends the French have been slow and feeble in their cooperation, and the Affair was nearly crushed before the arrival of the paltry reinforcement which surrendered at Discretion to Lord Cornwallis a few days ago.— no apprehension is now entertained of a renewal of the War, unless a powerful French force should again have the good fortune to Land.5
This Letter will be delivered to you by my friend Mr. James Wadsworth6 whose conduct in Europe has been very respectable, who has been lately in France, and whose Politics are I believe very right,— that is, void of all confidence in foreign friends Lips and disposed to see America rely for prosperity, only upon God, and her own exertions; temporary connexions founded on present Interests He will admit, but thinks with many others, that we have had sufficient experience of European friendship,— He will be an useful inhabitant of your Western Country— With him goes Mr. West’s oldest Son, with the intention of purchasing and settling in the same neighbourhood.7 He is a young Man of many excellent qualities,—who I think chooses wisely, considering the miserable prospect of an Artist has in the present times, and who I hope will succeed and become a valuable acquisition in that quarter:— any recommendation from me of the Son of such a man, is to be sure, superfluous, yet I should feel myself wanting in Duty to his Parents as well as in friendship to him, if I did not solicit for him, your notice, advice & protection. I beg my best Respects to Mrs. Jay, and am with the highest Regard & Esteem Dear Sir Your Obliged and faithful servant and Friend
Jno: Trumbull
His Excellency John Jay Esqr. &c &c &c
1. A copy of JT’s letter of 10 Dec. 1797 discussing the situation in France is located in JT’s Lbk, NHi: Trumbull.
2. See JT to JJ, 7 Aug. 1797, above, in which he expressed concern that the term for the commission would expire before much would be accomplished.
3. On the French refusal to receive the American commissioners unless they payed bribes and the American response, see the editorial note “John Jay and the Response to the XYZ Affair in New York,” above.
4. The British fleet under Sir Horatio Nelson defeated the French naval force that carried Napoleon’s troops to Egypt at the Battle of the Nile, 1–3 Aug. 1798.
5. A French force of approximately one thousand troops invaded Ireland in August 1798 to assist the United Irish Rebellion, but were defeated in the Battle of Ballinamuck (8 Sept. 1798) by British forces led by Cornwallis. A second attempt by a larger French force to land in Ireland failed on 12 October.
6. James Wadsworth (1768–1844) of Connecticut was recruited by his second cousin Jeremiah Wadsworth as a land agent for development of lands in western New York acquired in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. He promoted settlement of Genesee Valley lands both in the United States and in Europe and settled in and developed Geneseo, N.Y. His European travels, including his voyages, lasted from February 1796 to November 1798. See Henry Greenleaf Pearson, James S. Wadsworth of Geneseo, Brevet Major-General of United States Volunteers (New York, 1913), 1–21.
7. Benjamin West’s son, Raphael Lamar West (1769–1850), painter and lithographer, arrived in the United States in 1800 with intent to settle in western New York; disappointed by his prospects, he returned to England within two years.